Cheap lens cleaner ruined a $300 coating in one wipe

Picked up that spray bottle from the dollar store, seemed fine. Wiped a 50mm prime and the coating just peeled off like sunburn. Anyone else had bargain cleaners eat their glass or am I the only dumb one here?

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1 Comment

the_beth18d ago

Oh man, that is brutal. I feel your pain, seriously. I did the same thing with a cheapo cleaning kit off Amazon a couple years back. The spray ate right through the outer coating on my old zoom lens and left these weird cloudy streaks that would not come off no matter what. What finally worked for me after that mess was switching to the microfiber cloths that come pre-moistened, you know, the single-use packets. They are a bit more pricey but they are made for camera glass specifically. I also learned the hard way to never spray anything directly on the lens, you gotta put a drop on the cloth first instead. For your current situation, maybe hit up a camera shop and see if they have a professional cleaning service. Some places can strip and re-coat but it might cost almost as much as a new lens, honestly. Just know you are not the only one who got burned by this, those dollar store sprays are basically just alcohol and ammonia in a bottle.