Difficulties with cleaning lens elements

[Blimeyo]

Hello!!

I have recently gotten into repairing and cleaning out several lenses and camera out of interest, however there are some challenges here which i hope that some of the experts or more experienced here could give me some pointers.

While I was able to remove fungus/fix oily aperture blades, I was always unable to clean the optics to satisfaction. The first problem i have is that, the elements seems to have many tiny dust spots or some sort of white fog on it (only noticeable with torchlight, not so under the sun). How do i actually go about making the elements look clear? I have tried isopropyl alcohol, lens cleaning solutions with no luck.

Another trouble that I have had was removing the liquid smudges from the elements. I have ordered lens cleaning solution at the advise of some other amateur friends as I was only using isopropyl alcohol before that. Are there any different ways I could approach this problem?

Thank you!

 

[Nodda Duma]

There are several solvents of use for cleaning optics. Plenty of info in the archives as well as when they are appropriate to use.

If you're going to use isopropyl, it should be reagent or lab grade. You can find it on ebay for far cheaper than you will spend on any cleaning solution. Buy a second, smaller container to draw the isopropyl from so as to not back-contaminate your stock.

Another necessity to minimize streaks is to not re-use your cleaning cloth or swab. Get lint-free synthetic or cotton wipes, and don't be conservative when using them. One wipe and done; the cloth is much cheaper than the lens.

Assuming you've done your best to clean the surface, the haze you see is damage to the coatings or the surface of the glass. If you were to look at the surface under a microscope, you would see the pockmarks that make up the haze. You won't be able to clean that off. The only way to repair that is to polish it out or strip the coatings with pitch and a polishing slurry. Obviously that will change the surface of the lens.

 

[tedr1]

I agree, isopropyl is the first choice for cleaning, it is the major constituent of many proprietary cleaning solutions which may in addition include chemicals that are not wanted, like silicon.
I use isopropyl with cotton buds, and like ND says, use once and discard.
Some oily residues respond well to naptha (Ronsonol cigarette lighter fluid) better than isopropyl.

 

[Blimeyo]

(sorry if this abit late, couldnt post due to the server migration and then i forgot about it for awhile)

Hello, thank you for the really helpful advise!

Regarding the cloudy streaks, I have been already practicing the recommended procedures, yet some streak still persist. I did it with the Zeiss cleaning wipes for now as USPS lost my eclipse cleaning solution. The zeiss cleaning wipes seems to worked fine for some olympus optics I was cleaning but not really for the Canon ones. Does the different lens coating affect the choice of solution?

As for the pockmarks or damages, is this something similar? I had found it unclean-able on my lens.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4b9bd13c0z4259/Photo 13-8-17, 8 46 35 PM.jpg?dl=0

That being said, this is probably on the " OCD " side however, I am genuinely curious if there is a way to polish out all the tiny white spots on the lens if there is a way without damaging it?

Thank you

 

[David Lyga]

OK, these things have worked for me over the decades:

1) when cleaning elements, use either a glass cleaner or a bit of liquid soap in water (not too much!) Using water without the soap will not reduce the static electricity and, thus, will cause dust to cling. The tiny bit of soap removes that extreme attraction dust has for the element. The alcohol might clean, but follow up with water and a bit of soap to reduce static electricity.

2) for really cloudy glass, sometimes that cloudiness cannot fully be removed. But the best that has worked for me is to cover the element in massage lotion, let it stay for about five to ten minutes, rub gently, then wash clean. This should lessen the fungus. - David Lyga

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Kodak made an excellent lens cleaner. See if you can find a bottle. It was particularly good at removing grease either from fingerprints or from lubricants. It contained ammonium bicarbonate. When the solvent water evaporates ammonium bicarbonate decomposes into ammonia, carbon dioxide and water vapor so no residue is left. Rather nifty.

Always remember that more lenses are ruined by overzealous cleaning than by benign neglect.

 

[Blimeyo]

Thank you for all the suggestions! Would definitely try them out!

Is the Kodak Lens cleaner rebranded to Tiffen at present?