I did try alcohol swabs (for cleaning wounds and such), with no effect. I am hoping not to have to actually manually clean each and every groove, due to the fine pitch.
carstenw wrote:
I did try alcohol swabs (for cleaning wounds and such), with no effect. I am hoping not to have to actually manually clean each and every groove, due to the fine pitch.
I was expecting you would use the cotton swab on each groove. But, if there is no affect, possibly DI water applied the same way. I know that it would be time consuming, but, it would be worth trying at least for a small number of the grooves to see if it is worth continuing to complete the entire lens.
I might try again with another cleaning alcohol I have, and cotton swabs. I am not certain if there is a difference in effect between isopropanol 70% and 99.9% for this purpose (not being remotely talented at chemistry). The stuff is annoying, and it isn't the only lens I have which has it, but it is by far the most expensive and nicest lens with it
So, evaporated and gently blown on? Or is a cotton swap okay here too? The only silicon grease I have at the moment is meant for bicycle chains. Is that suitable at all?
My 35lux R has a seam on rubber band so I pull it out, do a thorough water clean with toothbrush and detergent and glue it back. Even this way, it require quite a bit effort to clean it well. The lens is not in mint sharp so I can do a bunch of stuff include trim down the lens barrel to be able to use on Nikon.
I am not sure it is suppose to have a seam like the one I have or really it should be a ring. but it works. I don't like those rubber rings. Old leica R lens doesn't have that. even latest 50cron doesn't have it but seems all three latest R lux have the rubber ring, which is a shame IMO.
Ron Pfister wrote:
Apply a very small amount of grease to the swab, then rub it into the grooves until it wears out. Repeat as needed.
I should add that silicon grease on optical elements is very hard to get rid of. When done applying the grease to the rubber ring, I recommend thoroughly wiping the rubber surface with a clean cloth to remove any excess grease. I would also recommend keeping both caps on the lens during the whole procedure.
carstenw wrote: Bonus points for whoever can tell me how to get that white crud out of the grooves in the focusing ring rubber.
Someone mentioned this product on this forum a while ago. I cleaned exterior of my 2nd hand Leica lenses and it made it look like new, with a deep black colour.
Re the rubber. Rubber needs oil in it and using alcohol just sucks the oil out and gives that white, dry look that you are trying to fix. Try to clean it with a gentle lens cleaner (which has ammonia in it) but ultimately you need to put the oil back in the rubber and there are various products for vinyl/plastic/rubber that can do that (like silicon).
JohnJ wrote:
Your lens is 53 lenses newer than mine!
Nice, but you're missing a drop-in polarising filter! See below.
Re the rubber. Rubber needs oil in it and using alcohol just sucks the oil out and gives that white, dry look that you are trying to fix. Try to clean it with a gentle lens cleaner (which has ammonia in it) but ultimately you need to put the oil back in the rubber and there are various products for vinyl/plastic/rubber that can do that (like silicon).
JJ
Ha, funny about the serial numbers. Ultimately I guess there aren't that many, and it may have been a single run or maybe two.
My general feeling is that digital polarizers are not that effective, and so I don't use them. Do you feel that this is worth it? Thinking of your shots, you do go for high contrast, bright colour shots, so I suppose it fits right in for you. I would buy one for completeness, but I guess the prize will be very high.
