How Do You Clean Your Lenses & Filters?

[manfrominternet]

1.) Do you guys have any suggestions or procedures for cleaning lenses and filters?

2.) How dirty does a lens or filter have to get before you decide to start cleaning it?

I'm currently using the Zeiss Lens Cleaning Kit (which includes the Zeiss spray cleaner and a microfiber cloth), the Sensei lens cleaning tissue, and the Giotto rocket air bulb.

My method - and please tell me if I'm doing this wrong - is to air out any debris or dust, spray the microfiber with the Zeiss spray solution, carefully wipe down the lens element or filter. Once it's dry, I use the rocket air bulb to blow out any more debris and, depending on how the lens element/filter looks, I use the lens cleaning tissues. The lens cleaning tissue occasionally leaves small fibers, which I then rocket air blow out. Then I use a dry microfiber cloth and gently wipe away anything leftover. I use the rocket air bulb as a finishing touch. Once it looks good, I cap it up.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Sensei lens cleaning tissues. They seem to be rough and leave a lot of fiber/lint. I'm not sure how I feel about the Zeiss lens cleaning spray either. It looks like it leaves oily residue, which, in turn, causes me to wipe the lens even more. (Maybe there's oil on these second-hand lenses?) Do you guys have any other recommendations?

These are the lenses that I currently use. Maybe you guys have some specialized suggestions for some of these lenses?:

-65mm Nikon Nikkor-SW f/4
-90mm Sinar (Rodenstock) Sinaron W f/8 (Multicoated)
-135mm Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar f/3.5
-150mm Schneider Symmar-S f/5.6 (Multicoated)
-210mm Schneider Symmar-S f/5.6 (Multicoated)
-360mm Rodenstock Sironar-N f/6.8 (Multicoated)

I'm also very worried about overcleaning, hence my asking about filters earlier. I'm borderline OCD, and I've had instances where I've stopped photographing just because a little dust, hair, or tiny smudge got on the front element or filter. I'm not sure how a tiny hair or dust on a lens element will affect image resolution.

[Bob Salomon]

Just search this site for cleaning and you will find a thread with over 50 responses, latest was Jun 1.

[Jac@stafford.net]

When a lens becomes dusty I just throw it away.

[rdeloe]

Do you mind telling me where your garbage can is Jac? I have no particular reason for asking...

When a lens becomes dusty I just throw it away.

[Doremus Scudder]

1. Keep your lenses clean and keep caps on them and never touch the surface of the lens with your fingers so you don't have to clean them very much at all. The less cleaning, the better.
2. Your method sounds good, but I'd use the microfiber cloth and ditch the tissues. Tissues can leave residue and scratch soft coatings. Microfiber cloths are better in both respects as long as they are clean. Wash your lens-cleaning cloths often and rinse them very well.
3. Use a blower or a soft brush to remove dust and grit before wiping the lens with anything!
4. I will often breathe onto my lens to leave a bit of condensation and then polish it off with a microfiber cloth. Some disparage this practice, but as long as you're careful not to get anything but condensation on the lens surface (no saliva!), and not too much of that, then it's a really good method for occasional cleaning in the field. This won't remove greasy fingerprints, etc. For that, a microfiber cloth with just a bit of good-quality lens-cleaning fluid is your best bet. FWIW, I clean my lenses thoroughly, i.e., with cloth and lens-cleaning fluid maybe once a year, if that, and only if necessary (some less-used lenses haven't been cleaned in years, because they don't need it). More often only if the lens has been subjected to sea spray or the like.

An aside about microfiber cloths: Years ago I worked in an analogue camera store. A sales rep came in with microfiber cloths (they were new then) and touted their superiority. Skeptical me, who had always used Kodak tissues till then said, "Okay, let's see..." and I pulled out a gel filter and rubbed it hard with the microfiber cloth. To my surprise, there were no scratches. The same treatment with the tissues left visible scratching. I've been using microfiber cloths since then.

I tried Kimwipes once for cleaning a negative. They left horrible scratches; I'd never, ever use them on a lens (or for anything else sensitive for that matter). I use microfiber cloths for cleaning negatives as well.

