Tips for cleaning sticky ZEN coating?

Prognathous · Jul 3, 2007

I have an old Sigma 90mm Macro lens that feels very sticky to touch due to the age effect on the external "ZEN" coating (used by Sigma in the 90's). Is there any way to get rid of this coating, or at the very least get rid of the sticky feeling?

Thanks,
Prog.

Ante Vukorepa · Jul 3, 2007

Kidding...

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Ante Vukorepa

My (perpetually) temporary gallery can be found here -
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Chuck Lantz · Jul 4, 2007

Prognathous said:
I have an old Sigma 90mm Macro lens that feels very sticky to touch
due to the age effect on the external "ZEN" coating (used by Sigma in
the 90's). Is there any way to get rid of this coating, or at the
very least get rid of the sticky feeling?

Combine some vegetable oil and some bread crumbs. Carefully coat the lense with this mixture, and heat for 30 minutes.

Oh, wait. That's a recipe for veal cutlets. Ignore all that.

Seriously, I'd use a cotton swab with a bit of lense cleaner on a very small area to see if that would kill the stickiness. If that doesn't work, try cotton swabs with alcohol.

(Insert obligatory alcohol-related response here)

--

'If they're not screaming at you to get out of the way, you're not close enough' http://www.ChuckLantz.com

Zone8 · Jul 4, 2007

... Zoom Cutlets.

Brings a new meaning to the term "lens coating".
--
Zone8

The photograph isolates and perpetuates a moment of time: an important and revealing moment, or an unimportant and meaningless one, depending upon the photographer's understanding of his subject and mastery of his process. -Edward Weston

SandyF · Jul 4, 2007

Prog. seriously (vs zoom cutlets..LOL.. I think the holiday 'spirit' is getting into the gang here) have you talked with the Sigma NY folks? If they don't have an immediate answer, maybe they can check with Japan?
Best regards, Sandy
[email protected]
http://www.pbase.com/sandyfleischman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandyfleischmann (newest SD14s)

Ante Vukorepa · Jul 4, 2007

Chuck Lantz said:
Seriously, I'd use a cotton swab with a bit of lense cleaner on a
very small area to see if that would kill the stickiness. If that
doesn't work, try cotton swabs with alcohol.

Won't cotton swabs leave fiber stuck to the coating behind?

Maybe rice paper or optical paper (the thin, non-fibery stuff) would be a better match...

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--------------------------------------------
Ante Vukorepa

My (perpetually) temporary gallery can be found here -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orcinus/

Ringwraith69 · Jul 4, 2007

Maybe you could try those tissues that are meant for cleaning glasses. They are strong, won't fall apart and the cleansing agent in them is quite harmless, at least my glasses seem to stay just fine.
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There's no problem so big that you can't run away from it!

adegroot · Jul 4, 2007

If the sticky coating has no effect on the photos, why bother?

If it does, then yes, you need to clean...

DaSonyGuy · Jul 4, 2007

Chuck Lantz said:
Prognathous said:

I have an old Sigma 90mm Macro lens that feels very sticky to touch
due to the age effect on the external "ZEN" coating (used by Sigma in
the 90's). Is there any way to get rid of this coating, or at the
very least get rid of the sticky feeling?

Click to expand...

Combine some vegetable oil and some bread crumbs. Carefully coat the
lense with this mixture, and heat for 30 minutes.

Oh, wait. That's a recipe for veal cutlets. Ignore all that.

ROFL!
--
DSG
--

--
http://sigmasd10.fotopic.net/

docmaas · Jul 4, 2007

Try alcohol, that is what is in the glasses cleaners I believe, and if that doesn't work try a little acetone or fingernail polish remover but be very careful as it may remove more than just the sticky coating or even make it stickier though the latter is less likely.

Mike

Prognathous said:
I have an old Sigma 90mm Macro lens that feels very sticky to touch
due to the age effect on the external "ZEN" coating (used by Sigma in
the 90's). Is there any way to get rid of this coating, or at the
very least get rid of the sticky feeling?

Thanks,
Prog.

--
'America is not at war,
The Marine Corps is at war;
America is at the mall.'

Prognathous · Jul 4, 2007

SandyF said:
have you talked with the Sigma NY
folks? If they don't have an immediate answer, maybe they can check
with Japan?

I don't live in the US, but I think you're right about contacting Sigma. I have good experience with their local distributer, so they may be able to help. If they do, I'll post an update.

Prog.

Prognathous · Jul 4, 2007

docmaas said:
Try alcohol, that is what is in the glasses cleaners I believe,

This sounds like a good idea.

docmaas said:
and if that doesn't work try a little acetone or fingernail polish
remover but be very careful as it may remove more than just the
sticky coating or even make it stickier though the latter is less
likely.

As far as I recall from past experiments trying to remove sticker left-overs from CD boxes, I think that acetone and plastic don't mix. There's bound to be irreversible damage to the latter. Alcohol should be a safer option.

Prog.

Prognathous · Jul 4, 2007

adegroot said:
If the sticky coating has no effect on the photos, why bother?

Try spreading some strawberry jam on the outside of one of your lenses and you'll soon find out.

adegroot said:
If it does, then yes, you need to clean...

It doesn't. Optically the lens is fine, though I was amazed to find out that my 28-105/2.8-4.0 (non-DG) outperforms it at 90mm/4.0. I knew that my copy of this old Sigma zoom is a good one, but I didn't expect it to be that good.

Prog.

Tucsondave.2 · Jul 4, 2007

Try rubber cement thinner. It won't harm plastics or paint. Any artist supply store should have it. In US its called Bestine. I have used it to remove sticky label residue but I don't know what the ZEN coating was. Of course if it makes it worse then you really would become one with your lens!
td
--
http://www.pbase.com/tucsondave

docmaas · Jul 4, 2007

Prognathous said:
docmaas said:

Try alcohol, that is what is in the glasses cleaners I believe,

Click to expand...

This sounds like a good idea.

Prognathous said:

and if that doesn't work try a little acetone or fingernail polish
remover but be very careful as it may remove more than just the
sticky coating or even make it stickier though the latter is less
likely.

Click to expand...

As far as I recall from past experiments trying to remove sticker
left-overs from CD boxes, I think that acetone and plastic don't mix.
There's bound to be irreversible damage to the latter. Alcohol should
be a safer option.

Prog.

Some plastics are ok with acetone and others are not. That's why you should try a very little bit first. Maybe one of the chemists on the list can say which plastics are affected an which are not. I have kept acetone in plastic bottles without a problem but the next time I tried it with a different bottle it melted the bottle.

One thing acetone is definitely good for though is superglue.

Mike

--
'America is not at war,
The Marine Corps is at war;
America is at the mall.'

Prognathous · Aug 14, 2007

The combination that worked is 70% alcohol (95% probably would have been better) and melamine sponge ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine_foam ). It took some time to remove all the ZEN mess, but it was worth it. The lens is now clean, non-sticky and fun to use

I hope this helps,

Prog.

Chiggs · May 7, 2010

A bit of a daft question, could you please advise me where I could look to buy the cleaning alcohol?

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Durán Photography...as individual as you are™

brazile · May 7, 2010

Assuming he's talking about isopropyl alcohol, you should be able to buy it in various strengths at your local pharmacy.

Robert

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Tips for cleaning sticky ZEN coating?

Prognathous

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