I used to think ultrasonic cleaners were overhyped until I cleaned a 1970s Canon lens in one

For years I swore by hand cleaning with lens tissue and fluid. Then I bought a cheap ultrasonic off Amazon for $60 after a coworker in Chicago kept insisting they work. I ran a crusty 50mm f1.4 through a 5 minute cycle and it came out spotless, no scratches. Has anyone else had a tool they wrote off that actually proved its worth?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_simon18h ago

Funny enough it was a cheap diamond sharpening stone for me. I always thought you had to get the expensive Japanese water stones for kitchen knives. Then I picked up a $15 diamond plate off Amazon for rough work. Turned out that thing cuts so fast and stays flat. My chef knife went from dull to shaving sharp in like 2 minutes. It beat out my $80 stone for speed. Sometimes the budget stuff works better than you'd think. Maybe it's just me but I learned not to judge a tool by its price tag.

the_brian18h ago

Thought the same way honestly. Saw @the_simon's post and it made me look at my own setup differently. I used to think you had to drop serious cash on stones to get good results, but then I tried a cheap diamond plate my buddy let me borrow. That thing cut through the work way faster than my pricier water stone ever did, and I didn't have to fuss with flattening it. Changed my whole view on budget gear, for real.