Finger oil and lens coatings

[Shawn Booth]

I never thought about using a film tent for lens change in a harsh environment .... good idea Shawn

Not a film tent, a pop up like these:

http://www.line204.com/categories/pr...page=21&alpha=

You can put up walls on each side as well.

A "changing tent" - well, you could use that but then you run the risk of contaminating the interior or worse, scratching it to the point of causing light leaks. Not good.

[DS Williams]

I'd be more concerned about 'diamond polishing' with dust/grit on the lens pens.
Also my lens pens (still in packaging) doesn't have a cap on the brush end, only on the cleaning tip end.
D

Excuse me david but, what do you mean by diamond polishing?

[Matthew Duclos]

Matt,
I thought Acetone (nail polish remover) was quite a bit more stronger than some of the alcohols, i.e methanol, iso-propyl, so I tended to use iso-propyl. Is this correct?
Maybe I'm giving acetone a bad rap as it seems to dissolve certain plastics. Still, I'm only worried about the coating or black around lens, but after years of experience I'm sure you know. I suspect % concentration may have an influence.
The other thing is brand of cleaning fluid. I find Eclipse fluids seem purer and leave far less residue than say any Visible Dust product or general methanol, iso-propyl products I have.
D

Acetone will not damage the coatings if used properly. Wiping is fine, rubbing is bad!
Also, you shouldn't have to worry about edge paint, as you mentioned. As long as you take my advice and ONLY spray liquids onto the tissue and NOT the element itself, you'll be fine.

[Shawn Booth]

Excuse me david but, what do you mean by diamond polishing?

It's when you have fine particles built up on surface and when you rub it around it "polishes" the surface with tiny scratches that over time cause more damage.

[DS Williams]

Would you be able to see these small scratches? If you looked closely at the lens?

[Shawn Booth]

Not until too late...

[DS Williams]

That's frightening! I've used a micro fiber cloth with nothing but my breath to clean fingerprints. You're saying I probably wiped small microscopic debri all over my lens?

Do any of the problems we speak about here have any discernable effect on image quality?

[Stephen Williams]

That's frightening! I've used a micro fiber cloth with nothing but my breath to clean fingerprints. You're saying I probably wiped small microscopic debri all over my lens?

Do any of the problems we speak about here have any discernable effect on image quality?

Yes

Over time Yes

[DS Williams]

By the way Mathew, thank you for contributing your invaluable advice to this thread.

[Shawn Booth]

By the way Mathew, thank you for contributing your invaluable advice to this thread.

Don't forget Stephen Williams too - He's a wealth of knowledge and talent.