filter cleaning

[Richard Schlesinger]

I have never been able to clean a filter (or lens for that matter) to my satisfaction. I used to use lens cleaning tissue dampened with Kodak lens cleaning solution. I have more recently been using microfiber cloth, after blowing off dust, and brushing with a soft brush to remove specks that didn't blow off. I have tried using a very pure methanol dampened cloth most recently. I always end up with a haze, or smeared look on the lens or filter when I am finished. Hoya says to clean their multi-coated filters with only a microfiber cloth, and gently. This doesn' always do it - then comes the haze etc.

I would be be delighted to hear of a better way. Help!

[Kevin Crisp]

Blow or brush off the dust. Use a lens tissue with the Kodak cleaner, just a little, after breathing on the glass first. If you stop here you will have haze. And if you don't have a fingerprint on the glass you can probably skip the first cleaner. Then use a second tissue on the glass after moistening it with your breath and you will have no haze. Make sure your hands are clean at the start of this or you will get oil on the tissue and possibly the glass. This has worked for me for 34 years of cleaning lenses and they get clean. I have recently tried the micro-fiber cloths and they do seem to work quite well, I don't get haze with those either.

[Kevin Crisp]

Schneider's advice on this is here: http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/white_papers/

[Gem Singer]

Hi Richard,

I purchased a lens cleaning kit from Jim, at Midwest a few months ago, and it is the best thing for lens cleaning that I have ever used. The kit is marketed by Schneider Optics, and consists of a large micro cloth and a dispenser container of lens treatment liquid that is sprayed onto the cloth before wiping the lens (or focusing screen). It is called "Photo-Clear Lens Treatment". The entire kit is (surprisingly) relatively inexpensive.

[Bob Salomon]

Try one of the Giotto's lens cleaning kits. They don't leave streaks or smears.

[Brian Ellis]

An old, well-washed and lint free T shirt is as good as anything to use for a cleaning cloth. I never liked Kodak tissue paper, it always seemed like it would scratch the lens and I've read that it isn't a good idea to use a tissue for that reason. I seldom use any liquid but when I do I use the Kodak lens cleaning liquid. I bought a bottle of it about ten years ago and it's still half full. There really is no need to constantly be cleaning lenses, a few tiny specks of dust here and there aren't going to hurt anything and every time you clean you're rubbing at the coating and risking a drop or other catastrophe. I probably clean mine on average maybe once a year.

[Mark Sawyer]

Like Brian, I clean my lenses very seldom, but use a brush to dust them frequently. Filters I clean more often as I handle them more and the glass is more exposed. Usually the cleaning is just a huff and a wipe with lens tissue. Always use the brush before tissue to remove any possibly abrasive dust.
Lens tissue is made with cotton fiber, as opposed to kleenex-type tissue, which is made with wood fiber. Wood fiber is abrasive to glass and coatings; cotton is not. Tissue made for eyeglasses may have additives that will damage coatings, so don't use that.

At home, I go to my dresser for clean cotton underwear to clean my filters, (lenses are sacred, and therefore tissue-only.) I've heard of other photographers do this too. Use only clean underwear, unless you want to add another layer to the multi-coating...

[Scott Rosenberg]

i used ROR for a while, but recently tried Schneider's Photo-Clear Lens Treatment and find it to be much more effective. after cleaning with a lens cloth and Photo-Clear, i always go back and gently wipe any any haze with a clean area on the cloth, although, since switching to Photo-Clear, this has become less necessary.

[Richard Schlesinger]

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to find a dealer who sells Phot0-Clear. B&H doesn't seem to list it.

[Bob Salomon]

"An old, well-washed and lint free T shirt is as good as anything to use for a cleaning cloth"

Not really. Your t shirt material absorbs the grease and dirt into the fiber.

A micro fiber cloth - Tetenal, Rodenstock, Giottos - among others, traps the grease and dirt between the fibers of the cloth. That is why a micro fiber cloth is the best way to clean lenses. Just use common sense. Shake it out to get rid of any foreign matter that may have gotten on it while it was stored and wash it when it gets dirty.