If smoke is the cause of the white lettering being yellowed, almost
certainly it will also have attached to the glass surfaces - in the
same way as it does to the windows of a house with smoking residents.
Of course this will already have been wiped of the frontal and rear
surfaces of the lens - regular cleaning will be sufficient.
But the surfaces of the elements inside the lens have also been
exposed to the smoke, and they may have a residue still present.
This actually is one of the causes of 'haze' in lenses. Taking the
lens apart for a cleaning is the only solution.
This is the reason why some sellers advertize their lenses as 'from
non-smoker'. It really makes sense to pay attention when the lettering
has yellowed and look carefully through the glass. If there is no haze
and the glass is crystal clear (apart from the harmless odd 'dust'
particle) everything is OK.
Prolonged exposure to smoke can even damage the coating of lenses (BTW
the white lettering is also a kind of coating).
OTOH there are many other causes for the lettering getting yellow,
which have no influence at all on the quality of the glass. I hope
this applies to your case as well.
Frank van Lindert
Utrecht NL.
On Tue, 16 Jan 2001 05:31:45 +0100, Michael Virsinger
<mikev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
><sorry, forgot the subject line>
>
>I recently purchased a lens that is in mint condition, but the white
>lettering has yellowed. I believe the user was a smoker and I think that
>is
>what discolored the letters, but I'm not sure.
>
>Any tips on what to use to clean or restore the lettering back to it's
>original gleaming white? Also, if indeed it was smoke, will there be any
>residue on the lens surface (and what should I use to clean that)?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Mike V.
>
>
>Michael Virsinger
>Michael Virsinger
>VirTech Solutions, Inc
>1-800-VIR-TECH
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