Need help cleaning lens

[jamesdak]

Hello - I recieved a lens the other day that suffered greatly in

shipping. The 20 year old case lining that it wass sent it decided

to disengrate in shipping and I got the lens covered in tiny pieces

of black sticky goo. The seller agreed to take it back but I took a

vacuum to it and removed are the particles. Both lens surfaces came

out very clean but the outside of the barrel is sticky still. I

plan on using denautured alcohol to clean the surface but wanted to

make sure that was safe first. If so my other question has to do

with the large rubber grip. It is the biggest problem as the stuff

stuck to it pretty good and it is real sticky. What's the best

product to use on this rubber. Thanks in advance. Jim<div></div>

[jason hopper]

You've vacuumed off as much as possible. With both caps left on, also try carefully brushing/whisking off more foam with a semi-stiff new clean & DRY paint brush, as wide as you can get. Avoid pushing any goo into any joints.

 

Prior to using any chemicals on the outside, would recommend peeling off the rubber grip. Start at grip's back edge, carefully lift and roll it towards the front.

 

For the outside of the metal barrel (without the grip), first try brushing/whisking with naptha (as in lighter fluid) on another narrower clean paint brush, then wiping with naptha on a cloth (clean brush and cloth between wipings and do over and over). Don't soak or saturate lens, you don't want any naptha migrating inside (and maybe taking goo with it).

 

Working on the rubber grip separately, and first just try plain soap and water on it (over and over). Soap acts like lubricant to loosen goo. Alcohol may make rubber turn gray, naptha and harder solvents may further soften/damage/disintegrate it.

[jamesdak]

Jason - Before I try, is the rubber grip glued on or just "on there"? I've got everything else cleaned up well but the grip is still sticky. Thanks, Jim

[jason hopper]

From the factory, the grips are not glued on. They're a tight "on there" fit. Carefully lift the back edge with a fingernail (or something that won't scratch paint or tear/ding grip) at a starting point, get that lifted edge all the way around grip and try to roll back grip on itself a little, then try pulling/pushing that roll towards front. As you progress you might also have to lift front edge to dislodge the grip from its seat. Best of luck, looks like the lens will be a nice one once it's cleaned.

[fmueller]

Denaturated alcohol is exactly what I would use. Just make sure not to use so much that it might get inside the lens. It shouldn't affect the rubber grip (or the glass for that matter). It should dissolve the sticky stuff to a point, but it'll probably still need a good rubbing. This could mean a fair bit of work on the rubber grip, which is probably best done while it's on the lens. There are other solvents that would probably dissolve the sticky stuff better, but those would also be more likely to affect the rubber grip and/or the paint on the barrel.

[jamesdak]

Denatured alcohol did the trick. I vacuumed as much gunk off as I could and even used a toothbrush to loosen some of the stuff. The repeated applications of the alcohol using cotton balls, cotton swabs, and toothpicks finished to job. The most worrisome for me was that it was also on the back element. But it all vacuumed off cleanly and holding the lens up to a very bright light showed very few "smudges" on the rear glass. I just used a clean lint free cleaning cloth and my breath to clean that part. Here's a picture of the lens now.<div></div>

[rokkor fan]

Wow - where are my sunglasses! Cameraleather.com has a lot to answer for in my opinion ;o)

[bill_thorlin]

Amazed again by the fund of knowledge available.

 

Even more amazed by the colour - not for the purist I guess ! Is there any more of what you are on Jim available for the rest of us ?

[jamesdak]

LOL, that's the only camera I did that too. I just realized last night while out using it that it almost matches my Subaru WRX perfectly!

[bill_thorlin]

Got to be some form of addictive compulsion.

[mike_sato]

>> LOL, that's the only camera I did that too. I just realized last night while out using it that it almost matches my Subaru WRX perfectly!

 

A professional photographer at a wedding reception had all 5 of his Nikon cameras "hand brush" painted green. They looked terrible to my eyes. I asked him why he did that. His response was that ever since he painted them green, he has not had any cameras stolen.

 

Arggghhh,

Mike