Overheard a guy at the camera swap say 'just use lighter fluid for cleaning'

Was at the camera swap meet in Portland last weekend and heard someone tell a newbie to clean his shutter with lighter fluid. I get that Ronsonol was a thing back in the day, but is that still a good idea with modern shutter curtains? Seems risky when you could just use a proper sensor swab and eclipse fluid for $12. On the other hand, some old-timers swear by the lighter fluid trick for stubborn oil. What do you all use for sticky aperture blades in a 90s zoom lens?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_terry13d ago

Yo @elliotm57 dropped some solid knowledge there about the rubberized coatings.

riverh4914d ago

Man, I gotta disagree on this one. Lighter fluid on a modern shutter curtain is just asking for trouble. Those curtains are delicate and the solvents in lighter fluid can eat through the coating or leave a residue that attracts dust over time. The old timers might swear by it because that's what they used on old mechanical shutters that were way tougher. But we've got much better options now that are actually designed for this stuff. Eclipse fluid and a swab is cheap and it's made for the job, why risk ruining a shutter to save a few bucks? If your aperture blades are sticky on a 90s zoom, it's usually just dried up lubricant and a proper cleaner made for optics will handle it without damaging anything.

elliotm5714d ago

Bring up how nobody's talking about the actual chemical reaction happening there. Lighter fluid is naphtha based and it evaporates fast, sure, but it's not leaving some invisible film that attracts dust later. The real issue is it can cause the rubberized coatings on modern shutter curtains to swell or get brittle over time. I've seen it happen on a Canon shutter where the blades started sticking months after someone used lighter fluid on them. Nobody follows up to notice that, they just think it worked fine for a week so it's all good.