Cleaning filters/lenses with contact lens solution?

[chase_spencer]

I just tried it on my cheap Canon 35-80mm kit lens, poured it on a cotton ball

wiped on and used a promaster microfiber to dry it and it looks great! Breath

test results in even clean no streaks. But I know contact lens solutions have

some acids and stuff but they must be real weak otherwise your eyes would go

crazy. I am wondering if contact lens solution is the same as lens cleaner? And

if I am damaging the lens/filter? Just an experiment and wondering what you

guys think or know...

[mendel_leisk]

I use a glasses cleaning solution from my optemetrist, described as "for anti-reflective lenses". Not on lens to date, but does an efficient, streak-free job on filters.

[ivan_dzo]

Contact lens cleaner is all about stopping bacterial growth on the lenses. Not the same needs as you have. I think it's a really bad idea, and I'd buy the proper stuff, or simple alcohol from a pharmacy is fine.

[david_henderson]

According to my optician the anti-reflective coating on spectacle lenses is similar to the coatings used on filters so I'm not surprised that whatever technique works on one will work on the other.

[ivan_dzo]

David, you don't have antireflective coatings on contact lenses. They are in contact with your cornea and are cleaned with chemicals that act like bleaches to stop growth of bacteria. Very different from a glass lens.

[crabseye]

Errrrr, not my first choice. Some contact lens cleaners are hydrogen peroxide. Not something I see highly recommended for camera lenses. Other contact lens cleaners are enzymatic to digest proteins secreted by your eyes.

 

Here's a wacky idea: a lens pen? lens cleaning solution?

[david_henderson]

"David, you don't have antireflective coatings on contact lenses"

 

And that isn't what I said. I was responding to the point made by Mendel Leisk.

[stormchaser]

If I were you, I'd just use a glasses cleaner. Still, contact lens solution should be okay.

[greg_miller10]

As recommended by the American Cinematographers handbook the only cleaner that should ever touch your lens is good cheap absolutely pure breath. And those are not inexpensive lenses on a motion picture camera. It's cheap and very effective. Lens cleaners are a bit of a scam and should be avoided not only because they contain mild detergents you also always end up with far to much of it on your lens which means you have to wipe it far more then you should.

 

For the record....you should do your very best to clean your lens as unoften as possible.

 

Cheers

 

Greg Miller

 

Film Rescue International