Cleaning Voigtlander Lenses

[sonwolf]

Do CV lens surfaces withstand a gentle cleaning with a LensPen, micro cloth,
or other method without smearing the lens coatings or damaging the surfaces?
Anyone who has tried to clean a Hoya HMC filter knows what a smeared coating looks like.

Please respond to this thread if you have actual experience cleaning CV lenses, rather than providing
a speculative opinion. Yes, I know clearing with a blower brush or compressed air is
generally a better approach. Sometimes the lens surface must be touched to properly clean it.

This thread is my second attempt at asking this question, it is not meant to spark a debate
regarding the relative merits of using filters versus cleaning lenses. An advance thank you to anyone
willing to share their experiences, good or bad.

 

[brachal]

I have gently cleaned the surfaces of both of my Skopars with a micro cloth, and have not noticed any adverse effects.

 

[rlouzan]

Place a UV/Skylight filter on your VC lenses, and clean them with diluted Windex w/ ammonia - D (resin filters) or Ethanol (glass filters.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everclear_(alcohol)

 

[rlouzan]

Ether, is the only solvent that won´t leave a residue. Good luck finding it!!!

 

[Roger Hicks]

They can be cleaned by any normal method.

I have 15-21-28-35(x2)-50(x2)-90, and have reviewed most of the rest (12, another 35, another two or three 50s, 75). I have cleaned them in numerous ways over the years: microfibre, well-washed T-shirt, chamois leather, lens cleaning fluid (Paterson), Lenspen, Opticlean... I have not cleaned all of them with all these methods, but I would not hesitate to use any method on any lens.

Coatings are much tougher than most people apparently realize.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Roger Hicks]

Anyone who has tried to clean a Hoya HMC filter knows what a smeared coating looks like.

No they don't. I was sure I'd never had any trouble with HMC filters so I went and got one; brushed it with a hake brush; and cleaned it with a Lee filter-cleaning cloth. No problem. Are you absolutely sure that you were smearing the coating? Or was there a trace of oil on the cleaning cloth? Given the nature of modern coatings (since the 1950s, not counting some of the 'soft' coatings of the 1940s) I'd be surprised if it were possible to smear any of them, in the sense of physically moving the coating around.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

A warm yawn and my girlfriend's well-washed panties work well.

 

[sonwolf]

I was sure I'd never had any trouble with HMC filters so I went and got one; brushed it with a hake brush; and cleaned it with a Lee filter-cleaning cloth. No problem. Are you absolutely sure that you were smearing the coating?
R.

I am not the first person to note the "smearing" effect on Hoya HMC's. This smearing is a visible streaking in the filter coatings, it looks different than oil residue on the filter. You can only see the effect if the filter is tilted so light reflects off the surface. A UV filter will go from clear to colored when viewing this layer. In my experience, using even a micro cloth will leave marks on the coating surface. I switched to B+W MRC's several years ago so I can only comment on the Hoyas from before that period.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their lens cleaning experiences. In the past, I have been reticent to remove the filters off my Voigtlander lenses. Good to hear they can withstand a cleaning, if needed.

 

[oscroft]

I have a range of CV lenses and I have often cleaned them with a micro cloth, with no ill effect at all - I use a blower first to make sure I don't rub any gritty dust into the coating.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I am not the first person to note the "smearing" effect on Hoya HMC's. This smearing is a visible streaking in the filter coatings, it looks different than oil residue on the filter. You can only see the effect if the filter is tilted so light reflects off the surface. A UV filter will go from clear to colored when viewing this layer. In my experience, using even a micro cloth will leave marks on the coating surface. I switched to B+W MRC's several years ago so I can only comment on the Hoyas from before that period.

Maybe it applies only to some colours; maybe I've been lucky; but the filter I tried was almost certainly over 15 years old, and no marks were visible at any angle.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ali_baba]

I use PanCro and Cosco Lens Tissue's.
can't beat it.
phototools in LA stocks these items.