So I tried ultrasonic cleaning vs hand scrubbing for old Nikon lenses

After I picked up a beat up 50mm f1.4 from a flea market last month, I figured I'd compare my usual hand scrubbing with a borrowed ultrasonic cleaner. Hand scrubbing took me like 45 minutes on one lens element and I still saw haze, lol. Threw the whole lens group in the ultrasonic for 10 minutes with some simple solution and it came out spotless, like new glass. Has anyone else had luck with cheaper ultrasonics or is it all about the fancy brands?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_garcia17d ago

Threw the whole lens group in the ultrasonic" - yep, did that with some old camera stuff and it worked perfectly.

angela_morgan17d ago

Yeah @emma_garcia I did the same with an old set of lenses from a thrift store and they came out crystal clear. Honestly now I just toss anything small and glassy in there when I'm too lazy to clean it by hand.

ruby65917d ago

Landed myself a cheap ultrasonic on Amazon for like 40 bucks and honestly thought I'd just break the thing. First test was a grimy old 35mm lens I'd given up on after scrubbing it three times with like ten different cloths. Popped it in for five minutes and it came out looking like it just came off the assembly line. Can't tell you if the fancy hundred dollar ones are better cause I'm too cheap to find out, but my little bargain bin cleaner has saved me from going cross-eyed over tiny glass. Got a few more beat up lenses in the closet I'm itching to throw in there now.