I am not sure if anyone has examined this issue but can prolonged exposure to smoke (cigarette, cigar, pipe) lead to damage to the optical coatings of binoculars?
The reason I ask is relatively simple. I recently bought a used pair of Nikon SE 8x32s from Ebay. Optical quality is excellent. Above average by far. However, I am still under the visual impression that my 8x42 HGs offer a slightly better optical image in terms of contrast, brightness, etc... I know that this cannot be right after reading the comments of so many others who have also made the comparison.
My only "out" as it were is the fact that the binoculars practically reek of cigar smoke. The binoculars, the case, everything. I am guessing that they were exposed to an exceedingly high amount of smoke over an extended period of time to have them still smell in such a manner. I have since used some odor-elimination products on them and it has helped quite a bit yet I am still left to wonder if the prolonged exposure has somehow damaged the coatings.
Thoughts?
I very much doubt that the previous owner's smoking habits would have an impact on the coatings... modern coatings are extremely resistant to all but the strongest chemicals (Deet being the one coating killer).
Unless these binos were in an enclosed area for a substantial amount of time with the owner, it's not even likely that there would be a nicotine build-up on the lenses to impare the clarity.
Give the lenses a clean and see if there's any typical yellow residue on the cloth used.
cheers,
Andy
You'll need to clean the body with something strong, usually a good commercial glass cleaner or some soap and water to get rid of the smell permanently. Coated with nicotine....
The lenses should be fine. Just clean them normally... brush dust away, use lots of cleaning fluid at first, and you'll probably ruin a microfiber cloth or two. Perhaps the pre-moistened lens cloths would be good here. I generally only use them to clean the body and eye cups of my binocular and my microfiber for the actual glass.