Re: [Leica] How to clean lenses

["vonohlen" <vonohlen@lightspeed.net>]

Dan Khong writes:

|>lens-cleaning I've seen people do with shirtsleeves,
shirttails, Kleenex,
|
|I may be mistaken but I read somewhere that Kleenex tissue
contains small
|amounts of microscopic clay!   If so, it's bad material for
cleaning lenses.

Good Lord.  We are not going to turn lens cleaning into
brain surgery again are we?  Obviously in pristine
conditions, one would use lens  tissue or some other non
abrasive lint-free material.  (Kleenex is not lint free).
However, in the field, one uses what one has available.  (a
well worn cotton such as a t-shirt or the equivalent of
Ted's shorts would probably be the best available wiping
cloth).

I actually once "smoked" an M3 and lenses barrel in a sooty
flame to eliminate the chrome finish for a while.  Wiped the
finder windows with a t-shirt (kept the lens cap on --- but
wiped the lens anyway).  I would have sprayed the whole
thing with flat black paint if I had the time or paint.  The
camera cleaned-up fine afterwards and there were no problems
(well the kerosene required applying some shoe polish to the
leatherette.  How you clean the glass is a matter of where
you are and what you have to do.

Hilsen, vonohlen