Hot take: I thought those cheap lens spanner wrenches from online were total junk.

Grabbed a $15 one for a quick job on a vintage Pentax lens, and it actually held up fine for the light torque. The fit was surprisingly decent. Anyone else had a good run with a budget tool they expected to fail?

3 comments

3 Comments

blakecampbell1mo ago

My buddy's Harbor Freight calipers lasted a decade.

troy_adams3d ago

Ten years from Harbor Freight calipers?" Dude, I gotta call BS on that one. I've had pairs of those die on me in under a year sitting in a drawer. The battery contacts corrode like crazy and the display just goes blank. Maybe your buddy got the one perfect set that left the factory on a good day, or he just never actually used them. For real, I've thrown away three pairs of those things because they stopped reading zero. I honestly find it harder to believe than finding a ten dollar bill on the sidewalk.

park.wyatt1mo ago

I always figured those cheap spanners would just slip and ruin a lens. Tried one on an old Nikon mount and it actually gripped the slots without any play. For basic disassembly work, it's been totally fine. The metal feels thin but it hasn't bent yet. Might not trust it on something really stuck, but it changed my mind about needing the expensive tool for every job.