Flashlight Lens Care...

Just a quick suggestion on keeping the lens on our lights clean.

Just like camera lenses, flashlight lens get dirty, too. Pocket lint, fingerprints among other things.

For all my professional lenses we use ROR, or ROR2. This is a liquid solvent that removes dirt like oils, and finger marks, but a film we do not see from industrial pollutants and other airborne particles which gather on lenses.

Blow off surface dust with a blower bulb. In our studio I have an air compressor which is for a darkroom, and has a filter to produce pure, clean air, with no dirt exiting the nozzle. For flashlights, the Rocket Blower is best, the Zeeion blower is wonderful for location, but not necessary for lights. After you blow the dust off, use the ROR with tissues.

The fine photo micro fiber cloths seem to be all the same, and they work very good, but I still like tissues to start.

Tiffen makes nice tissues. They are a good company that has won Academy Awards, and Emmy's for their products.

Take your time, and do a few passes, and get the edges well, too.

The company states you can pick up an extra f.Stop by cleaning with ROR.

Years ago, when it first came out, I tried it on a lens, and checked the light meter readings before and after using the same reference 18% gray card, and it did allow more light in like +2/3 f.

It really helps get the dirt along the edges of your lenses very well.

This is excellent for flashlights, too, and I recommend it highly as part of our flashlight maintenance kits. It works best with the standard lens quality lens tissues. (NOTE: Do not use bathroom tissue) a quality 3M micro fiber cloth works well, to finish on large glass.

I may not be the first to talk of this, but I do use it on over $100,000.00 worth of Nikon lenses everything from a fisheye to 600/4. also, the viewfinders on camera bodies. (you can wipe the front of your flash, too)

You can get this almost anywhere cameras are sold. B & H has good info about it on their site.

This is not about cameras, however, we do have glass, and lenses on our lights that should be looked after, and this may make them a little brighter.

Some things with light transmission and glass carryover from stills to video, to motion picture cameras,and...flashlights, now as well.

Another solution from Visible Dust, works good as well.

For everyday cleaning a Rocket Blower, or the blower you like best, and an Ilford anti-static silicone cloth, the orange ones work great for touch up cleaning

Hope this helps,

Best Wishes,

RL/NR

PS...one last tip is Lens Pens. I would not use one on my Nikon Glass unless I had to, but on flashlights they work great. This is a subjective item, and I just wanted to add it to the mix. Frankly, they do work.

I would love to hear how others take care of their flashlight glass.

Thanks,

RL

Zeiss Optics makes sterile whipes dripped with isoprophyl alcohole - great stuff to clean your dirty lens Its designed by Zeiss Optics so its safe to clean anti-reflective multi-layer coated lens like Canon L-series, Zeiss T* etc - Ive tested them with mine canon 20-35/2.8 L and 35-350/3,5-5,6 L and Zeiss 8x20B binoculars - everytime I use those clothes my lenses are like new! :devil:

The package is blue-white with Zeiss logo on the front and description: Lens Cloth Pre-Moistened 6 x 5 in. Made in Usa - its small package with big cloth so its great to carry in jeans pocket.

That ROR stuff sounds interesting. While I'm very careful with any optical lenses, I confess to using any piece of cloth at hand for my flashlights. But then, none of my lights have premium lenses.

Geoff

You can use a lens pen. I actually simply bought a bulk amount of the active ingredient in the lens pen. Took me a while to figure what the stuff was but now I know. It's very simply lamp black. You can buy a relatively large container of it that will pretty much last you for the rest of your life for only about $10. You can refill your lens pen or just use a tightly wadded up microfiber cloth. Dip it in the lamp black and wipe it. In one swipe all oils and contaminants are gone, I use it to clean DSLR lenses and even the sensor (albeit with a chamois tipped applicator for the sensor). Stuff works amazing. If you wanna see how well it works, a simple way to make lamp black is to light a wax candle and run a piece of glass over it to blacken the glass. That's lamp black. Wipe it up with a wadded cloth and try it. You'll be surprised how immaculately clean it leaves even super multi coated optics, which are relatively impossible to clean completely even with wet methods like alcohol.

kubus_pl said:

Zeiss Optics makes sterile whipes dripped with isoprophyl alcohole - great stuff to clean your dirty lens Its designed by Zeiss Optics so its safe to clean anti-reflective multi-layer coated lens like Canon L-series, Zeiss T* etc - Ive tested them with mine canon 20-35/2.8 L and 35-350/3,5-5,6 L and Zeiss 8x20B binoculars - everytime I use those clothes my lenses are like new! :devil:

The package is blue-white with Zeiss logo on the front and description: Lens Cloth Pre-Moistened 6 x 5 in. Made in Usa - its small package with big cloth so its great to carry in jeans pocket.

Click to expand...

These are good, I have some that came with my Zeiss Binoculars.

I just use a micro-fiber cloth that's made for glass. Works good on the glasses I wear all day long, doesn't scratch and cleans better than the products sold for that purpose. If my lens is really dirty, I normally just put them under running water and then use the micro-fiber cloth. Haven't got a single scratch on any one of my lenses, but I don't drop them in mud either.

However, I find what you said very interesting RedLed and will definitely have a lens cleaning day (from glasses to flashlights, including bino's and camera) at least once a year (I'm not tough on my equipment and don't use it excessively).

Thanks for all this information.

I would like to thank RedLed for posting this excellent thread and wholeheartedly endorse his recommendations. Flashlight lenses are just that, lenses and should be treated accordingly. I've been using ROR on my fine camera lenses for more than twenty years and there is really no other lens cleaning fluid quite like it. ROR stands for residual oil remover, by the way. Here's a link to their web site.

One of the MAIN things to remember about cleaning ANY lens is NEVER WIPE A DRY LENS!! You will grind whatever grit is on it right into the glass and scratch it irreparably.

Once in awhile I will take a waterproof flashlight and run it briefly under a faucet to remove major soil rather than blow it off. You can use a mild dishwasher detergent to clean and help move away small grit. I will then carefully wipe the lens with a piece of a well worn out 600 count cotton bed sheet that I cut up for this purpose. It works much like a lint free microfiber but because it is cotton it is absorbent. I swear by this stuff and use it to clean my eyeglasses all the time. (Never use this on fine photographic lenses, however - stick with lens paper for that) When the lens is dry I will apply ROR and clean with a good quality lens paper using small circular motions. Be gentle. This will give you a pristinely clean flashlight lens.

This thread brings to mind a few experiences I've had. One time a friend and neighbor was visiting and I showed him one of my Surefires. The lens was kinda' dirty, I admit. Well all of a sudden my friend who was checking out the light decided to clean the lens by wiping it with his T-shirt. I screamed, NO!!! DON"T DO THAT!!! and practically leaped out of my chair at the kitchen table. I guess I kinda' freaked him out. Looking a little shocked, he said, "But it's just a flashlight". Well, I tried my best to explain it all to him but to this day he thinks I'm just a fanatic weirdo. I 'spose I am.

Another time, some years back a friend who knows I'm a photographer came over to show me a stunning looking vintage brass barreled Schneider Kreuznach 75 mm f/4.5 enlarging lens in mint condition he had just purchased at a flea market for 10 dollars from someone who didn't know what it was. After I examined it and handed it back to him and started telling him what he had and what amazing condition it was in I watched in horror as he started to grind the lens with his T-shirt before I could stop him and sure enough he left many swirled scratches in this previously mint piece of glass. It is painful for a guy like me just to tell this story.

Anyway, RedLed is right! Keep your lenses clean and you will get better performance from your lights! Just be careful how you go about it!