Cleaning lenses with soft coating

[andrewch]

What would be the best way to clean earlier Leica lenses with soft coating? Will a lens pen or micro-fibre cloth do the job? Thanks 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I think the best thing to do is not clean it at all, if by cleaning you mean swabbing. Compressed air is best (read instructions carefully!). If you've ever used a darkroom, you may have noticed an airblower, with an air compressor, in the vicinity...

 

[andrewch]

Thanks Gabriel. I tried to touch the lens surface as little as possible, and I mostly use a chip-blower to blow away the dust. But I just wonder if there is a safe way to clean it if I have a fingerprint on the coating.

 

[Roger Hicks]

No Leica lenses of which I am aware have a true soft coating (look up the history of coating). For early coated lenses try Opticlean. You paint it on; let it dry; and peel it off.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[jaapv]

The first option, as stated by Gabriel is to blow it dry. I prefer the Giotto Rocket Blower. It is powerful and will not spit goo on the lens like some canned air can do.The next step on the ladder of dirtyness is a soft lensbrush. If that fails simply use a cloth, microfiber or otherwise.The thing here is not to push any sand around.I've never harmed any lens by cleaning it with a soft clean cloth (at least not for the last 50 years), if necessary (fingerprints!) moistened with some medicinal alcohol or Eclipse fluid. The thing is not to wet it through and through with the fluid, as the kit between the lens elements may dissolve, especialliy with older lenses. And NEVER use optical cleaning fluid meant for glasses etc. Those may contain chemicals that will harm the coating. Reading this back it seems like some complicated recipe. It isn't; in practice, in haste I've been known to use the tail of my T-shirt after breathing on the lens with no harmful result.....

 

[Ben Z]

Historically, the front coatings on certain Leica lenses (all 50/2 before the 1969 revision of the Summicron, and both 50/1.5 types) are well-known to be extremely vulnerable to cleaning marks, evident by the sheer numbers of these lenses with coating damage. Whether the coatings were soft to begin with or have broken down over the years, I don't know. I have a collapsible Summicron in screwmount and a rigid in M mount, both have extremely clean glass free of the typical swirl marks from cleaning. However with backlighting and magnification I can see some coating "flecks", which probably supports the breakdown theory. Thankfully both of these lenses were clean when I got them, and the only time I've removed the UV filters from them was briefly to exchange the filter glass from a modern B+W multi-resistant into the chrome Leitz mounts.

No Leica lenses of which I am aware have a true soft coating (look up the history of coating). For early coated lenses try Opticlean. You paint it on; let it dry; and peel it off.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Ben,

Yes, they are a good deal softer than modern coatings -- but if (as I suggested) you look at the history of coating I don't think you'll find any are 'soft coated' within the historical meaning of the term: as I understand it, they're just not very tough MgF coatings. That's why I recommended Opticlean, which would lift a true soft coating straight off. It's brilliant for modern lenses too.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Little Prince]

I have some old filters (nothing too great and nothing I use) lying around that need a thorough cleaning. They are completely smudged with fingerprints and such. I could send these to people who might have use for them, but I'd want to clean them before doing it. How do I clean? I'm sure some liquid agent will be necessary. Of course I'll use a lens cleaning microfiber or other cloth, but I doubt that would do it.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Anand

Opticlean!

Honest!

Roger

 

[TPPhotog]

Or drink 2 bottles of Bushmills and not worry about a few marks on the lens 😉

 

[Little Prince]

Ok, so where do I get opticlean? Is it found in regular camera stores? Or do I have to get if off some web based optical products store?

 

[jbw]

i just bought some kodak lens cleaner and a 'softclean ultra soft wiping cloth for scratch free cleaning'. are these safe.? is it always better to use fluid with the cloth or ok to use dry?

joanie

 

[jbw]

the bushmills idea is my favorite.... by the way what is bushmills..... 🙂..... must be some kind of whiskey or scotch i imagine....

 

[jbw]

oh........... hmmmm well i'll have to try it next time i need to clean a lense.... 😀

 

[Little Prince]

opticlean anyone? whither do i go?

 

[andrewch]

I faintly remember I read somewhere that early coatings were sprayed onto the lenses. Can someone who has knowledge in coating shed some light on this? I am a bit worried that I would peel off the coating with the use of Opticlean.

 

[ddutchison]

opticlean anyone? whither do i go?

I was a little curious myself so I googled it. Apparently Dantronix are the exclusive suppliers. Unfortunately 2 1oz. bottles of the stuff will cost about as much as 4 26oz bottles of Bushmills. i'd rather have the bushmills. 😉

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, I'd rather have the Bushmills too -- but for cleaning lenses, Opti-Clean really is pure magic. Thanks for the link, dduchinson.

Cheers,

Roger