Proper Care of Lenses (cleaning)

<p>Howdy -<br>

My personal lenses rarely need anything beyond a blower and a brush (I

never use the combo blower/brush because I found they blow dust from

the brush back onto the lens) and I use B+W #010 UV filters on all my

lenses. But I have had to clean used lenses I've bought - and I've

always used lens tissue paper.

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Well - after visiting mom, and looking at her eos system - with

missing caps (front and rear) and fingerprints and dust all over her

glass - I brought her system home with me so I could clean her lenses,

put sky filters on, and replace the missing caps.

<p>

So I went to the local pro shop to buy tissue - I have fluid, but am

almost out of tissue. They say they don't carry it anymore because it

leaves lint. I said I never have that problem, and any lint left is

easily removed with a blower. They said they also can scratch a lens.

<p>

I bought into their marketing and bought a soft cloth - I needed

<i>something</i> with which to clean moms lenses which are beyond just

a brush and blower - but I want to hear from people here - 'cuz I have

<b>never</b> experienced the problems they speak of - lint or

scratching from lens tissue. Of course, I never apply pressure - maybe

that's why?

<p>

What are opinions here? I buy most my supplies from Adorama as it is

because it's cheaper than local even with shipping (I'm in Redding, CA

- not a major city) and I need to know if I should order tissue from

Adorama next time, or if the cloth really is better for the lens.

First off realize that most lens surface damage occurs by the well meaning "cleaner".The best way to clean a lens is with lens tissue & a tiny drop of an approved lens cleaner.Years ago I apprenticed with a cine cameraman.I once asked how to remove fingerprints?To which he responded,"you dont put your damned finger on the lens"!

Yes - I'm aware that you do not put the finger on the lens.

*my* lenses don't have finger prints on them.

 

I'm curious if there is anything to lens cloth *really* being better than tissue.

I used to use Kodak tissue and fluid, now seeming anachronisms. Later, I added the step of using ROR I (Residual Oil Remover) and sections of disposable industrial optical polishing cloth to remove the remaining oils. What a hassle!

 

More recently, I have had good results with microfiber lens cleaning cloths. You have to store them carefully to keep them from collecting grit, which can cause a lot of grief. Replacing them periodically is considered good practice, even though they are washable.

 

Years ago, a camera dealer told me to clean the mirror on my Rolleiflex TLR with activated charcoal powder and a Q-Tip. While sensible-sounding, this advice seemed a trifle extreme.

 

I recently ran into this advice again here in the forums on photo.net, so I went to the health food store and bought a bottle of activated charcoal capsules -- a lifetime supply. As advised, I emptied some of them into a translucent film can (it helps to be able to see the powder).

 

You dip the tip of a genuine Q-Tip (no imitation brands, please!) into the activated charcoal powder, and then tap off the excess against the lip of the film can. After cleaning, you blow off any minute particles of charcoal with your blower (I say not to use the brush -- it collects unwanted oils).

 

I tried the activated charcoal method on my new Cosina Voigtlander Bessa R2 and like-new Minolta M-Rokkor 40/2 lens (CLE version -- the Minolta iteration of the Leitz 40/2 Summicron-C), with B+W MRC UV filter.

 

It worked like a charm, removing any and all of the oils that I could see, and as safely as I could ever imagine. It even took the yucky slime off the outside of the lens cap after I dropped it in freshly-made mole poblano sauce. I felt like an idiot, but the charcoal did the job!

 

You can hardly carry and use the film can of charcoal when you're out shooting, so I washed the daylights out of my microfiber cloth (using hot water and Ivory liquid, rinse, dissolved baking powder, rinse, Dr. Bronner's unscented liquid Castile baby soap, and another serious rinse -- followed by hanging to dry, which took about 2 hours). I keep the microfiber cloth folded up in its little plastic envelope in my camera bag, and use it mainly to keep the grease out of the eyepiece and off of the rangefinder window.

