[rollei_list] Re: Zeiss Lens Cleaner
- From: John Jensen <jwjensen356@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2011 13:28:58 -0700 (PDT)
I got curious about this nanoFILM LTD and found this re its lens cleaner
products:
http://www.nanofilmproducts.com/products/clarity-product-line.htm
John
--- On Mon, 7/4/11, Richard Knoppow <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Richard Knoppow <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Zeiss Lens Cleaner
To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Monday, July 4, 2011, 1:05 PM
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Jensen" <jwjensen356@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 11:18 AM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Zeiss Lens Cleaner
I have a spray bottle labeled 'Zeiss Lens Cleaner'. The backside has the words
"Especially formulated for Carl Zeiss Optical, Inc. by nanoFILM LTD, Cleveland,
Ohio". The only hint as to the contents are the words "Contains isopropanol".
John
Pretty much all the lens cleaners and window cleaners which have MSDS that
actually list ingredients turn out to be based on either; 1, isopropyl alcohol
(isopropanol); 2, Ammonia, usually ammonium hydroxide but ammonium carbonate in
the case of Kodak Lens Cleaner; 3, Butyl alcohol, AKA several other names,
often labeled "streak free". Most have a wetting agent in them in the form of
a detergent or, in the case of ROR, soap. Most of the cleaners have either
Triton-X 100 or some form of Celusolve, both brand names for stuff with complex
chemical names.
Lens cleaners should meet at least two requirements; they must not damage
the the lens, and they must not leave a residue.
Neither isoproply alcohol or ammonia is a good grease remover when diluted
as much as they are in lens or window cleaner. If a lens has oil or grease on
it something stronger must be used. The two best solvents for this are naphtha
and acetone. Naptha in pure form does not leave a residue, relatively pure
naphtha can be obtained as Ronsonol lighter fluid. In bulk its available from
any store than sells paint. Acetone is a pretty broad spectrum solvent so one
must be very careful of it around plastics and paint. It was and maybe still is
a standard cleaner for optical parts in manufacture. either of these can be
followed up with a standard lens or window cleaner followed with a distilled
water rinse.
Nothing will remove scratches. If a lens is scratched the only cure is to
re-polish the surface. This has the hazard that the figure of the surface may
be changed. For the most part lens performance will not be affected by small
changes in the thickness of elements but there will be some and re-polishing
does affect thickness a little. Scratched coatings, assuming the scratch does
not go into the glass, require removing the coating and recoating. There are
people who do this but its expensive, and AFAIK, none of the recoaters offers
multi-layer recoating. If the scratch has gone into the glass repolishing as
well as recoating is necessary. AFAIK, there is no solvent that will remove
coatings, they must be polished off. None of this is trivial.
The best advice is to keep lenses as clean as possible so that lens
cleaning is not done often. Surface dust can be blown off with a hand squeegee,
or gentle application of canned air.
Again, I stress avoiding using anything that contacts the glass surface
twice.
Reportedly Kimberly-Clarke treats all their tissue pulp to remove grit. I
have used their toilet paper sucessfully. Cheap and works. Kimwipes, now I
think called something else, are specifically made for delicate cleaning jobs
and are good for lens cleaning. I confirmed this with the company.
Be careful because its possible to scratch up a lens without even knowing
you are doing it.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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