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Tpe
Tinkerer
Username: Tpe
Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 06:19 am: | 
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Hi from Denmark,
I found this forum looking for some proper advice, i have tryed my local camera shops and it seems that the only way to clean your lens properly is throw away your camera if it is not a digital or send it off for months to another country. Recently i recovered most of my old photographic equipment, it is mostly t mount or old af minoltas and they are not really replacable there are a fair few and i don't really want to part with them again after so long so both options are out for me. A couple of them are a bit hazey now. First I gave them a light cleaning, that didnt seem to work, the local shop has not improved matters.
Hopefully there still exists ways of cleaning or repairning these lenses without replacing them? The experteese has dissapeared from denmark, so can anyone reccomend some links or literature on doing it your self properly?
Many thanks
tim
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Charlie
Tinkerer
Username: Charlie
Post Number: 60
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 07:50 am: |
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I'm sure you will get lots of conflicting replies but my method is to buy a small brush with a squeezable rubber bulb on it (blower brush) and with the lens pointing down gently brush while squeezing the bulb. Then put a drop or two of lens cleaning fluid on a Q-tip and gently swab the lens. Then roll a sheet of lens tissue into a tube, tear in half, and use the torn end to blot off the fluid. Blower brush, small bottle of fluid and pack of tissue are all cheap and will last forever if you keep cap on the lens when not in use. Some people use unflavored vodka for the fluid. How long that will last is up to you. |
Tpe
Tinkerer
Username: Tpe
Post Number: 2
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 10:33 am: |
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Thanks Charlie, I like your method, it is gentle so not too scared doing it. So far i have not dared be hard enough though, it has worked on some of them, and all of them look more or less clean now, however there are still a couple that are still hazy, when you take a picture of something contrasty the white bleeds out onto the black, like there is some kind of glare thing going on, or some kind of shake even though it is tripod mounted. I have not dared be too hard on them, i should think the coating is pretty delicate. Is there something more drastic to get rid of this kind of glare but not damage anything? Or is the glass out of alignment or just too old and damaged? One lense i tryed today is about 25 years old, and i dont remember it being like that before it went into storage, could it have oxidised?
tim
BTW i am not sure the vodka is a good idea, i am sure it wont last long and may be conducive to wavy hand movments?  |
Ethostech
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 65
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 10:22 pm: |
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Short summary:
The rolled up into a tube paper towel - then torn in half - forms a virgin edge brush/wiper. You can use a proprietory lens-cleaner but Windex is just fine for the job. Haze maybe on the outside or inside of the lens element. A fairly heavy cleaning with citrus oil or eucalyptus oil may shift it. If not - then you are looking at UV haze and nothing much you can do about that. |
Hovaness
Tinkerer
Username: Hovaness
Post Number: 38
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 07:48 am: |
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Windex is OK for general cleaning, but I find vodka leaves less residue. Using fresh, lint-free tissue, like Kimwipes, is a big help for large surfaces.
It is better to keep the lens clean than to keep cleaning it. |
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