| Author |
Message |
    
John
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 03, 2005 - 06:23 pm: | 
|
Hi, this is my first time posting here but I've been tinkering with camera repair for several years.
I just got finishing cleaning the fungus out of a Konica Hexanon AR 50mm F1.7. The "cleanup" was successful, except I have traded the fungus for dust (lint) specs. I really did this for the practice because I don't have a Konica body, but I'm wondering if anyone can make recommendations regarding best techniques for lens cleaning for an absolutely spotless ending.
Thanks,
John |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 03, 2005 - 06:48 pm: |
|
I don't know if an absolutely spotless ending is possible. If you're working in your home, there will be dust in the air and some will find its way into the lens. For best results, make sure the room you work in is as clean and dust-free as possible, blow out the barrel and the glass with compressed air just before reassembling the elements back into the lens. Disposable tissues, even lens tissues, always leave bits behind, so do your final lens handling with a lint free cloth... micro-fiber is great but flannel or old T-shirt fabric can do a good job too.
And remember, too, that fungus left untreated is fatal to a lens but a few specks of dust do no harm. |
Will
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 12:00 am: |
|
Hi John,
I agree with Rick - to get a lens spotless outside of "cleanroom" conditions is near impossible. However, I find I can get very decent, near dust free, by a combination of using compressed air and a soft camel (?) hair brush. The air by itself doesn't seem to get the really fine dust off - so this is where the brush comes in handy. Using brush and air together - at the same time - does a pretty good job. The brush of course needs to be as clean as possible before use. I regularly wash mine in dish detergent and water then air dry. I also give the brush a shot of air before use. I hope this helps.
Will |
WernerJB
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 03:27 am: |
|
Hi John, Will, and everybody else, Will's method is exactly what I prefer after trying out several other ways of solving the dust problem. The more you wipe a suface, the more static electricity you produce, and dust will be attracted by it like mad, this problem is likely to occur in the darkroom, or when you put back single glass elements where they belong during lens reassemby. It can also be a dust producing ceremony where to grab them without touching them with bare fingers, as fingerprints on the edge of a glass lens will also catch dust particles. To sum it all up: nobody opens a lens just for the fun of it, and although I hate spots, stains etc. I have learnt to live with a few specks, as I found even high-priced so-called professional repair people like the ones in the former Minolta "service" managed to put loads of dust into a lens where there was nothing when the lens was given to them for repair. |
Alex
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 03:35 am: |
|
The best thing I have ever found for bringing a lens back to pristine condition is a liquid polymer called Opticlean. You paint it on the lens and it dries to a very thin film rather like clingfilm, and peel it off with one of the supplied sticky tabs. There's no abrasion or rubbing whatsover, and it removes all dust and other contaminants, leaving the lens sparklingly clean. It's not cheap -- I pay about GBP9 for a 5ml bottle -- but it's superb. |
John
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 07:13 am: |
|
Thanks guys. Some usefull information here! |
Jani Heikkinen
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 08:03 am: |
|
Alex, where do you buy your opticlean? I usually have ordered it from Jessops, but now they seem to have only the largest bottles for sale. |
Glenn Middleton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 09:47 am: |
|
If one cares to examine the 'dust' in a recently serviced lens under the electron microscope (done whilst examining the coating failure on a very expensive process lens), you will find that 99.9% originates from the person working on the lens. Old skin, clothing particles and atmospheric dust shaken off the head etc. This accounts for the special clothing and hats in clean rooms.
I have constructed a small positive pressure chamber; a clear acrylic box that is fitted with a small fan blowing through a high efficiency filter cartridge. The front of the box has a narrow slot through which you work. Static is taken care of by a small carbon fibre bristled electronic device that I picked up in a factory sale.
Using this and a pair of long latex gloves I can produce optics that appear to be dust free.Microfibre cloth, a suction tool to handle the elements and washing in detergent/water provides the rest. Over the top? Well of course; as Rick states and as we all know, a few specks of dust will not harm the image. So why bother, well I was quite happy to leave a few dust specks in a lens that I had saved from a fungal attack, but to leave what was a pristine lens full of specks because I was required to removed the optics to repair the smallest fault - well that annoyed me!
However I know of two repair companies in the UK that use similar equipment in their lens departments. |
paul ron
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 10:13 am: |
|
Alex, How much did you say Opticlean is.. GBP9? What is that in USD$? I looked at a site that sold the stuff and it is around $100US for a small amount, is this correct?
