little FYI on LF lens cleaning...

scootermm · Nov 4, 2005

I recently bought a 355mm Schneider G Claron in a barrel from Daniel Grenier. it was advertised that it had slight haze and I just went ahead and bought it.... knowing I could send it somewhere to get cleaned etc...

after calling a few places and getting not so confident replies, plus my desire to have the lens in its best possible shape as soon as possible, I took it upon my meager handiness to try and "clean" it myself.

I took apart the front and rear elements so that I had just the four optical glass elements and their housings disassembled. I soaked the glass in two cups of warm water with some mild detergent in them for about 5 hours. worked wonderfully. Then cleaned them with some rubbing alcohol and lens cleaning tissue. reassembled them and haze seems all but gone.

just thought Id share if anyone else comes across a lens that need some cleaning.

ddolde · Nov 4, 2005

You gotta be kidding.

I'd never let you near one of my lenses.

BradS · Nov 4, 2005

Good show Matt. You are much braver than I.

Donald Miller · Nov 4, 2005

Did you take any steps to assure that the elements were realligned in their original orientation?

John Bartley · Nov 4, 2005

ddolde said:
You gotta be kidding.

I'd never let you near one of my lenses.

I'm curious - any particular reason why ? Admittedly I'm a newbie at LF cameras, but it sounds like a reasonable way to me to get them clean.

cheers

scootermm · Nov 4, 2005

no, ddolde Im not kidding you nor anyone else.
Its a common way to clean glass elements shared with me by a astronomer friend who is into telescopes and such... and deals with a good amount of optics and their cleaning.

I did take steps to make sure of the realignment of the elements and such.

seemed to work wonderfully. took a test neg today and everything seems fine.

dphphoto · Nov 4, 2005

Donald Miller said:
Did you take any steps to assure that the elements were realligned in their original orientation?

Most lens housings allow for easy realignment, the fittings are pretty tight. Best to have a lens wrench, though. Dean

David A. Goldfarb · Nov 4, 2005

I think what Donald is alluding to is that you want to be sure the elements are not only centered, but also rotated in the same orientation as they were originally when the lens was assembled using a collimator. An easy way to do this is to make an alignment mark on the inside of the lens barrel and a corresponding mark on the edge of each element.

Jim Noel · Nov 4, 2005

Lens cleaning

Next time try Listerine - the original kind with the strong flavor. It cleans faster and leaves no residue haze sometimes found with isopropyl alcohol. It will also get trid of most mold.

vet173 · Nov 4, 2005

and the lens won't have the smell of your breath, when you breath on it to fog it for cleaning. good idea.

Frank Petronio · Nov 4, 2005

If you read Thomas Mosley's camera repair manuals, he prefers Kleenex and Windex. Seriously.

laz · Nov 4, 2005

scootermm said:
after calling a few places and getting not so confident replies.

This rang a bell for me:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Me? I've always thought that both the words "lens" and "shutter" were French for "do not touch"!
-Bob

BradS · Nov 4, 2005

laz said:
This rang a bell for me:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Me? I've always thought that both the words "lens" and "shutter" were French for "do not touch"!
-Bob

I guess I learned French the hard way.

Mateo · Nov 4, 2005

What has happened to our world?!!! Once upon a time people took it upon themselves to learn how to do things, now we just pay a fortune to have an expert do it and stand at the ready to file lawsuits if we get a hangnail opening the box it gets shipped back in.

Right on Matt, that's cool to know. I like the Listerine idea too. Maybe someone else has some things to add about what to watch out for so that we can all clean our lenses with confidence.

Dave Parker · Nov 4, 2005

Frank Petronio said:
If you read Thomas Mosley's camera repair manuals, he prefers Kleenex and Windex. Seriously.

Kleenex, man you have got to be kidding, most kleenex has moisturizers in them to help save your little nose and will leave a residue on the surface of the glass, I would not touch anything opticle with a kleenex..

