I thought ultrasonic cleaning was overkill for lens groups, then I saw a 1974 Nikkor come out of a 6 minute bath

Grace Johnson · 2026-10-09T05:00:03.655941+00:00

Honestly I always thought dropping glass elements in an ultrasonic tank was asking for trouble with the coating. Last week a guy brought in a 50mm that had fungus creeping across the rear element from sitting in a garage in Tucson for a decade. I did my normal hand clean routine with solution and swabs, got maybe 70 percent of it, and the haze still killed the contrast. He asked if I could try the tank, so I ran it at 40kHz for 6 minutes with plain distilled water and a drop of dish soap. Pulled it out, dried it, and that glass looked like it shipped yesterday. Ngl I ate crow on that one, and now I want to know what solutions you all run for cemented groups so I don't melt any balsam.

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I thought ultrasonic cleaning was overkill for lens groups, then I saw a 1974 Nikkor come out of a 6 minute bath | Camera Repairers - Guest Forum