Cleaning

[underground]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I wanted to ask you all what you use to clean your camera bodies?

Is there a chemical or wax you use to give your leica a shine?

Or something that might help with finger prints?

 

All i use is a lens cloth to wipe them down, Is that the best way?

I appreciate all comments. Thanx!

[stunsworth]

I don't think it's something I can ever recall doing. Maybe wiping off finger marks with a cloth from time to time, but that it.

 

For lenses I sometimes clean the front and back elements. For that I breath on the lens and then wipe with a microfibre cloth. If a mark is stubborn I'll use a little lens cleaning fluid - sprayed onto the clock, _never_ onto the lens. I have a small bottle of 'ROR' that I bought about 10 years ago and it's still nearly full.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Overgaard]

Microfiber clots here as well for camera body. John Thawley recommended a "miracle cloth" for the Digilux 2 body which I tested. It does make the Digilux 2 shine and might work for other bodies as well (havent' tried my chrome M4 but perhaps I should). See pictures of the cloth working down this page:

 

leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Sites - Leica Digilux 2 sample photos and tests (as well as Panasonic DMC-LC1)

[SJP]

1 part ethanol (pure 97%), 1 part dihydrogenmonoxide (from the tap or distilled from airconditioner/dehumidifier see Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide Homepage), 1-2 drops of washing up liquid per 100 ml.

 

Apply using Kleenex & dry immediately. This clears 20+ years worth of detritus with no side effects that I can recall.

[farnz]

1 part ethanol (pure 97%), 1 part dihydrogenmonoxide (from the tap or distilled from airconditioner/dehumidifier see Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide Homepage), 1-2 drops of washing up liquid per 100 ml.

 

Apply using Kleenex & dry immediately. This clears 20+ years worth of detritus with no side effects that I can recall.

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

 

While your method sounds very powerful and effective it sounds way beyond me and I'd end up poisoning myself or blowing myself up ... or both. I think I'll stick to tried-and-true 'grease of elbow'.

 

Pete.

[earleygallery]

LOL Pete,

 

Your mixture sounds far more interesting.

 

I rarely clean the camera bodies unless of course there is a need to i.e. I've dropped ketchup from my burger onto the top plate . I do use a blower brush to clean off dust which accumulates around the controls and if I do clean the body itself I'll use a lens cloth or maybe one of those 'wet wipe' type of lens tissues.

[dcoombs]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I just use my shirt sleeve for the body or viewfinder. It ain't rocket science...

[Overgaard]

I just use my shirt sleeve for the body or viewfinder. It ain't rocket science...

 

Sometimes it is. I used a shirt made of flax one day to clean my Digilux 2 viewfinder and I might as well have used sandpaper. The result was the same as the coating appeared to be gone and there's small scratches all over the center of the glass where the shirt was used.

 

Microfiber cloths (as the ones bought for cleaning glasses) really are amazing to clean lenses and other surfaces.

[underground]

Thanx for all your responses. I will stick to my micro fiber lens cloth.

 

"grease of elbow" LOL!

[SJP]

'wet wipe' type of lens tissues

My magical recipe is close enough to that except it does not introduce a stong synthetic lavender smell to my (photographic) equipment.

 

I agree that the recipe provided by Farnz is more poetic/potent. However, bats are a protected species in my part of the world which poses a minor problem.

[underground]

Hang a scented tree from you lens for a more pleasurable photographic experience.

[farnz]

... I agree that the recipe provided by Farnz is more poetic/potent. However, bats are a protected species in my part of the world which poses a minor problem.

A certain W.Shakespeare is to thank for that recipe although it's unlikely that McBeth's witches tested it on digital sensors.

 

As for the bats, I suspect that wildlife protection may have been ... shall we say ... less 'stringent' in his day. (And btw, to avoid a pointless debate, the "we" is a figure of speech and is not intended to include or incriminate anybody. Any likeness in the "we" to persons living or dead is purely incidental and the author denies any deliberate attempt to portray the "we" incorporates as real people. Phew. )

 

Pete.

Edited February 16, 2009 by farnz

[masjah]

1 part ethanol (pure 97%), 1 part dihydrogenmonoxide (from the tap or distilled from airconditioner/dehumidifier see Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide Homepage), 1-2 drops of washing up liquid per 100 ml.

 

Apply using Kleenex & dry immediately. This clears 20+ years worth of detritus with no side effects that I can recall.

 

If you leave out the washing-up liquid, it also makes a very good throat descaler, though it often needs several applications.

[farnz]

If you leave out the washing-up liquid, it also makes a very good throat descaler, though it often needs several applications.

John,

 

The throat descaler sounds like it might be appropriate for a three-legged lizard (the fourth having been dispatched into the cauldron).

 

Pete.

[jaapv]

I always leave my cameras on the bonnet in the carwash to clean them. Am I doing something wrong?

[wizard]

I always leave my cameras on the bonnet in the carwash to clean them. Am I doing something wrong?

 

No, not unless you strap them down tightly. Makes for some eye-watering pictures .

 

Andy

[farnz]

I always leave my cameras on the bonnet in the carwash to clean them. Am I doing something wrong?

Not as long as you remove the lens first and leave it on the bonnet too, Jaap.

 

Pete.

[delander †]

Best way is not to take them out of the cabinet, ever

 

Jeff

[JHAG]

I always leave my cameras on the bonnet in the carwash to clean them. Am I doing something wrong?

 

jaapv, for me, handwash only, carwashing scratches the bonnet - and maybe the lenses too.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[jaapv]

jaapv, for me, handwash only, carwashing scratches the bonnet - and maybe the lenses too.

 

No problem there, last Friday I scratched the car a bit anyway. Between 10.000 and 15.000 Euro my dealer tells me:(