Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/17

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Lens cleaning & alcohol?
From: Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 10:37:48 -0500 (CDT)

Richard, 

Yes, alcohol (any that I know of) is fine for cleaning your 
lens....as with any solvent, keep it from seeping into the 
lens (cemented elements) by applying it to the cloth first.
A well washed flannel sheet scrap or diaper is good.....

The "ror" cleaner contains a slight oil solvent, and is good 
for multicoated filters which can be a bitch to clean....
The carburetor cleaner actually is a good cleaner if the 
glass has HEAVY greasy deposits, but it leaves streaks, which 
can then be cleaned with other methods.....

In the camera shop, we used good old cloudy household 
ammonia, with great results....

More important than cleaning is NOT cleaning excessively!!
More optics have been damaged by excessive 'maintenance' than 
all other causes!....a few dust specks, inside or out, are 
irrelavent....fine scratches (cumulative) caused by 
obsessive cleaning are extremely damaging to contrast and the 
"illusion" of sharpness.  A single tiny mark or two has no 
detrimental effect, nor does a particle of dust or two...

My solution is to use UV filters unless I'm using slow film and 
striving for exceptional results...I clean the lenses and 
filters a couple times a year at home, with clean materials,
at my leisure....I'll wipe the filter with my cotton t-shirt
if I happen to get a smudge, otherwise I just shoot.  Filters 
are dirt cheap.  If I'm shooting something pictorial for me, 
I'll put the camera on a tripod and remove the filter...for 
"street" or journalistic shooting, it just "don't" matter...
with tri-x or CN400 films....

Hope this has been a more suitable response, 
Best to U and URs, 
Walt

On Sat, 17
Apr
1999, Richard J. Wyble wrote:

> On Sat, Apr 17, 1999 at 09:17:53AM -0500, Eric Welch wrote:
> > At 08:37 AM 4/17/99 -0400, you wrote:
> > >One reads that methyl alcohol is the cleaning fluid of choice for
> > >Leica lenses: glass and lens body. What is a likely source for this
> > >"wood" alcohol? What are the caveats for its use?
> > 
> > I don't think so.
> 
> Other authors contributed in a similarly whimsical manner,
> appearing to regard my questions as being baseless.
> 
> Allow me to be more precise this time. According to the
> "Instructions" booklet included with a new 50mm Summicron-M, p. 10:
> 
> 
> 
>      TIPS FOR LENS CARE
>      
>      Remove dust from the outer surfaces of the lens with a soft
>      brush or gently use a clean, dry, soft cloth, such as a
>      cotton handkerchief.
>      
>      Stains and fingerprints should be removed with a very small
>      amount of methyl alcohol.
>      
> 
> 
> The instruction continues with caveats about using clean cloth and
> avoidance of dry wiping.
> 
> Quoting Guenther Osterloh in "Leica M The Advanced School of
> Photography," p. 93:
> 
> 
>      TIPS FOR CARE OF LEICA M LENSES
>      
>      . . . Spots should be removed by using a solution that can
>      easily be produced by mixing two parts alcohol (pure or
>      denatured) and one part distilled water.
>      
> 
> This instruction also continues with caveats about clean cloth,
> etc.
> 
> My questions remain unaddressed.
>      
> -- 
> 
>   rwyble@erols.com                  Worcester, Massachusetts
>   Richard J. Wyble
>