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Heard a customer at the shop say they cleaned their lens with rubbing alcohol and a paper towel.
It made me realize we need to warn people that even 70% isopropyl can strip coatings, so I'm putting a small sign by the register asking folks to just use a microfiber cloth first.
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the_viola2mo ago
Oh, the horror. That's a great way to turn an expensive lens into a paperweight. The alcohol eats the coating, and the paper towel scratches what's left. A dry microfiber cloth gets like 95% of smudges anyway.
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noah_black2mo ago
Yeah, my buddy did that to his new zoom lens... used a shop towel and some 91% stuff he had in the garage. It left these weird, cloudy patches right in the middle of the glass that wouldn't come off. He was so mad at himself.
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hugo1532mo ago
Man, that's rough but I've seen lenses survive worse. @the_viola is right about the coating, but sometimes that cloudiness is just residue from the alcohol drying with lint stuck in it. A proper lens cleaning pen might have saved it, those things are magic for stubborn spots.
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