Dave

laz · Nov 4, 2005

Satinsnow said:
Kleenex, man you have got to be kidding, most kleenex has moisturizers in them to help save your little nose and will leave a residue on the surface of the glass, I would not touch anything opticle with a kleenex..

Dave

Actually Dave my optician uses nothing but kleenex on eyeglass lenses. Yes some do have moisturizers but certainly not all.

clay · Nov 4, 2005

I was surprised to learn that astronomers often clean their mirrors and optics with collodion. They paint it on, let it dry and peel it off. Pulls up all that microdust, and you don't risk pushing it around and scratching the lens. Cool, huh?

vet173 said:
and the lens won't have the smell of your breath, when you breath on it to fog it for cleaning. good idea.

Bob F. · Nov 4, 2005

clay said:
I was surprised to learn that astronomers often clean their mirrors and optics with collodion. They paint it on, let it dry and peel it off. Pulls up all that microdust, and you don't risk pushing it around and scratching the lens. Cool, huh?

There is a similar off the shelf item called Opticlean. I've never seen it mentioned by US photogs so I'm guessing it is not widely used over there but it is widely available in the UK. It is a polymer that you use to coat the lens surface. Wait 10 mins or so for it to cure and then pull it off with the adhesive tab provided. Cleans just about anything off the glass. Expensive though.

Cheers, Bob.

ddolde · Nov 4, 2005

Why not just put them in the dishwasher if you are going this route?

Dave Parker · Nov 4, 2005

laz said:
Actually Dave my optician uses nothing but kleenex on eyeglass lenses. Yes some do have moisturizers but certainly not all.

Actually Bob,

It was my optician that told me never to use kleenex or kleenex type tissues on opticle surfaces, due to the moisturizers as well as the open cell design of them allow dust and other stuff to become trapped in them which can cause scratches on glass surfaces.

I guess it just depends on the person and the product being used.

Dave

Mongo · Nov 5, 2005

I've used the water/detergent soak method with a few lenses and have had good results. Alignment marks are a must, though, if you want the lens back the way it started. I've had good luck with a very small mark with a grease pencil...it survives the water bath and if made as small as possible doesn't cause any other problems that I'm aware of.

For cleaning lenses in their barrels, I've heard of people using Windex but have never had the guts to take that route myself. Good old generic "lens cleaner" and microfiber cloths have worked well for me, but always be sure to blow away as much loose dust as possible with a large hand bulb first...even microfiber will capture particles and drag them across the lens if you're not careful. In a lot of cases I've found that just blowing the lens clean is enough...stuff I thought I'd have to clear off with lens cleaner has come off with vigorous use of a good hand bulb.

I do know people who still swear by the Kodak lens cleaning tissues. Personally I'm a microfiber guy, but to each his own.

Be well.
Dave

noexit · Nov 5, 2005

He didn't say how much he bought it for. If no one wanted to touch it and it wasn't worth much, nothing could be hurt by trying it himself. I've done it myself a couple times with great results.

Tom Hoskinson · Nov 5, 2005

noexit said:
He didn't say how much he bought it for. If no one wanted to touch it and it wasn't worth much, nothing could be hurt by trying it himself. I've done it myself a couple times with great results.

He described the lens as: "355mm Schneider G Claron in a barrel...with slight haze." barrel mounted this lens should sell in the $400. - $600 price range.

I have one of these lenses mounted in a Copal shutter and it is a super lens - tack sharp with great contrast. It covers my 8x10 with lots of room to spare.

jimgalli · Nov 5, 2005

Well done Matt. That's exactly what a qualified reapir person would have done for $220.

vet173 · Nov 5, 2005

I remember reading"back in the day" in an issue of sky and telescope an article about a telescope objective that was washed and forgot to rinse. The result was more stars could be seen, thus the journey of coatings began.

little FYI on LF lens cleaning...

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