Lens Cleaning

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of getting a new camera and would like to look after it.

What do you good people use for cleaning the end of your lenses, close up lenses and adaptors etc?

Is a cloth best, or a blower? If either, which ones?

Thanks in advance,

Lee

[dilettante]

Lens Pens are pretty good. Or just a microfibre cloth. Dust and scratches on a lens can cause flare, but otherwise are probably not worth worrying about too much: see this for an extreme example!

[Michaeljf]

Lee,
I'd use a lens cloth - any good camera shop will have them normally near the desk by the till - they're not expensive - always best to have a couple just in case you have a 'supplementary bag' for smaller outings. The blowers are designed for the sensors.
Thanks

Michael

p.s. Still not good weather for visiting Bernwood yet!

[MikeOxon]

I keep clear UV filters on all my lenses, all the time. As a result, I have never needed to clean the lens itself.

A soft cloth is usually sufficient to clean the filters but, if they get really greasy, I use a Q-tip and iso-propyl alcohol. Sometimes, I just give the whole filter a wash in warm water with a little detergent and then dry thoroughly before putting back on the camera.

Since the filter is in the light path, I use good quality multi-coated filters and have never noticed any adverse effect on image quality. Uncoated filters can cause flare or ghost images.

Mike

[Lee Hurrell]

Thanks all for your help

Lee