Best,

Doremus

[Bob Salomon]

1. Keep your lenses clean and keep caps on them and never touch the surface of the lens with your fingers so you don't have to clean them very much at all. The less cleaning, the better.
2. Your method sounds good, but I'd use the microfiber cloth and ditch the tissues. Tissues can leave residue and scratch soft coatings. Microfiber cloths are better in both respects as long as they are clean. Wash your lens-cleaning cloths often and rinse them very well.
3. Use a blower or a soft brush to remove dust and grit before wiping the lens with anything!
4. I will often breathe onto my lens to leave a bit of condensation and then polish it off with a microfiber cloth. Some disparage this practice, but as long as you're careful not to get anything but condensation on the lens surface (no saliva!), and not too much of that, then it's a really good method for occasional cleaning in the field. This won't remove greasy fingerprints, etc. For that, a microfiber cloth with just a bit of good-quality lens-cleaning fluid is your best bet. FWIW, I clean my lenses thoroughly, i.e., with cloth and lens-cleaning fluid maybe once a year, if that, and only if necessary (some less-used lenses haven't been cleaned in years, because they don't need it). More often only if the lens has been subjected to sea spray or the like.

An aside about microfiber cloths: Years ago I worked in an analogue camera store. A sales rep came in with microfiber cloths (they were new then) and touted their superiority. Skeptical me, who had always used Kodak tissues till then said, "Okay, let's see..." and I pulled out a gel filter and rubbed it hard with the microfiber cloth. To my surprise, there were no scratches. The same treatment with the tissues left visible scratching. I've been using microfiber cloths since then.

I tried Kimwipes once for cleaning a negative. They left horrible scratches; I'd never, ever use them on a lens (or for anything else sensitive for that matter). I use microfiber cloths for cleaning negatives as well.

Best,

Doremus

John Sadler?

[invisibleflash]

Alcohol wipes and Kimtech then an air blow.

Have used all types of systems. BW filters seem very troublesome to clean. Prefer cheap Tiffen, just because they clean better. I guess the good glass is a pia.

[reddesert]

I'm also very worried about overcleaning, hence my asking about filters earlier. I'm borderline OCD, and I've had instances where I've stopped photographing just because a little dust, hair, or tiny smudge got on the front element or filter. I'm not sure how a tiny hair or dust on a lens element will affect image resolution.

Small imperfections on the front element or near it are very far out of focus and you typically won't see them in a final image. They can cause some scattered light, so if you have a lot of them or a smudgy front element or filter, it can cause an overall decrease in contrast. A bright point source or light striking imperfections on the front element or filter may also increase flare, but a hood or shade to keep sun off the lens is a good idea anyway (unless you are photographing directly into the light source, happens sometimes in night photography, but unavoidable).

Bottom line, don't stress about cleaning or filters too much. There are a lot of other things in photography that take effort to control, and are more worth spending your energy on. (I mean like process management, avoiding double exposures or light leaks, etc, etc).

[Duolab123]

First thing is when you get a nice clean lens get a high quality coated uv filter on it. I have several extras in common sizes. Nikon L37c, B&W, the older Hoya, made in Japan HMC filters. I use Nikon and Mamiya rubber lens hoods collapsed as rubber bumpers, and extended when needed. I bought a bunch of the center pinch type lens caps.

I have washed a couple Nikon contrast filters in dish soap. Someone gave them to me in a mess. I literally boiled them in a small sauce pan in distilled water and Dawn triple concentrate.

99% of the time I breathe on the lens and wipe with a freshly laundered t shirt

[John Layton]

I typically use two lens tissues...the first of which I tear into two pieces then roll these up so the torn edge now presents as a soft "brush" which can be used to gently coax otherwise affixed particles away in concert with blowing with a bulb. The reason for this "two pronged" approach is that sometimes the blower alone is not enough to remove those particulates which might otherwise cause scratches upon further cleaning.

At any rate...the "brush end" of second half of the first tissue is then moistened with lens cleaner, which is then applied gently in a circular motion.

My favorite lens cleaner is Formula MC (do they still make this?) - a truly brilliant formula IMHO...as it leaves a lubricating residue which then must be polished - which is where my second sheet of tissue comes into play. The thing about this residue is that it facilitates the dissolution/removal of any remaining particulates while helping to protect the lens surface from further scratching - something that a more volatile formula, such as alcohol, simply cannot do as it evaporates way too quickly IMHO.

I will on occasion, after the above procedure, perform a final "rinse" of a lens surface by gently breathing on it to fog it up a bit, then using a completely clean/dry portion of my second tissue to clear this off.

The advantage of tissues over microfiber cloths is that the tissue gets discarded after a single use...and therefore cannot "re-infect" a lens with any carryover from previous uses. Furthermore...using a microfiber in the field presents another potential issue - which is possible difficulty keeping it and its storage pouch absolutely clean over possibly long durations of time as the cloth gets repeatedly returned to this pouch...whereas a tissue never gets returned to its container.

True, a tissue does need to be used a bit more carefully than does a completely clean microfiber cloth - but I've been using tissues for over half a century with absolutely no problems.

IMHO