I've been using denatured alcohol for years and it seems to do a great job but the tacky film sounds like a fool proof way to clean. |
John
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 12:43 pm: |
|
Glen, that sounds really over the top. But, I'm like you, it bugs me too. |
Glenn Middleton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 04:22 pm: |
|
Paul:I do not know where Alex gets his supply,but the normal UK price for the small bottle( enough for 24 standard lenses front and back [35mm slr])seems to be £15.00 say max $30.00. On your US site the $100 gets you 2x1ozs bottles of polymer,applicator bottle and the removal pads. Now 1 fluid ozs US equals 29.5 ml, so you get approx 60 ml for your $100. I do not know the amount in the UK bottle,Alex's 5ml looks right.Jessops price for the 500ml bottle is £433.00.What the bloody hell do they think we want to clean!! Why they do not list the small bottle I do not know.
www.dhinds.co.uk
www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk
both supply the small kits at £14.99.
Problem with Opticlean is that it was originally manufactured for the silicon chip industry.Not only does it clean but it can be left on surface for long term storage protection.It works great on lenses but is probably way over specified for that job.
John: Yes well over, but the box only took a morning to make from scrap and I have cleaned a lot of optics. It is used also when I brush paint small parts or clean watches. |
Alex
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 05, 2005 - 03:10 am: |
|
I've been buying my Opticlean in Jessops, the large photo-chain in the UK, and the price is GBP 8.49 (sometimes they mislabel it at 8.94), which must be around $15. Volume is about 5ml. It comes with a small brush on the cap, and some strips of sticky tabs (you can use anything similar when they run out). It's expensive, but once you've seen it work, you'll be reluctant to use anything else. The first time I tried it, I was nervous, because painting what looks like superglue on your precious lens and wondering if it will come off is rather scary, but it's the business. I find I have to let it 'cure' for much longer than the recommended time of 3-5 minutes. As Glenn suggests, it may be over-specified for most photo uses, where careful use of traditional methods and those he's already outlined would do, so I keep it for my best lenses. I've gone over all my Zeiss T* lenses now, and they could not be cleaner. |
charlie
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 05, 2005 - 07:15 am: |
|
What does Opticlean do to the lens coatings? |
paul ron
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 05, 2005 - 04:12 pm: |
|
OK I'm checkin em out. I only need a small bottle, I am sure shipping to the US will kill me. One way or another, I see I'm going to pay through the lens for this stuff. |
Alex
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 05, 2005 - 04:51 pm: |
|
It hasn't done anything to my lens coatings on any of the two dozen lenses I've used it on. |
Glenn Middleton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 05, 2005 - 05:05 pm: |
|
Charlie,
Opticlean does not do anything to the coating, soft or hard.Any grease, oil or dirt on the lens surface is bonded to the polymer as it dries.You then pull the dried reside off with a special sticky pad/tape.
Two points may be of interest; the coating can be left on as long term protection and our star gazer colleagues clean their 1st surface mirrors with the stuff. In fact telescope mirrors seems to see the largest usage outside the silicon chip industry.
Could be we have found the ideal reflex mirror cleaner. That is why I have just ordered a bottle today - I am going to have a go on the spares box. |
Jani Heikkinen
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 05, 2005 - 11:00 pm: |
|
Glenn, many stargazers and other optics professionals use collodion just like opticlean(and used it before there was opticlean). Put collodion on the lens, let it dry and put on it a piece of tape and peel away. There is one thing different with collodion though, it has ether and some other not so nice things in it so it has to be used outside or in a very well ventilated room. And collodion cannot be used with plastic lenses, but I think it was the same with Opticlean. Recently when there hasn't been any small bottles to buy from jessops, I have bought collodion from the local pharmacy and it is much cheaper. I read somewhere that there exists another modern? version of collodion that should not be used for this purpose, but I have not seen it anywhere. |
paul ron
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2005 - 03:55 am: |
|
Jani, where can I get collodion, and what is it called... brand name or other considerations I should look for when buying this stuff? How much will a bottle of it cost in the US? Any source I can contact? |
Jani Heikkinen
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2005 - 04:54 am: |
|
Hi Paul!
Here is a link where is some information for collodion cleaning. http://www.rhinodev.com/oldscope/atspages/techtips.htm
Or just search with the words "collodion cleaning mirrors" from google.
I don't know about the brand names in USA as I live in EU, but the cost of a bottle with 1.5 dl of collodion was only about 5 euros in the local pharmacy. |
Glenn Middleton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 06, 2005 - 08:39 am: |
|
The modern version is I think a product called 'Plastic Skin'.( Nothing is new, I can remember a similar product from my childhood, stung like hell!) As collodion was used to cover cuts also, I can see the purpose of the warning.
However I would be a bit wary of using nitrocellulose solutions ( NC plus ether and ethyl alcohol) around the house.This is just my chemical background coming to the fore, but Google Collodion USP and look at the data. More importantly all you are doing is painting nitro cellulose cleardope, from our model aircraft days onto the optic. Still it will work because the solvents will absorb the grease/oils and the cellulose film will grab the dirt.
Any proper pharmacy should have this but make sure that it does not contain Surgical Spirit, which contains camphorated oils. Just realised that modern versions of the original may be mixed with SP - note, I have not found specific data for this but it is possible in a local 'brew'. Just ask before you buy. |
