how to clean a hazy lens element

Mr.Bones says:

You could try a good soaking in household vinegar. Since the lens is not coated it should be safe...
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busy snow [dihapus] bilang:

toothpaste?
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Michael D Cullen says:

Much as I loathe vinegar, it's now soaking in a big pot in the utility room (I've got incense burning to mask the vile smell).

If that fails, I'll try the toothpaste :)

Thanks guys!
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inetjoker says:

Don't use tooth paste it is abrasive. If the vinegar does not work a dilute solution of household bleach may do the job.
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khoa_sus2 says:

You can wash off/kill the living fungus in a number of ways, but if the glass has already been etched, you may be SOL unless you're able (and have the tools) to polish optical glass. I do wonder what the fungus was eating though, since normally they eat coatings on the lenses and the cement between elements. Maybe yours was coated to begin with, and the fungus laid it to waste?

Anyhow, fungus is cleanable with Windex, if your lens is, indeed, uncoated. Good luck.
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busy snow [dihapus] bilang:

If the glass it already damaged to the point of looking like ground glass, it'd be worth a shot in my opinion if all else fails.

Just use the one that feels least gritty on your teeth.
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prickly money [dihapus] bilang:

Guy at Leica who deals with our total stations swears by hydrogen peroxide solution. Bit trickier to get hold of these days due to heightened security, and the assistants in Boots never believe me when I say it is to clean camera lenses. Would love to know how the vinegar works as a result, and whether you're using any sort in particular.

On that subject, what about using Ilfostop?
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Mahfoo says:

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Michael D Cullen says:

Well worst case scenario I'll polish the shit out of it with Brasso, my usual go-to-solution for clouded optics... just trying as many non-destructive methods as I can first :-P
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pushmi-pullyu says:

I've heard peroxide works well.
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xnedski says:

I just cleaned up an Agfa Isolette lens that was pretty hazy using a 50-50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. It came out amazingly clear.

See www.mamiya35collectors.com/fungus.htm for step by step instructions.
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DarkScribe says:

I give the element an acid wash in an ultrasonic bath. It leaves the lens crystal clear. Depending on how far you want to go with it, a tame Optometrist can send it away for re-coating with a better coating than most lenses that are more than five years old. It doesn't cost much, au$60-80 as rule for the lenses I have done recently. (I have been repairing lenses for thirty + years.)
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Michael D Cullen says:

Well I have no idea what the designers of this lens were thinking, but the front element is non-accessible from the front, and the rest of the lens doesn't actually come apart as the screw heads have been ground off or something (barely visible, but completely un-usable) as well as cemented in with some sort of black glue. I'm basically left with a foot-long tube between the iris (which can't be removed due to the retarded chewed-screw/glue combination) and the front element... guess I could spray some vinegar down there and pray, but the front element isn't terrible...

One of the rear elements, which was the worst, is currently soaking in a ramikin filled with vinegar, so I'll check that tomorrow and see if it's clear.
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luns_spluctrum says:

Cold Cream (Ponds, Boots, Noxzema, Avene)
k10dpentax.blogspot.com/2009/02/cleaning-fungus-traces-1....
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Antoine_K says:

DarkScribe "a tame Optometrist "? As opposed to hunting for the wild variety?

Seriously, any other little services an optometrist can perform for cheap?
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Michael D Cullen says:

Well neither vinegar or toothpaste did the job properly... next thing I'll be trying is a bath in fizzy drink (Coke, Dr Pepper, whatever's handy). If it can clean coins, hopefully it can clean a lens!
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inetjoker says:

The acid may etch the fungal damaged areas deeper. The lens was coated if it was made in the 60s or 70s even if it was Soviet.
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Nadine Erdmann says:

DarkScribe says:

The acid may etch the fungal damaged areas deeper.

Not a chance. The fungus eats through the coating to the lens surface, and very few acids are capable of etching glass, hydrofluoric acid is the only common one. A very poisonous acid. The acid that I use will not harm glass, or any precious, semi-precious stones or metals. The acid bath strips all fungus AND the coating from the lens. The coating is of little use once it has been damaged by fungus.
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inetjoker says:

Good to know. All I remember is that acid was used for an etching of glass. Glad to know it is not every acid.
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geowelch says:

I 3rd the cold cream solution. I successfully removed fungus from the outer element of an older no-name 300mm with coldcream. I left it on the lens for a couple of hours then cleaned it (repeatedly) with lens cleaning fluid.

My local 'tame' optometrist gave me some fine lens grinding compound. I used it to remove the decayed coating from the inner lens element on a Zenobia folding camera. It worked quite well.
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michaelofmelrose says:

I recently purchased Mamiya=Sekor 180/4.5 lens, which had small circular spot of fungus or haze. I was not able to remove the lens elements affected. Took a chance soaked the entire lens in hydrogen peroxide over night, then put the lens in direct sunlight for several days. This handled fungus-haze. Does not seem to effect the shutter, This worked for me and i have very usable lens. I was aware this could ruin the lens,
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Doug Ensel says:

michaelofmelrose says:

Thanks Doug, I would NOT recommend what I did,soak the lens in HPO oiver nite, specially leaf shutter.
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Doug Ensel says:

michaelofmelrose:

I probably wouldn't either. Hydrogen peroxide is mostly water!
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jonathan d reid says:

I use athletes foot cream...
Take the lens out, rub athletes foot cream over the glass surfaces with your fingers, then wash it off, clean with water and baby shampoo, then rinse with clean water prior to drying with a soft towel.
Then I give it a clean with lens cleaner ( I like Calocoat) and a wipe over with a lens tissue (or microfibre cloth) before putting it back in.
Haven't marked a lens or damaged a coating yet and I've been doing that for the last five years or so.
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