Cleaning a lens

[Matthew Cromer]

I can see some kind of gunkish - looking stuff inside my Super-Angulon 65/8 on the hypercurved convex bubble element. It looks like with an appropriate lens wrench I can unscrew a ring securing the front element of my lens and have access to the gunked element below.

I know I can pay someone else big bucks to clean my lens -- is there any obstacle to me doing the job myself and saving the $175?

[Michael Kadillak]

Ever ask yourself the question why these lens experts get such a fee to do this work?

Such is the price of experience and since you do not know what will work to get the job done right and will more than likely iterate on this problem with all sorts of cleaners/solvents or the like I would discuss this with the best person I could find and go with what he/she tells you.

If you are not concerned about putting your lens at risk, go for it. You will very likely get a myriad of suggestions from the group.

Good Luck!

[Matthew Cromer]

Well the experts would be disassembling the whole lens, cleaning every surface, and putting it back together again. Then they would do the same for the shutter.

I'm just taking off a flat disk of glass to get to the bulbous element underneath and cleaning it with a lens cloth.

[Michael Kadillak]

Then ask a potential repairman of your liking the costs of performing that single task to the one lens surface and the risks associated with doing it yourself. Then will very likely let you know how they would how they would attack the problem themselves and will very likely direct you to a solution if it is the best choice.

Adam at SK Grimes has been very helpful in the past telling me how to resolve a problem with a sticky f stop ring on a barrel lens and similar problems that I asked him for his recommendations.

Cheers!

[Steve Hamley]

Matthew,

You probably can, but only remove 1 glass at a time.

Steve

[Jim Rice]

I personally wouldn't dare on a lens that I cared about at all.

[Dave Moeller]

I think Jim's hit the nail on the head. The biggest obstacle you face is using hard pieces of metal (your lens wrench) next to much softer glass. One slip and you could ruin the lens.

Having said this, I will tell you that I've disassembled a number of lenses in my day. (SK Grimes sells a lens wrench that's wonderful.) These have been lenses that were of low value, so I wasn't too concerned if I goofed. So far I've been lucky. You should be aware, though, that there's often more than a single ring holding an element in place. I don't know anything about your specific lens, but you might find that it will take a series of steps to get to the lens surface you're interested in cleaning. Your best friend in these situations is a digicam...take a picture every time you do anything. Take a couple of pictures. Make sure you know what came off of where and at what step in the process. Keep your parts organized (I use Dixie cups). Be especially careful of things like shims...they're there for a reason and they have to go back right where you found them, in the same orientation.

Always resist the temptation to pry anything that's glass or that's near glass. You're guaranteed of screwing up a lens by prying on it. Sometimes the trick is to twist an element out...rubber gloves can be very handy for this. But make sure they're immaculately clean gloves. Grit on a glove that you're using to loosen an element is a sure way to mar the surface of the glass.

The $175 number you quoted seems very high for the cleaning of one lens surface. I'd double check that that's not the price for a full cleaning and shutter restoration. You might find someone who will clean the one surface for a whole lot less money.

If you decide to do this, I wish you well. And if you do it successfully, the large format community would be thankful for a web page describing how you did it. (Those pictures you take to help you put the lens back together would be very useful for this!)

Be well.

[Jim Galli]

I've done several. It's no big deal. Any lens with an air space like the SA is designed for eventual cleaning. Pay attention to spacers and put it back just as you found it and it will be fine.

[Jim Rice]

I would worry about centering.

[Brian Ellis]

If the experts do charge $175 it's partly because you're paying for their rent, equipment, tools, taxes, benefits, i.e. all their overhead in addition to paying for their expertise. Why should you pay for all that when all you want is a simple cleaning of one element? Give it a try, it's not like you're working on a $1,700 SS XL.

[george jiri loun]

"Why should you pay for all that when all you want is a simple cleaning of one element?" It's simple - because the "simple cleaning" is the least difficult part of the job. Before you can get to this part you must successfully remove the element (not at all that simple!) and after you cleaned it you must successfully put it back (even less simple if the element was centered with tools you don't have). That's why.

[Mark Sawyer]

I'd be tempted to shoot a reference photo before cleaning, and an identical one afterwards to see whether anything changed (loss of sharpness/contrast anywhere). You may find yourself taking it apart again to recenter elements, shift spacers, etc., and it would be nice to know the starting point from a negative. It might also be reassuring to be able to see that the cleaning really did improve things.

That said, I agree with Jim Galli; I've bought a couple of bargain lenses that were hazy or dirty, and they cleaned up without complications to be good performers. Care and common sense...

[Matthew Cromer]

Mission Accomplished! Thanks everyone for the help. My friend Bill Stice lent his adjustable lens wrench and opened it up for me. Turns out both internal areas needed cleaning, and quite! Time for me to add an adjustable lens wrench to the flat metal lens wrench I already own.