Cleaning scope lens?

[shoobe01]

Understand. A lot of these products, esp for lab or other process control purposes, etc. have been made for decades exactly the same. Was hoping there was a mark, a box, etc. so we could all know what it was.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I had a discussion about cleaning riflescope lenses with the CEO of Deon (March scopes) at SHOT 2020. His technique is very cool. Take a bottle of water like the one you drink from, and splash the objective lens with it. Splash it on the lens and remove the dust, grime and assorted snot. Then use a microfiber cloth to wipe the lens dry and clean. Of course, this only applies to March scopes, I haven't a clue if this would work or be bad for other brands.

 

[xring]

Denys , a preliminary clean air blow-off and flush with water to wash away loose Particulates is a good idea . Snot is not very soluble in water ( don't ask me how I know ) so you might just spread it around with your cloth . I have seen some pretty unusual contaminants on Scope Lenses . My shooting buddies have some older Steel Tubed Scopes which they treat with anti-rust agents and sometimes these get onto the Lenses . I have also seen a lot of finger prints on Lenses . There is an old saying among Opticians : " Oil & Water Don't Mix " ..... ( or maybe that was among Chefs ) . Anyway , sometimes something stronger than water is required . I won't mention what Solvents I have used on these hard cases , but I always warned the owners about possible bad consequences . So far , I have not lost any shooting buddies !

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I hear what you're saying @xring. This is why I use the old photographer's trick of leaving the sunshade on my riflescopes all the time; it keeps fingers and snot away from the expensive objective lens. I also put the lens caps on soon after I finish shooting, before lifting the rifle of the line.

BTW, when I mean splash, I mean just squeeze the snot out of the bottle aimed at the lens, not just a dainty sprinkle.

Of course, stuff can and does happen, and I have a veritable panoply of lens cleaners and solvents to remove stubborn stuff, but I will tell you that sometimes, it's just better to leave whatever is on the lens there and get it removed later.

ETA: BTW, that color change that you mentioned earlier, that's what happens when you change a multi-coated lens to a single-coated lens or a uncoated lens.

 

[xring]

Denys , the Sunshade is a good idea . Shooting in the Pdog Fields out West is trying . Lots of high winds and dust at times . Capping the Scope between shots would drive me nuts as the shooting is near continuous for hours , so I used to clean at the end of each days shoot . Yes , I am aware about the color changing as I once ran Special " Glass" and Non-Glass coating facilities using Tungsten Evaporative Boats and had access to Sputtering Equipment to apply various Optical Coatings , but these were angled toward the Ultraviolet Spectrum . I would like to learn a lot more about modern day Scope Lens Coatings . Do you have any leads to that end ? Sorry if I'm veering off from the OP's Cleaning question , and Shoobe ........ if I find out any more Info. on the Optical Cloth , I will post it .

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I've ruined a few sunshades, (or as we refer to them on camera lenses, lens hoods,) over the decades bumping into things . Much easier to replace a damaged hood than a damaged lens.

I don't think I was saying that you should cap the lens between shoots, but rather between sessions. Of course, if your shooting session last hours, then so be it; that's why you have a sunshade.

As for lens coating instructional videos, I haven't checked Youtube yet. I'm sure some bozo is showing how to do that with crayon or a spray can.

I find that glass makers, grinders, polishers, coaters and other folks who practice these dark arts, are really secretive about how they are doing it or to whom, for whom and where. I have learned some at the Nikon lenses (Nikkor) website, but I basically know between nothing and next to nothing on the coating subject, just a faint idea one how it may be done.