jesse_west•15d agoProlific Poster

Bought a $140 ultrasonic cleaner off eBay, totally useless for lens elements

I saw this deal on a 2.5L ultrasonic cleaner and figured it would speed up my stubborn haze removal jobs, so I grabbed it for 140 bucks. Tried it on a scratched Canon 50mm front element and it just vibrated the coating off, no cleaning benefit at all, plus it left weird swirl marks. Has anyone else had luck with a specific brand or should I just stick to manual polishing pads for this kind of work?

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1 Comment

king.ruby15d ago

Yeah I feel your pain, that's a rough way to learn that lesson. I tried one of those cheap units a few years back on a vintage 50mm and it did the exact same thing, just ate the coating right off and left the glass looking cloudy. The truth is those little consumer machines are way too aggressive for lens elements, they're really meant for jewelry or carburetor parts. The mechanical polishing route is slow but at least you control the pressure and the outcome. Honestly, I'd write that 140 off and stick with what you know works, it's a bummer but you're not alone in this.