Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Haze
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Equipment Care and Repairs
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:03 pm    Post subject: Haze Reply with quote
I have two lenses, which have so called haze inside - i don´t mean fungus or any other plants, just some glass surface is a little bit foggy.

And sometimes is some interesting lens for sale at very cheap price because of haze.

Do you think, that it´s easy to clear that haze totally in service?


PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Haze Reply with quote
donald dump wrote:
I have two lenses, which have so called haze inside - i don´t mean fungus or any other plants, just some glass surface is a little bit foggy.

And sometimes is some interesting lens for sale at very cheap price because of haze.

Do you think, that it´s easy to clear that haze totally in service?


Hello

I don't like lenses with haze because their are difficult to clean.

Usually the haze are between cemented lenses, with turns very difficult to clean

just my 2 cents

Regards


JNarciso


PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I had haze in one lens that was etched into the glass, impossible to clean without re-polishing the element, something I was not willing to attempt. You could actually feel the texture on the glass, nothing could remove it, even powerful solvents.

Not all haze is the same though, some could be just oil on the glass which could be fairly easy to clean.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I had haze in a beautiful Steinheil München.
As it was located on a sole glass, I tried to clean it using Avene cold cream (tank you Dino for the tip) : put the cream on glass, let it all night long, then clean cream with lighter fluid and finish with spectacle liquid.
It worked partially (in Dino's case, it worked fully).

After some month, I decided I had nothing to loose to try another tip I saw on a forum : use a car paint polishing product made of 2 creams to apply one after the another was dry. I repeated this 2 or 3 times.
And it worked. I finished the cleaning with the lighter fluid and the spectacle liquid.

I had a Piesker Picon which had the same problem. I tried it and it worked too.

Just my 2 cts
Use at your own risks... Beware that the product don't include particles which should scratch the glass.

Results with Steinheil 4.5/200 mounted on 40D :


Steinheil 4.5/200 on 5D MkII


PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 12:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
That's very interesting Olivier, would love to hear the specifics of this two coat car cream as I have failed to clear haze from a few lenses. I have a nice Kodak Ektar f2 2inch from the 1940s that has haze and I've never been able to get it clean.


PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'm curious too....


PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have a Seimar 400mm with a really hazy rear element. It looks like there's a piece of foil on it, but I can't remove it. I have tried a window polisher from the automotive sector, but no succes.
I asked an optician last week, and he thinks it might be a coating that turned bad. He adviced removal with chemicals, although he could not tell me which chems to use....

I might just try some car cleaner, the ones they use for scratch and spraypaint removal. (Commandant 4)


PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 11:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I had great results with more expensive toothpastes. What does good to tooth it possibly does good to glass Wink.
But can also be risky. If desperate try first with Cotton swab on very small near border area.

Some coatings react badly with acid cleaners, some with base.


PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 3:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Haze may just dust like in old meyer lenses , certainly easy to clean, may glass is damaged by oxidation, you can clean only with re-polish.


PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
That's very interesting Olivier, would love to hear the specifics of this two coat car cream as I have failed to clear haze from a few lenses. I have a nice Kodak Ektar f2 2inch from the 1940s that has haze and I've never been able to get it clean.

I just have few quantity of each in unbranded pots which were given to me by my garagist.

He told me the first one we apply on the car painting is the pink one and it's name is P5 paste. I found it is made by ABEL Auto.
It's an abrasive paste used to remove the slight defects of automotive paints.
Chemical characterization: Paste containing waxes, oils, solvents and abrasive fillers.
Petroleum distillate hydrodesulfurized 5-15%
Ethoxylated fatty alcohol 1-5%
Ethanol 1-5%

I asked my garagist about the grey paste and I'm waiting for the answer.
I think this grey paste is P9 paste made also by AbelAuto. "For a perfect finish after polishing operation with P5 paste".

This french company has been bought by Turtle Wax.

P5 and P9 pastes are professional products but can be found quite easily.

Last edited by Olivier on Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:46 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Recently I had 6.3/400 wundertube with leftover haze in threads pattern, from fungus infection. No solvents could remove it, so I polished the haze away using cigarette ash on micro-fibre pec pad. Either the element was not coated or there was no damage to the coating from the polishing, because the element looks brand new now. I was surprised! Lens IQ improved dramatically, gaining contrast & clarity & brightness.

I also just cleaned some haze from rear elements of mirror lens, with same dramatic improvements in IQ. I think I'm going to keep it now!


PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 12:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
In some cases it's possible, in some cases it's really not.
I guess it depends on what caused the haze. It usually depends on blades grease, in which case apparently
there are gentler greases and nastier greases.
If haze is instead the result of a previous cleaning from fungus infection, forget about saving it.
In any case, if the lens is worth, I recommend delivering the lens to a service lab that has experience in
fixing old lenses.
They will do a much better job than what you can do at home improvising.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 1:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Orio wrote:
In some cases it's possible, in some cases it's really not.
I guess it depends on what caused the haze. It usually depends on blades grease, in which case apparently
there are gentler greases and nastier greases.
If haze is instead the result of a previous cleaning from fungus infection, forget about saving it.
In any case, if the lens is worth, I recommend delivering the lens to a service lab that has experience in
fixing old lenses.
They will do a much better job than what you can do at home improvising.

+1


PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
visualopsins wrote:
Recently I had 6.3/400 wundertube with leftover haze in threads pattern, from fungus infection. No solvents could remove it, so I polished the haze away using cigarette ash on micro-fibre pec pad. Either the element was not coated or there was no damage to the coating from the polishing, because the element looks brand new now. I was surprised! Lens IQ improved dramatically, gaining contrast & clarity & brightness.

