Cleaning filters/lenses - Isopropanol?

feenster

feenster

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Hi all,
Working in a computer firm, we have lots of cleaning products lieing around. It occured to me today - would Isopropanol be a good thing to use to clean finger prints and dirt (sea-salt I think!) off filters and lenses? The microfibre cloth I have is just smearing the marks.

Cheers,
Matt
 
hmm......my mate Barry says wash the microfibre cloth but don't use fabric softener, don't use solvent!!
 
Hi Marianne. I think the problem is not that the microfibre cloth isn't cleaning as it should, its more that the dirt is a bit too ingrained on the filter glass. I left it there for longer than i should have, and now when I wipe, it just leaves streaks :(

Matt
 
hmmm.....its a scary business! Perhaps asking or phoning up a camera shop might be the answer?
 
I think most lens cleaning fluids are mostly isopropyl alchohol.
 
Steep said:
I think most lens cleaning fluids are mostly isopropyl alchohol.
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Yes they are.
Being in the printer industry I have gallons of the damned stuff in my shed and toolcase.
Pity you don't live nearer!

Saves me a fortune on Saturday nights as well.
 
Bachs said:
Saves me a fortune on Saturday nights as well.
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lol.gif
 
Well, Isopropanol works a treat! Got my nice polariser nice and shiny.

However, it actually is scratched :( So i'm on the lookout for a decent 62mm jobby. Or, I could always buy a new lens instead and try and get one thrown in ;)

Matt
 
If it's just the filter, use any old thing to get the muck off - I've even resorted to soapy water before now! Fine as long as you dry thoroughly and don't use flash.

That's Flash scouring powder, not an SB800 by the way...

Keep the filter on all the time then the lens itself should be fine with a brief blow every couple of months.
I go to Iraq and Afghanistan on a regular basis and the dust there is like flour - it gets everywhere, believe me! I just use a clean-ish cotton cloth and wipe the dust off regularly (though I have been known to use a soiled hanky from time to time in desperation!).
Don't get too precious about filters - they're there to protect the lens, not designed to last forever. I regularly sacrifice Nikon 72 and 77mm UV filters to the cause with no qualms whatsoever.

Oh, and I do the same with my own kit as well, before anyone moans about using issued stuff.
 
a brief blow every couple of months.



I wish......:exit:
 
Glen said:
What du do bachs?
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I repair the Ricoh/Nashuatec/Gestener range of office printers, from little diddy ones, through full colour 1200dpi jobbies to huge print room 105 copy a minute beasts.

I've sacrificed my Giotto Rocket Blower to blowing toner out of machine parts and like Arkady have been known to use bogey ridden hankies in desperation.

I use IPA to clean the machine optics.
 
Isopropyl Alcohol is also bottled as 'cassette head/CD lens cleaner'.

So buy an el cheapo cleaning kit from Netto for pence, and you get a very useful bottle of it. ;)
 
Glen said:
a brief blow every couple of months.



I wish......:exit:
Click to expand...

What the hell do you guys do with your cameras? Throw them in cement-mixers?
I go to jungles, deserts, you name it. Apart from some of the black paint coming off, my kit looks Harry Minters (sorry - comes from hanging around Matelots in the office too much...).

Although I did trash the lens hood on my 80-200 by being blown off my feet by a Spanish Navy Sea-Harrier on exercise last month. Oh how we laughed!
 
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