What is the current state of the art for lens cleaning? I still have a decades-old envelope of Kodak lens cleaning paper and a bottle of Kodak lens cleaner fluid, of similar vintage.
With the advent of microfiber cloths, what is the best way today to clean expensive glass?
Not sure it's "state of art," but what I do depends on what's on the lens. If it's just fingerprints, the best thing I've found is a microfiber cleaning cloth. I first will run it over the glass very lightly with no real pressure, to knock off any tiny bits of grit. I then use light pressure, wiping away from lens center. Same for water/snow. The most serious problem I usually encounter is dried grit from waterfall spray. I usually have a polarizer on when shooting waterfalls, and simply run the filter under the water in a sink or water fountain. If it's on the lens, I take great care that the grit does not scratch. I lightly brush with a soft brush, then using wet (not dripping) lens tissue will begin to dampen the crud, and start removing it by simply pulling the tissue across the lens (no pressure.) I alternate with wet and dry tissue until the grit is gone, and finish up with a microfiber cloth and very light pressure.
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
Get a good microfiber cloth, a good air blower and a quality bottle of lens fluid.
Then throw out that lens tissue, it will cause micro scratches on a lens due to its silica content.
Disposable Zeiss wipes, or similar, are also good. What you don't ever want to do is to drag particles across the glass. So, blow off dust first and use a clean cloth. I agree with Bob. Throw out the lens cleaning tissue.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
I owned five 35mm Zeiss lenses for many years. I had bought all five brand new. When I sold them the glass and lens coatings on all five looked like new. I even had one of the Ebay buyers contact me to find out how I cleaned my lenses.
The key is not to clean them. I kept UV filters on all lenses and mostly cleaned those instead. I did remove the UV filters to use other filters but when I got home I would wipe the lens barrels off with a clean cloth. I would then remove the filters and gently clean the glass with a blower brush. I only used lens tissue and lens cleaner when I absolutely had to.
Some will tell you not to put glass filters in front of your lens because it will slightly degrade the image. I never could find a difference.
Today, I no longer use lens tissue and use micro fiber cloths and lens cleaning solution like the other fellows who posted above. Keep your micro fiber cloths clean.
I may be a bit anal when it comes to lenses but when I sold my 35mm lenses on Ebay I received top dollar for them, not to mention the many years of using excellent glass.
I agree about removing dust first. Isopropyl alcohol is a good mild solvent for cleaning and is probably the main constituent of "lens cleaning fluids" it is inexpensive and available at pharmacies. I use it with a clean cotton bud, which is not reused.
We can send people to the moon so why can't we make a lens coating (or even a glass) that is tougher than wet tissue and dust?
I have used a lenspen to keep my lenses clean, worked well for me thus far.
Eclipse cleaning solution and Pec Pads.
This is what I use for cleaning digital camera sensors. Works great and is perfect for lenses or anything delicate really. I think the fluid is methanol. The Pec Pads are lint-free and non-abrasive.
I have used a lenspen to keep my lenses clean, worked well for me thus far.
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