nina_jenkins•2mo agoProlific Poster

Nearly ruined a Rolleiflex with isopropyl alcohol on the lens coating

I was cleaning a Rolleiflex 3.5F in my shop last Tuesday and grabbed the bottle of 99% iso by mistake instead of my lens cleaner. Put a drop on a microfiber cloth and went to wipe the front element and saw the coating start to streak almost instantly. Caught it after maybe two seconds but I still had to spend 45 minutes gently buffing it out with lens-specific solution. The owner was picking it up Friday too. Has anyone else had a close call like that with the wrong solvent?

3 comments

3 Comments

simons282mo ago

Man, that's rough... did the coating end up looking okay after all that buffing? I had a similar panic last year when I used Windex on a old Canon FD lens because I was half asleep and not paying attention. Took me forever to get the haze off without scratching anything. Glad you caught it quick, those Rollei's are too nice to mess up like that.

grant_hart1mo ago

Right on, Windex on a lens is basically the devil's workshop isn't it? Ammonia's like a death sentence for coatings, so you dodged a bullet there. Bet you double check every bottle now before you grab it.

riverreed2mo ago

Yeah but now I have a permanent reminder to not operate lens cleaner before coffee.