Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]So how do you clean your dusty and fingerprinted lenses? Francesco At 12:04 AM 1/31/98 -0500, TEAShea@aol.com wrote: ><< >What about things collecting in the micro-fiber and leaving scratches on > >the glass? >> > >Actually, it is not an issue of scratching the glass, but scratching the >coating. Modern coatings are very hard, but older coatings were soft. One of >the first coatings was magnesium fluoride which was so soft that its was quite >impractical for the outside of front and rear elements. > >Microfiber cloth is poly - which is much harder than cotton. The advantage of >micrfiber is that it is very absorbant and the fibers are so small in diameter >that any scratches are very small. Additionally, the poly in the microfiber >cloths is not as hard as modern lens coatings - but should not be used on >older lenses with softer coatings. > >Of course the biggest problem is that any dust on the lens surface is rubbed >into the coating by the cloth (cotton or microfiber). Dust often contains >silica - which is very hard and sharp. Silica is harder than even modern lens >coatings and will leave scratches. > >Tom Shea > Francesco Sanfilippo, Five Senses Productions webmaster@5senses.com http://www.5senses.com/