Warning: I spent 2 years cleaning lenses with the wrong damn fluid

I used to grab whatever glass cleaner was under the sink for lens jobs. Figured if it worked on windows it was fine. Then last spring a client brought in a 1950s Leica Summarit and the coating just looked hazy after I cleaned it. He told me it had a 'perfect uncoated look' before I touched it. That's when I finally looked it up and realized I was stripping the coating with ammonia based stuff. Switched to pure isopropyl and a proper lens cloth after that. Took me 2 years of screwing up other people's glass before that moment. Has anyone else wrecked a coating by using the wrong cleaner?

2 comments

2 Comments

clairem3821d ago

I use 99% isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth made for camera lenses. But you gotta be super careful with older lenses especially the ones from the 1950s and earlier cause their coatings were way softer than modern stuff. Some of those old Zeiss and Leica lenses had single layer coatings that can basically dissolve with the wrong stuff. I keep a separate bottle of distilled water mixed 50/50 with the alcohol for those older ones.

robert6421d ago

So @clairem38 basically preps lens cleaner like a bartender mixing a fancy cocktail.