Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Cleaning Cameras
On a separate note, as per Keppler's recommendation in Pop Photo, I went to Adorama and
bought the Microdear cloth, and found it to work very well.
Alex Karasev
-- Alexander Karasev, June 30, 1999
I also noticed the slight swirls you get when using ROR, but it seemed to work well overall
for cleaning. I just used it to clean a Canon 70-200 2.8 and a Sigma 170-500. After a year
of taking the Sigma to the racetrack for horse racing photography, the lens' front element
was so fouled with sand, dust, oil, etc that I was about to give up on it. Regular cleaning
products like canned air and microfiber cloths did nothing to help it. After one ROR
treatment, it was good as new! ROR even took off moisture spots that had appeared on the
front coating. Sure ROR left a slight swirling pattern (only noticeable when viewed at an
angle under flourescent light), but after some buffing with the microfiber cloth the swirls
were pretty much gone.
-- Derek Dammann, July 16, 1999
A further comment on lens cleaners; since my last posting, I discovered a way to eliminate
the greasy swirls that mysteriously appeared on my lens elements after a treatment with
ROR. I have found that if you saturate a cotton facial pad with ROR, apply the liquid
thickly to glass, and then immediately remove it with another dry pad, the swirls are
eliminated or at least reduced to a degree at which a light buffing will remove them.
The literature on Residual Oil Remover makes mention that certain tissues are "not
absorbant enough for ROR..." My theory is, that since ROR apparently emulsifies oil, too
much wiping simply redeposits the oil back on the glass. This is a somewhat half-assed
explaination, and I'm not entirely convinced of its merit. What I am convinced of is that
ROR seems a bit to fickle to warrant wasting my time with. I use others cleaners that work
better. I would also ask if Phil has experinced any of the aforementioned difficulties, and, if
so, could he please place a posting illustrating his solution. I would be interested in hearing
additional insight.
A final observation on Kodak lens cleaner. Reading the Contents label illustrates that it is
simply ammonia diluted with water. I have often heard that ammonia is harsher on lens
coatings than ethyl alcohol, and to my experience, does not work as well. (I use an alcohol
based cleaner.) Does anyone have any insight here? Phil says that the New Zealander who
extracted the glass fragments from his lens cleaned the glass with acetone, something I
would never consider. Any comments?
-- Timothy Breihan, August 24, 1999
http://www.photo.net/learn/cleaning-cameras (8 of 19) [5/15/2002 7:15:53 PM]