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TIL I was cleaning my Rolleiflex lenses wrong for 5 years
I used to use 99% isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth on every lens that came into my shop. Last month an old repair guy told me that's stripping the coating off older German glass. He showed me his method: just breath mist and a clean lens tissue, nothing else. Tried it on a 1950s Tessar lens and the haze came off way cleaner than my alcohol method ever did. Anyone else made the switch away from solvents on vintage glass?
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the_abby3mo ago
I get what you're saying, but I've been using 99% isopropyl alcohol on vintage glass for years and never had a problem. It's all about how you apply it... just a tiny bit on a lens tissue, not soaking it. I've cleaned a 1930s Zeiss Sonnar that way and the coatings are still perfect. Breathing on lenses can work for light dust, but for old haze or fungus you need something stronger. Sometimes that "gentle method" just moves the grime around instead of lifting it off. I'm not saying go wild with solvents, but a little alcohol done right won't hurt good German glass.
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mark493mo ago
Gotta be careful with that though - even a tiny bit of alcohol can seep into the edge seal over time and mess with the balsam. I've seen it happen on older compound lenses where the coating looked fine but the cement started getting cloudy months later.
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