Lens Haze Repair

[kleggy]

Seem to have a slight issue with some haze on the rear element from a Minolta Autocord I'm restoring. Any idea on how to get rid of it. I have tried vinegar to no avail. Lens looks good until Vinegar dries up.

Element is smooth to touch.

Any ideas?

 

[mike c]

Have read that Windex, which I have used on really dirty lens and the stuff looks pretty bad on yours. Also acetone but have not used it mayself, just don't get the stuff running into the lens group, it might delaminate any cells glued together.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Have read that Windex, which I have used on really dirty lens and the stuff looks pretty bad on yours. Also acetone but have not used it mayself, just don't get the stuff running into the lens group, it might delaminate any cells glued together.

I had very good success with windex and eyeglass cleaner myself; also medical-grade alcohol works a treat.

 

[shutterfinger]

Your breath and a good cleaning cloth.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

That looks etched to me. It is going to have to be polished. No way to clean that off.

 

[flavio81]

That looks etched to me. It is going to have to be polished. No way to clean that off.

+1

When it is etched, that's the last (and only) solution.

I have read that "jeweller's rouge" is the best for polishing such surfaces.

 

[Jim Noel]

That looks etched to me. It is going to have to be polished. No way to clean that off.

Yes, definitely etched by fungus. Listerine takes care of fungus, but it looks like it is too late.

 

[shutterfinger]

Streaks where some of the haze buildup came off, not etching.
One of these Dead Link Removed and my breath romeved similar from a lens when nothing else would.

 

[kleggy]

Had a go at cleaning it with Toothpaste & Q-Tip. I think i was able to get 97% off it off. Pretty happy with it. Atleast the haze its visible when looking straight on.

 

[Nodda Duma]

Ouch! Toothpaste can easily create microscratches or sleeks in the coating and/or glass which are difficult to see but the effects (forward scatter) will show up around bright objects.

Should have tried acetone or denatured alcohol with a q-tip first.

 

[flavio81]

Ouch! Toothpaste can easily create microscratches or sleeks in the coating and/or glass which are difficult to see but the effects (forward scatter) will show up around bright objects.

Should have tried acetone or denatured alcohol with a q-tip first.

+1

I was assuming the OP first tried the typical cleaning -- be it alcohol, acetone or (my choice) glass cleaner.

I thought that with "haze" he referred to the haze that will not go away with chemicals, requiring mechanical abrasion/polish.

 

[c.d.ewen]

I've always wondered about using cerium oxide and a PEC pad. Anybody ever try it?

Charley

 

[paul ron]

rouge has worked for me in some last ditch efforts with surprisingly good results.

.

 

[Nodda Duma]

I've always wondered about using cerium oxide and a PEC pad. Anybody ever try it?

Charley

I would not advise it. You can ruin the surface figure (turned edge, astigmatism) if you have no experience polishing optics.

 

[c.d.ewen]

I would not advise it. You can ruin the surface figure (turned edge, astigmatism) if you have no experience polishing optics.

OK. Would a pitch lap do the trick, then? Does surface haze distort the surface?

Charley

 

[richardHaw]

cerium oxide is way too messy for this and it will definitely make the lens unusable really quick by altering the curvature of the lens. i tried this once and without the correct polishing equipment, you are just going to sacrifice the lens element to your experience.

some haze don't go away. my way to clean a lens is to use different types of solvents because what's there reacts differently to each solvent:
1st: alcohol
2nd: naphtha/benzine
3rd: distilled water (breath)
4th: final wiping with 1 or 2.

if it is etched and can be felt by your nails then it is too deep as far as I am concerned.

 

[Dan0001]

cerium oxide is way too messy for this and it will definitely make the lens unusable really quick by altering the curvature of the lens. i tried this once and without the correct polishing equipment, you are just going to sacrifice the lens element to your experience.

some haze don't go away. my way to clean a lens is to use different types of solvents because what's there reacts differently to each solvent:
1st: alcohol
2nd: naphtha/benzine
3rd: distilled water (breath)
4th: final wiping with 1 or 2.

if it is etched and can be felt by your nails then it is too deep as far as I am concerned.

As it happened I acquired a beat up Nikkormat with a 35mm f 1:2 Nikkor-O Auto lens in Florida that the front element was extremely hazy, not uniform but blotchy. It did not show any spidering and it was smooth to touch(have no idea what it was, but it was in Florida). However, no amount of liquid cleaners would even come close to removing the haze. I did have some cerium oxide from a previous project and so with a dremal tool and buffer wheel I went to work. It is messy--you have to move the buffer wheel all the time so as not to effect the curvature of the lens--also set the Dremal to a minimal setting. Total time doing this was aproximately 1 1/2 hours which I broke up into 30 min segments--it is tedious and a lot of patience is required. At the very extreme edges there was still some slight haze left but overall I am pleased with the results and I am sure it has been restored to 95% of its original state. Now looking through the viewfinder the image is bright and sharp.

 

[thuggins]

I've used Simichrome to polish eyeglass lenses. It takes a a while and removes any coating, but it does remove scratches.

I also tried it on a pitted rear element of an Olympus 35 IV. There is something about that element that pits badly. This did round off the edges and turn the pits more into dimples.

 

[Jon Goodman]

You can also try a product known as Flitz. It is like Simichrome but less expensive and more easily found. You should not need to use much of it. Toothpaste is also good on plastic watch crystals (not so much on mineral glass nor sapphire crystals, though). Good luck...
Jon