Lens Cleaning

SurJones

SurJones

Veteran

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I've been using a Mikros microfiber cleaning cloth. Works great. I usually try to blow off the big stuff with compressed air then finish the job with the cloth.
I think the main thing is to get as much off before using the cloth. Otherwise you're just moving around grit that could scratch the lens.
I use the cloth to get any film etc off the lens.
So far, no problems.
 
Hey Kevin,

I might at most get a drop of water, but dont get it it often, HOWEVER, I am in the market for a filter, which is in another post...:) when I get the filter I wont have to worry about that one, but more so cleaning the UV filter :)
 
When I shot still photography, there was always a debate about putting a $40 piece of glass in front of a $13,000 lens.

I've shot my HVX in rain, in snow, in dust, in sand. So far, never had a problem. My only casuality has been a 4X4 polarizer that I dropped on the slickrock in Utah. :)

So, while it may seem prudent to stick a cheap piece of glass in front of the HVX to protect the lens, I guess I just like to live dangerously.

BTW, I've photographed North American predators for over thirty years and I have yet to get a scratch on any of my lenses.

I did have to smash a 72mm polarizer off my 80-200 f2.8 lens once because it somehow fused onto the lens and I couldn't unscrew it.

Course now since I typed this I will immediately get a huge scratch on my HVX lens. :)
 
thanks Kevin, but you have missed my questions. Is the cloth, and breath cleaning method I currently have Ideal for my HVX, or should I switch to the kodak product links I provided.( paper and solovent, or paper and breath)
 
I figure cloth is softer than paper.
Why put solvent to a lens when a breath and a cloth will work?
As long as you keep the cloth clean it shouldn't be an issue.

I used paper and cleaning solution once on a 35mm lens and spent more time trying to clean the little fibers it left on the lens than the actual cleaning process took.

I've seen people also use just dry Kodak lens cleaning tissue. How can that be better than a soft cloth?

Canned air and a microfiber cloth is the way I go now days. Never had a problem.
 
Both methods you're looking at involve touching the surface with something.
Have you ever seen the Kodak cleaning papers? It's like using cigarette papers. I'd never use it on my lenses again. If you soften it with the cleaning solution it does become very soft but then like I mentioned above, it leaves fibers all over the place.

If you do go that route, never put the solution directly on the lens. Put it on the paper then use it. You don't want excess cleaning fluid to seep into your camera.

If you go the microfiber route. Make sure you keep the cloth clean and wash it without detergent etc to keep any grit that may get on the cloth off. I always shake mine out every time I use it just to place safe.
 
Kevin is right, when cleaning your lens, blow off the dust first, then breath on your lens. Start your cleaning cloth in the center of your lens, moving in circles, until you work your way out to the edges. Blow off your lens a second time...TA- DA
 
Interesting.
I am by no means an expert, but I am curious about the difference between the way film/video folks clean their lenses and the way people who handle telescopes clean their lenses. On the astronomy side, breathing on the lens is a major sin (it is said impurities in your breath can scratch the lens when you then wipe it off). On the other side of the spectrum, I've often seen camera operators pull up their t-shirt to wipe the lens. I wonder, are the astronomers over doing it? Are the camera operators under educated? Or are there different materials (coatings) used in camera lenses and telescope lenses?
BTW both sides agree on blowing first, and not applying solutions directly on the lens (for fear of getting the seeping through to the other side).
 
Here's what we do at Schneider/Century Optics;
Blow off the big stuff (we use filtered compressed air here in the shop)
Take a Kimwipe EX-L (low lint tissue), fold it into a pyramid,
wet the one end of the tissue with Windex, and holding the tissue at the dry end, to make sure the "middle" part of the tissue pyramid does not let you grind in any small particles, start in the center and in one continuous wipe, work out to the edge. This takes some practice, to not have a Windex puddle left at the end.
Ken Robings
Schneider Optics
 
Ken, thanks for the information. It's tough to argue with procedures that are being used by guys that do nothing but deal with optics.

I don want to make one observation about Windex, though. About a month ago, a small quantity of it leaked down the side of a bottle onto the white cotton place mat the bottle was sitting on. This left behind a permanent light blue stain that survived a wash cycle with detergent and bleach.

Given a choice, I would use a glass cleaner without any dyes.
 
I've got a 10" Meade LX6 SCT telescope. I've only ever used compressed air on it.
Windex would make me nervous to use on my HVX :)
The few times I ever have tried using a liquid lens cleaner it always left streaks that I wound up getting off with warm breath and a micro fiber cloth.
 
n8ture said:
. . . Windex would make me nervous to use on my HVX :) . . .
Click to expand...

Yup, me too (unless it was diluted 1 to 10). I use lens cleaning solution when I clean my filters sometimes but never the lens. Lens cleaning cloth rules.
 
n8ture said:
BTW, I've photographed North American predators for over thirty years and I have yet to get a scratch on any of my lenses.
Click to expand...

Well obviously you're not getting close enough:huh:
More teeth Kevin! We want to see more teeth!:Drogar-Love(DBG):
 
Hi Ken,
My first job was with Century Precision Optics in 1966, (you know, that company you guys bought, lol). Anyhow Chris Condon, the owner at the time was a fan of windex too, and he showed me how to clean lenses in exactaly the manner in which you described.
Although in later years I found that "Glass Plus" streaked less.
Does Bill Turner still work with you guys? If so , tell him Chuck Colburn says hello.

Chuck
 
Are these lens cleaners OK? The blower/brush made sense to blow off the big stuff without having to have compressed air with you.

-s
 

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If you go microfiber, I'd suggest making sure you're getting top-quality Korean microfiber. Most microfiber is lower quality and slightly abrasive, while the good Korean stuff couldn't scratch a thing (even the edges of the cloth are finished in fine silk) and is very "grabby" and can wipe away smudges without even using your breath.

I know all this because I'm a detailing fanatic when it comes to my car :)
 
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