Cleaning Lenses

[danchan]

Sorry if this has been covered before. I've been visiting here for the last couple years, devouring information, and I don't remember reading about the proper way to clean lenses.

I've been really careful with my lenses and have been using a Giotto bulb blower to blast off the dust that collects on the surfaces. I purchased some lens cleaner and some lens paper from Calumet but I don't want to jump in and touch the glass on my precious lenses without knowing what I'm doing.

What is the proper method for cleaning lenses?

Also, I see a couple specks of dust inside my favorite lens, a 135mm Sironar-S. Does this affect the image quality and if so, is there anything I can do about it?

[Aender Brepsom]

Blowing off the dust particles first is a very good idea. After that, I use a soft Lee Filters cleaning cloth for the glass.

A few dust specks inside are a very common thing with lenses. I have never seen any problem caused by these tiny specks. You may unscrew the cells from the shutter to see if the specks are on the glass surface facing the shutter and if so, clean them off the same way you would do for the other surfaces. If they are inside the cells, just leave them there and don't bother too much.

One last thing I do after cleaning a lens is to give another blow with the Giotto rocket to chase off any fibres from the cloth that might have gotten on the glass during the cleaning process.

[Lee Christopher]

OOPS! Double post. Apologies.

[Lee Christopher]

Hi,

I'm new here but not new to photography.

I hope to contribute if I am able to.

Blowing with a bulb blower first as mentioned by Aender, is a very good idea! For me it's crucial and a default step.

Personally, I would next use a clean lens brush or clean microfiber rolled up loosely to lightly 'swish' off any remaining vivible dust particles.

Most of the time, that's all that's needed. Where cleaning is concerned, slightly too little is often better than too much.

If there are grease marks, fingerprints and the like, my next gentle step is to brush my teeth (ok, I'm advocating extra caution here; usually, I don't), then use warm breath and a clean piece of chamois. Wiping always takes place in this sequence:

breath - wipe once - inspect -breath again if necessary - a new area of chamois wipe once - inspect.

Usually, that's it. Only in the most extreme of instances do I proceed to the next step.

If the grease mark is really bad, I use clean microfiber after the blowing and brushing stage with a modified solution of isopropyl alcohol and a lens cleaner made for Swaroski optics. I suspect this solution is nothing more than untinted and non-perfumed diluted dishwashing detergent or something similar with isopropyl alcohol!

Many other methods and schools of thought exist, but the above has worked for me for over 20 years, but if anyone sees error in the above methods, please do let me know - I am willing to learn.

CHEERS!

Edited to add: The above is for external surfaces. All lenses have dust in them, and a few tiny specks is usually harmless.

[hmf]

Volk Optics (www.volk.com) makes cleaning wipes called "Precision Optical Lens Cleaner" designed for use on their medical optics lenses. They come individually packaged like alchohol wipes, so are easy to store in your bag/pack. I find they clean well and leave no residue.

After blowing the lens surfaces clear, I will use one wipe to clean several lenses. Discard the wipe when you're done, so cleanliness of your cloth is not an issue.

Once or twice per year is about it for any lens. A speck or two on your lens surfaces will effect image quality much less than you think, and over-handling will eventually damage the AR coatings.

[seabird]

Nothing wrong with any of the advice given here, but if you want to see what a respected manufacturer says, look here:

http://www.schneideroptics.com/pdfs/...s_cleaning.pdf

Hope this helps

[Bob Salomon]

Nothing wrong with any of the advice given here, but if you want to see what a respected manufacturer says, look here:

http://www.schneideroptics.com/pdfs/...s_cleaning.pdf

Hope this helps

Forget that I am connected to Rodenstock.

I disagree strongly with the advice above. Never use a brush first. Always use air! Don't use canned air!!! Oil less compressed air or a good quality bulb blower are the only air sources you should use.

And if you do use a brush make sure you never touch the part of the bristles with your fingers as that will deposit oil on the bristles. Lastly, if you use a brush, make sure you shake it out to remove any particles that might be trapped in the bristles. Same with a micro fiber cloth.

Windex should never be used. A good lens cleaning fluid like ROR, Kodak, Giottos would be better.

[Jeffrey Arthur]

I have always had good results with the lens pen. I only use the brush on it most of the time but I can usually clean the lens if it is dirty with the pen if necessary and do not have to be too concerned with cleaning marks or scratches appearing ( if I have thoroughly dusted it off). I do not like the liquid cleaners for the most part because the residue really gets out of hand. If something is really serious I have used a bit of alcohol on a Kodak cleaning tissue but that would have to be major.

[bvstaples]

I follow most of the advise above. Start with air. I find the Giotto Rocket Bulb a good choice for air. As for brushes, I use a camel hair brush that's devoted to my lenses: that way I'm sure it stays clean and unspoiled.

If there are other elements on the lens, then I go to the use of liquids, and I make my own. I mix a pint of distilled water with a pint of 91% isopropyl alcohol, and to this combination I add two drops of unscented Ivory dish detergent. I use the Ivory because it's the purest of the commercial soaps, and you want only detergent, no scents or other additives. It may seem ridiculous to buy a whole bottle for two drops, but in the end it's worth the couple of bucks. For a total of about four bucks I can make a quart of cleaning fluid, which will last me, well, probably the rest of my life. I keep it in a glass stoppered bottle.

To clean the lens with the liquid, I use lens tissue. I wet the tissue, then clean from center outward. Once the liquid has loosened and removed the gunk, I use dry tissues to dry the lens, again going from center outward. I apply almost no pressure when wiping the lenses, letting the agent and tissue do the work. I use this process to clean off telescopic eyepieces I use for public star parties, where mascara and other eye make-up, along with other gunk from the masses, end up on my lenses, and it works well. It works extremely well on camera lenses.

As a final step, I use a CO2 snow gun to take the last bits of dirt and lint off the lens, but these guns are expensive and one must know how to use them, otherwise they are ineffective.

BVS

[Eric Woodbury]

Good advice. But when I'm in a remote spot and I've got to get the pic taken or lose it, I blow off the big chunks with my mouth, steam the lens with my breath, and wipe it with my shirt tale, usually a tshirt that has been washed a 1000 times. Sounds horrible, I know.

Generally, I try not to clean lenses, just keep them clean.