Cleaning haze

[colyn]

We all know that older optics have soft easily damaged internal coating. Even using a Q-tip will scratch the coating.

How do repairmen clean these internal elements without damaging them?

 

[Coldkennels]

If I could chip in with an additional question: I just bought a 35/3.5 Summaron that's a little hazy. Is removing this the sort of thing that can be done easily at home, or is the general consensus that haze should only be cleared by professional repairmen?

 

[Shade]

I'm not sure if it's EASY to do, since I have only watched a skilled technician do it, so it looked easy to him. Not so perhaps for me.

You need some sort of chemical to clear the haze off, but USUALLY, the internal coating where it was hazed, will come off as well. Correct me if I am wrong though.

And I wouldn't recommend doing it at home, since after de-assembling it, you will need to re-assemble and align, and calibrate it.

 

[mbdiesel]

I would contact youxin ye at http://www.yyecamera.com/. He did a fantastic job on my 5cm 1.5 summarit. Check out his web site. Very reasonable price and quick tuen around. I sent my lens on a monday and I had it in my hands on a Friday.

 

[Coldkennels]

In that case (if I can hi-jack the thread for a second), if anyone knows any suitable lens technicians in the UK who don't cost a fortune, I'd love to be given their contact details!

 

[colyn]

I would contact youxin ye at http://www.yyecamera.com/. He did a fantastic job on my 5cm 1.5 summarit. Check out his web site. Very reasonable price and quick tuen around. I sent my lens on a monday and I had it in my hands on a Friday.

This was a question of curiosity, not where to get it done. My lens are clean.

 

[DNG]

If it is just cleaning Haze, and will not be having a full Clean/Lub/Adj... it should not cost more than $50.-$75.00 USD. about 1hr 30m of labor.

I have a local Repair guy here in Avon, Indiana (www.camerarepairs.com) that charges no more than that. And it is an easy job, the haze, in all most cases is on the outer elements of the 2 optical blocks, (4 surfaces), so no re-calibration is needed.

Bob, has cleaned haze out of a few of my legacy lenses recently, and I paid $58.00 as the top price w/o any other repair.

 

[splitimageview]

It really depends on the lens, how easily it is to disassemble, and where the haze is located. Not all haze is removable...Canon LTM lenses are notorious for haze on the rear element, like on the 50/1.2. Extremely easy to disassemble...on some 1.2s it will literally wipe clean in one motion. Other lenses the element is etched and no amount of cleaning will accomplish anything.

 

[back alley]

It really depends on the lens, how easily it is to disassemble, and where the haze is located. Not all haze is removable...Canon LTM lenses are notorious for haze on the rear element, like on the 50/1.2. Extremely easy to disassemble...on some 1.2s it will literally wipe clean in one motion. Other lenses the element is etched and no amount of cleaning will accomplish anything.

+1
i cleaned my former canon 50/1.2 with ease and i'm a klutz normally.

 

[ferider]

It depends how old of a lens you are talking about. I have cleaned a Summitar and both a collapsible and a DR Summicron (surfaces before and after aperture) gently with a new lens cloth, meaning no finger pressure. No impact on the coating at all.

I think the coating softness is generally exagerated. Maybe true for very early Leica and Zeiss lenses. Nikkor and Canon RF coatings are rather hard.

I vaguely remember that Sherry rinses old lenses in a special fluid.

The only way i can explain the many cleaning marks on front elements of many old Leica lenses is that users must often have used their shirt or such in the field ...

 

[jordanstarr]

I think a lot of the cleaning marks are not coming from the kind of cloth used, but from the dust, dirt, metal flakes that are on the surface when disassembling the lens. This is likely why Sherry would rinse hers off. Sometimes you can't see it or even help it, no matter how careful you are and when you start wiping, guess what's getting rubbed across the coating. I agree with the above comment that the older coating softness is an exageration. It's not like the coating is gel, but if you are knowledgeable, careful and have good advice, it should be a snap. I've cleaned several old canon LTM lenses and a bunch of leica lenses and have yet to scratch any of the internal coating and I'm certainly not an expert.

 

[Red Robin]

Just cleaned up my new-to-me Nikkor 5cm 1:2 rear element. With simple instructions I received from here on RFF. Much easier than I anticipated. Pleased with the results.

 

[G1DRP]

As a professional repairer, my only real advice is to buy the best quality microfibre cloth you can afford and keep it in a ziplock bag. NEVER drop it on the floor or put it down on your workbench. Machine wash it regularly but avoid the use of fabric conditioner.

 

[trevm42]

In my experience, any coatings on the outer, exposed surfaces of a lens will be hard enough for careful cleaning with a lens cloth or tissue to be successful in removing any haze collected over time from the atmosphere. Inner surfaces are usually only soft-coated on the assumption that they will never be touched, and the coating will be removed by the lghtest wipe with the softest brush or cloth - believe me, I have done it twice (to a Retina 80 mm convertor and a Fujica 35 mm f/3.5 SLR lens) before I learned the lesson! I doubt if any reputable repairer would attempt to clean inner lens surfaces unless he had re-coating equipment, or the customer was not bothered if the coating was removed, losing its anti-reflection properties.