lense cleaning nightmare....

S

s-audio

Active member
I cleaned my circular polariser with some olympus lense cleaner and some lense cleaning tissue. Now it's worse than before......

Kinda of smeared in some spots and nothing seems to get rid of it.
This is the inside portion of the filter. It had a few spots on it but now..........
Any ideas as to how I can salvage this filter? The bottle of cleaner said it was "safe for all lenses" but apparently not mine!

I don't know if it is a coated lense. I dought it because it was only fifty nine bucks. Normally I would just smash the thing but I don't have the cash to replace it yet. ;D
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

Yeah, I haven't seen a lens cleaning fluid that didn't leave a bigger mess than before I used it. What's that all about? Anyway, I doubt you hurt the filter. Try a little hot, steamy breath with that lens tissue insead.
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

Apparently no one here has ever heard about the magical glass cleaning properties of ammonia, or vinegar.

I must be old..........
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

Use your breath and a micro fiber cloth (The kind with NO BUILT in CONDITIONERS). Use alot of BREATH and then gently rub it out. It'll come out. Throw out that liquid crap.
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

Have you seen those lens cleaning pens? Those are my favorites. They'll get rid of a smudge without leaving anything behind.
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

Well I used the micro fiber cloth and some breath and it worked! Took a little while but it worked.
I still can't beleave what a mess the lense cleaner left behind. No matter what I did it would not come out.

Amonia? you mean use a glass cleaner like Windex?
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

hi there,
i used to be able to get this really effective pink waxy lens cleaner from the US but havnt seen it for years and i cant remember its name.

It was really effective and had the added bonus of preventing fungal growth, very useful when i was in Belise.

steve
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

As one member just stated, Vinegar is one of the best ways to clean glass smear free!! I would suggest using Distilled White Venegar. Don't use the flavored kind. Don't use Windex. Some of those brands contain other substances that aren't good for the lens and coating.

When in doupt, or without Vinegar, use your breath. Just remember to first blow off any dust or dirt particles before you breath on the lens or else you might end up scratching your lens.
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

Subsunk: Glass Wax? It's still made, but it turns to pink dust when you wipe it off. I'd be very careful.
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

I was having all sorts of fun with a cheap lens cleaner.... gave up and invested in COKIN lens cleaner... works amazingly well, never leaves a smudge....Olympus lens cleaning tissues.
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

breath works great... ;D Real Cheap too.. ya now i was shopping the other day and found it for free even
 
Re: lense cleaning nightmare....

I have found that most lens cleaning fluids leave residue. Best one I have found is Panchro lens cleaner. I bet www.filmtools.com has it. or any motion picture rental house. Even it is not perfect, but it comes close. Of course the goal is to clean the lens while not actually ever touching it (like one hand clapping) something that can't be done, but this is what I do. This assumes it is something bad, like a fingerprint that won,t just blow off or brush off with a camelhair brush.
1) spray a little panchro on lens tissue or microfiber cloth. Never spray directly on lens, as solvent qualities of cleaner can do bad things to glue that may hold lens elements in (on edges.)
2) bunch up lens tissue in small loose wad.
3) GENTLY apply to lens in swirling motion from offending smudge.
4) if more than a few rotations, move to another bit of the tissue or start fresh. No one likes grinding one grain of dirt in a swirling motion deep into their coated lenses.
5) you should get most if not all it off this way. It usually still has faint streaks. I finish off with hot smelly breath and a gentle polish with microfiber (with no silicone crap in it) and then it finally comes clean.
Some argue that breath is slightly acidic and over time may eat away at coatings. But I can't get it any cleaner any other way. So if you are slightly more paranoid than me, you can suck on a "tums" five minutes before you clean your lenses. Or perhaps I am teh paranoid one as I fear if I ever did that I would breath little bits of "tums" tablet on my lens!
Horrors!
 
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