filter fix ?

[back alley]

i have been on a filter frenzy of late, getting some very good prices on several ebay buys. most of the wins have been on several filters in a case and most of the filters have been in good shape.
unfortunately not all the filters were as advertised.

i have 2 series vi yellow filters that look like they have a haze in most of the central portion, like they have been cleaned waaay too much.

is there any way to recover these filters, any fix for them?

or just toss them?

joe

 

[back alley]

bump

joe

 

[Kim Coxon]

Hi,
A much wiser person than I once said that the most common cause for damage to lenses was due to poor or overzealous cleaning. If you scrub them up a bit more, you could use them for soft focus portraits!

Kim

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I take it they were not coated filters, and the glass is scratched?

I have had many OLD Kodak filters that were almost opaque with haze. This cleared up with lens cleaning fluid and a few sheets of lens cleaning paper.

But if what you are seeing is in the glass, it "may" be possible to polish it out. One of the things on my list to try is some of the fine "sand paper" around here for glass polishing. Another to try is silver polish. But this assumes that the haze in the glass is caused by scratches, not discoloration. Better than tossing them!

 

[back alley]

i don't see any scratches, it's more a haze or cloudiness.
i did try cleaning fluid and a microfibre cloth but nothing changed.

anyone have a use for the rings?

joe

 

[VictorM.]

Isopropyl alcohol ("rubbing alcohol" without the oily additive) works on hazy filters. I've also used lighter fluid followed by alcohol. I think much of that haziness is caused by the chemicals in tanned leather. Most of the old Rollei filters I've bought have some haziness, including those that were obviously never used.

 

[back alley]

thanks victor, i'll try that when i get home.

if it works i'll have 2 extra yellow filters, cool.

joe

 

[back alley]

didn't work.
bummer.

i need to buy some lighter fluid and try that next.
i want to try the lighter fluid on my 35/2.8 jupiter also and see if i can loosen up the focussing a bit.

joe

 

[Kim Coxon]

i need to buy some lighter fluid and try that next.
i want to try the lighter fluid on my 35/2.8 jupiter also and see if i can loosen up the focussing a bit.

joe

Hi Joe,
I tried that fix on a Takumar and all that happened is that it freed up for a very short while, the fluid evaporated and I was back where I started from except that I had spots on the internal elements! Rats.

Ended up partially taking the lens apart and re-lubing it and now the lens is superb. Don't know the Jupiter but there's report of what I did on the Tak here if it is any help.

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/repairs/takumarlens_s.pdf

Kim

 

[VictorM.]

I've had the same experience using lighter fluid with lenses. On pnet, someone recommended slowly working in a few drops of light oil to rejuvenate the grease. This has worked for me on a Canon 50/1.4.