Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/03/26

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Subject: Leica lens fogging
From: photology@juno.com (Thomas P Myro)
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 17:51:47 EST

Good Day Everyone!!!

When we had the store, we cleaned a great many lenses with this fogging
problem.
My ex-partner still does.

I think you would find that the "Winner" of the " most frequent fogging
contest"  would be the early F-mount Nikkors, and not the 50's & 60's
Leitz lenses.  

What we have to remember is that these products are 35-50 years old, and
all those years of polluted air take their toll on ALL surfaces, even
those with the protection of being in the middle of a lens.  Very few
lens barrells seal the elements to any real degree.  You don't notice it
in the Contax or Nikkor rf 50mm lengths because they were sealed a little
better as a result of the mount, but you certainly do in every other lens
of that period, regardless of manufacture.

By saying that the Leitz lenses have a propensity for fogging, you are
asking us to believe that some surfaces of identical composition could
attract pollutants in greater volumes than others of the same compostion.
 Flourite is Flourite, and static charges aside,  I can't see why some
flourite-coated surfaces could attract more pollutants than others.

Just my opinion, set me straight on this if you wish.

Thomas P. Myro
Photology@juno.com