 

Activated charcoal is great. "Try it, you'll like it!"

http://www.lensclens.com/

A old, soft cotton hanky and your breath on the glass will do a fair job as well. Just don't try to add too much pressure.

A trick I learned here was to turn the lens upside down while using a brush, makes you wonder why I didn�t think of that. Thanks to whom every I learned that from. I too used the Kodak lens tissue & Cannon lens cleaning fluid on all my video & camera equipment. Even on my first kit lens, then while waiting to pick up some photos the sales guy told me about the micro fiber cloth. Even through I never had (or noticed) a problem with the lens tissue (except with lint) I�ve been use my micro fiber cloth for the last year or so. And about 6 months ago while wait for some photo I wanted to buy a new brush and learned about the lens pen. Now I find use for both the micro fiber cloth & lens pen to care for my lenses, but my UV filters mainly see most of the action. Good luck!

I am very particular about keeping my lenses clean - not so my wife (who takes better photos :-)) Sometimes the front filter gets so gummed up its a case of throwing it away or dipping it in the bath. Thats what I do - I wash it with dish soap and fully immerse it in water. After it's dried a bit I clean it with a lens pen. Filters are easy to clean - thats why we use them right?

 

In the rare cases where I come accross a lens without a filter I adopt a similar approach (without the immersion!). Dust off the loose stuff with a brush and then wash the front element with surgical spirit and lens tissue. I flood the lens so that the chances of scratching it are reduced? After this I finish it off with a lens pen. Then I go and find a filter for it! Try not to do this to often but so far the coatings are all still there and there are no scratches?

I've been using lens tissue for 30 years and never had any trouble with lint or scratching.

 

I use a lens pen for light brushing and cleaning 'in the field' and lens fluid if there is serious dirt. I blow particles off with a blower before and after cleaning. However, I keep filters on all my lenses so cleaning the front element is rarely required.

Breath and a freshly laundered microfiber cloth get lenses as clean as anyone needs in photography.

 

However, lenses that arrive from eBay purchases, and lenses of relatives who never clean them, require more, and PEC pads with ROR work fine, followed by the microfiber & breath treatment. I PEC & ROR my lenses every few months because the microfiber & breath deal is not the perfect cleaning system; but it's damn close.

I think a blower brush, properly used should always be the first step in lens cleaning. All lens cleaning should be done with the lens pointing down so that gravity will carry all loose particles away from the camera/lens.

If I were you, I'd invest $15.00 in a soft cloth which is designed for cleaning lenses. I bought mine from my local camera store. It does not scratch or leave lint. Lens tissue will scratch your lens, well, at least in my experience.

At my work (an optical engineering laboratory) we clean optics with anhydrous ethanol and

lens paper. Ethanol is preferred since it's not as toxic as methanol or acetone. We use

anhydrous ethanol to aviod leaving droplets of water on the glass. We always wear gloves

to protect our hands and the optics.

 

First, we remove dust from the glass surface with dry compressed air (or sometimes CO2).

We place the lens paper on the surface to be cleaned, then wet the lens paper with a few

drops of ethanol. We then slowly drag the paper across the glass without applying

pressure. We repeat this procedure a few times with a new sheet of lens paper each time.

A particular sheet of lens paper touches the glass only once; it is then discarded in a

hazardous materials container, of course. This is called the drag method.

 

The drag method works great for glass surfaces that are easily accessible, i.e., those which

are not mounted. This does not include camera lenses which are typically mounted in

metal or plastic rings. For those, we fold a sheet of lens paper several times and use the

edge of the folded paper (moistened with ethanol) to wipe the lens. It helps to grip the

folded paper with a hemostat. Only the stiffness of the paper applies any pressure to the

glass.

 

The key is to remove anything that might scratch the glass (with dry compressed air for

example) without touching the glass. Lens tissue is used for one wipe only, then it is

discarded. This prevents any particles that the tissue may have picked up from scratching

the glass.

 

-- Robert Johnson