How easy is it to scratch the DVX lens?

M

MeAgain

Carbonite Member
I was in a hurry the other day to clean my DVX lens and UV filter. While I'm still very gentle and thorough (use a blower, lens tissue and a soft lens cloth) I feel like I rushed it and got paranoid. I checked the lens in every light but noticed no marks. I'm just wondering how easy it is to scratch the lens? Is it possible to scratch it with a cleaning cloth? Does dust cause microscopic scratches that are impossible to see anyway?


And a PS: How in the hell do you guys get your lens perfectly clean? I literally spend more than an hour cleaning the lens until every tiny tiny piece of dust is off it, then I throw my UV lens on. It takes time because inevitably either a smudge or particle is put back on when I try to take another off. I use a leica lens cloth with zeiss cleaning liquid for the most part.

I get really paranoid about ANY dust being visible and ruining a shot later, but I also realize that realistically the camera won't see every little bit. Just wondering if it's supposed to be a nerve-wracking process.
 
That sounds as a familiar quest. I myself specially dislike not being able to put the camera in a good fixed position while doing the paranoid thing. Between my knees, at the table, etc. Nothing works.

And than I screw the UV filter on and I start noticing formerly invisible dust particles.

Good news is that in the end I got it clean enough to convince myself and I didn't take the UV filter off since that day. UV filter cleaning provoces a lot less paranoia.
 
If only I never had to remove the UV lens. Of course, when you're shooting certain angles, you can see the lens reflecting in the glass, so it must come off from time to time.
 
I use canned air after wiping with lens tissue, and that will help get any remaining dust particles.

While I wouldn't say that the lens it hard to scratch, it's not easy either. It's not likely that you will scratch it with any type of cleaning cloth/ tissue under normal pressure. (unless you have a piece of dirt/sand on the cloth.
I've even hit the lens couple times with various things and it didn't make a scratch.

For all practical purposes, little scratches, and even dust and dirt won't show up on your footage unless you are shooting macro-focused shots with light blasting on the lens.
 
Coming from the still photography world using SLRs, the general consenus is don't worry too much about your front lens/filters. Keep them as clean as you reasonably can, then leave them. Generally any dust/dirt/scratches on the front element won't be visible, but can increase the lens flare under certain light.

Dirt/scratches on the rear lenses (closest to the film/sensor) are the ones to be concerned with. Fortunately with fixed lense cameras, we don't have access to the rear elements, so in theory they should remain perfectly clean.

If you're spending an hour cleaning the front lens, I would hazard a guess you are going seriously overkill. Overcleaning can cause its own problems. Cleaning it too much could lead to wearing off the coatings which can lead to increased chromatic abberations, general softness, and other issues.
 
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