Shoutout to the old timer who showed me his lens cleaning trick with a bamboo skewer

I was at a camera fair in Portland a few years back, and this guy named Hank saw me struggling with a stuck filter on a vintage 50mm lens. He pulled out a bamboo skewer, wrapped a bit of lens tissue around the tip, and used it to gently pry the filter ring loose without touching the glass. He told me he learned that trick in the 70s when he worked for a camera shop downtown. It saved me from ruining a $40 repair job, and I still use that method every time I deal with stuck filters. Has anyone else picked up a weird repair habit from an old pro like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_hill1mo ago

Did Hank ever show you how he preps the bamboo skewer so it doesn't scratch the lens coating over time?

spencer_moore391mo ago

Wait, there's a specific method for the skewers and not just sanding them down?