Lens problem -- who you gonna call? MANG ADY!!!

One of the most common problems of photography enthusiasts in a country as humid as ours is fungus that grows in the lens, CDSC (Nikon's official distributor) charges an arm and a leg, and most of the stalls that offer cleaning services in Hidalgo are too unprofessional-looking for my taste.

So where do you go if your beloved lenses needs repair/cleaning/ and even a calibration? The answer-- the SuperSaiyan of Nikon-mounted Lenses, Adelardo Balce or simply known as Mang Ady in Pipho. Pros swear by the quality of his work and at a price that is very, very reasonable.

I have an old Sigma 24-70/2.8 that i wanted to dispose of and I'm planning to sell but it has some "issues" so I sent to JT Photo (Sigma's official distributor in the PI) for repair and cleaning, when I got it back, they were able to fix the misalignment at the rear barrel but they were not able to address the mold and the front focusing issues (albeit slightly but it can pose a problem with shallow DOFs). The mold build-up in the rear glass really irritated me whenever i take the lens off -- it's like an itch that i cannot scratch. Having mold build-ups can really hurt the lens' resale value, so i took my chances and looked up Mang Ady's contact number.

I've long heard about Mang Ady and his superhuman skills with lenses, so I sent him a text message and asked if he'd accept the job. He replied promptly and to save me the time from going to his place in Bulacan, he had it shipped via his preferred courier -- LBC.

After about a week of waiting, the lens finally arrived (and i haven't even paid for it yet!) When i took the lens out of the box, i gave it a thorough inspection, and lo and behold, the mold was gone! All that was there to see is a shining-gleaming piece of glass! And not only that, after running the lens through its paces, i found out that he had the minor front-focusing issues solved as well. I was so satisfied with the end-result that I decided to keep the lens.

I don't know what he did but the images are now tack-sharp, the adjustments had much better results than JT's calibration machine, and add to that the pristine quality of the glass and you've got one very satisfied customer.

I think he also works with Canon lenses, but he's much more adept with Nikon mounts. So for my fellow photographers who want to get a hold of the man with the Midas' touch on lenses, the easiest way to reach him is through his cell -- 09179394487.