I also just cleaned some haze from rear elements of mirror lens, with same dramatic improvements in IQ. I think I'm going to keep it now!


But this recipe really is interesting. I found wundertube haze usually totally unrecoverable. I am taliking about that inner element after the aperture set. It degrades on nearly all older Japan 3rd party 6.3/400mm and 8/500mm. And degradation isn't fungus related. I even found glasses maker that could provide replacement element.


PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 3:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pancolart wrote:
visualopsins wrote:
Recently I had 6.3/400 wundertube with leftover haze in threads pattern, from fungus infection. No solvents could remove it, so I polished the haze away using cigarette ash on micro-fibre pec pad. Either the element was not coated or there was no damage to the coating from the polishing, because the element looks brand new now. I was surprised! Lens IQ improved dramatically, gaining contrast & clarity & brightness.

I also just cleaned some haze from rear elements of mirror lens, with same dramatic improvements in IQ. I think I'm going to keep it now!


But this recipe really is interesting. I found wundertube haze usually totally unrecoverable. I am taliking about that inner element after the aperture set. It degrades on nearly all older Japan 3rd party 6.3/400mm and 8/500mm. And degradation isn't fungus related. I even found glasses maker that could provide replacement element.


In two other wundertube I have the same degradation of that element -- the element is coated, looks coated only one side, that side the coating degrades. The ash trick does make element squeeky clean, better, but does not polish off the remaining coating, leaving part coated, part not coated. Better, but replacement would be best. Wink


PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
visualopsins wrote:
In two other wundertube I have the same degradation of that element -- the element is coated, looks coated only one side, that side the coating degrades. The ash trick does make element squeeky clean, better, but does not polish off the remaining coating, leaving part coated, part not coated. Better, but replacement would be best. Wink

There was remaining coating on my Piesker Picon and polishing paste removed it.
I repeat that I had nothing to loose on these 2 lenses and so I decided to try that tip.


PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
[quote="Olivier"][quote="visualopsins"]In two other wundertube I have the same degradation of that element -- the e

I have a Nikon lens 20/3.5 whose back elements have fog and it appears polish is worn out. Used different cleaner and paste but white map remaining there. Is there third party laboratory/any experience of polishing of lens on economical basis will be appreciated.


PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Why not try in a spectacle store ?


PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
TrueLoveOne wrote:
I have a Seimar 400mm with a really hazy rear element. It looks like there's a piece of foil on it, but I can't remove it. I have tried a window polisher from the automotive sector, but no succes.
I asked an optician last week, and he thinks it might be a coating that turned bad. He adviced removal with chemicals, although he could not tell me which chems to use....

I might just try some car cleaner, the ones they use for scratch and spraypaint removal. (Commandant 4)


Hydrofluoric acid will remove coatings without harming glass. It's not something I'd want to keep around the house, though. Hydrofluoric acid is a very aggressive and dangerous acid, well beyond my limited ability to handle or store safely.

However

There are, or at least there used to be, services which strip and re-coat lenses. You send them your down and dying lens with damaged coating, they strip, re-coat, and return the lens to you. Cost? Dunno. Name? No longer can say. It was many years ago that I contacted such a company. Do not know if they continue in business.

Personal anecdote:

When I was a little boy my dad built from scratch and successfully operated a hi-vac evaporator. It was fascinating. Dad used it to silver telescope mirrors, which he ground himself. The "silver" was, in reality, evaporated aluminum (aluminium).

Hi-vac equipment is used today in the manufacture of integrated circuits. I'm thinking such equipment might also be used to coat lenses.

My dad's evaporator had two pumps. The first was a common mechanical vacuum pump. The second pump was an oil diffusion pump he designed and built himself. It was started only after the vacuum pump had brought the vacuum down as low as it could. Dad used high voltage across two electrodes exposed to the vacuum to judge where he was, and to judge when it was time to fire off and evaporate the aluminum. I still remember the changing colors and patterns of the discharge as the vacuum became ever more deep under influence of one and then both pumps. Stuff like that makes quite an impression on a young child. My dad passed away many years ago, but he certainly provided me some unforgettable memories.


PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very interesting and nostalgic story, thanks for sharing.


PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 5:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pancolart wrote:
Very interesting and nostalgic story, thanks for sharing.

+1
Was your father an engineer ?


PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2013 2:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Olivier wrote:
Pancolart wrote:
Very interesting and nostalgic story, thanks for sharing.

+1
Was your father an engineer ?


No. He was a physicist.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
visualopsins wrote:
Recently I had 6.3/400 wundertube with leftover haze in threads pattern, from fungus infection. No solvents could remove it, so I polished the haze away using cigarette ash on micro-fibre pec pad. Either the element was not coated or there was no damage to the coating from the polishing, because the element looks brand new now. I was surprised! Lens IQ improved dramatically, gaining contrast & clarity & brightness.

I also just cleaned some haze from rear elements of mirror lens, with same dramatic improvements in IQ. I think I'm going to keep it now!


I tried to clean haze off my Minolta MC Rokkor 50mm f1.4.

All I ended up doing is scratching the hell out of the front element. I wondering if this will work and exactly how I should do this. Just dry cigarette ash on a pec pad? Shocked

Is that right?

I know this is an old thread but I hope I get a reply. Lens still works fine but I'd like clean scratch free glass if it can be done.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
"cigarette ash on micro-fibre pec pad"
I think you can try it, but won't remove scratches completely, I'm afraid.


Else, what method did you use when your tried to remove haze from your lens ?

Last edited by Olivier on Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:55 am; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Once glass is scratched you'd need machine polishing to partially repair (specs will change a bit by removing glass even if micro layer).
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Equipment Care and Repairs
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2