Everyone seems to have their personal beliefs about cleaning lens optics. What are yours? Do you use only chamois? Or an hankerchief? But only with alcohol? Washing-up liquid? Scouring powde

-- Paul Hardy Carter (carter@airtel.net), January 10, 2002

Answers

Canned air. And occasionally a microfibre cloth.

-- John Chan (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), January 10, 2002.

Alcohol on a paper towel, gently, about once a decade. Otherwise, I just wipe the filter off with the front of my shirt. :-)

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), January 10, 2002.

In this order: Camel-hair brush; Canned air (If I'm in the field without a can of air, I skip this step and use the brush a bit more judiciously); Micro-fibre cloth; ROR with the MF cloth when needed for stubborn spots.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), January 10, 2002.

I mount a UV filter and clean that.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), January 10, 2002.

Clean cotton t-shirt, fogged with my breath when nessesary to deal with stubborn spots. My oldest lenses are over 20 years old and still look great, w/o "protective" filters.

-- Douglas Herr (telyt@earthlink.net), January 10, 2002.

Paul,

As all my Leica, Nikon, and Rodenstock lenses are expensive, I have put some thought and research into the question of how best to clean them. My current procedure is to carefully blow off the lens surface with compressed air, being careful not to tip the can or get the nozzle too close to the lens surface (I have been told that the compressed air may come out of the nozzle at temperatures cold enough to damage some lens coatings). Then I use a product called Super-Cote lens cleaning fluid on either a Q-tip or an old repeatedly-washed clean cotton undershirt, depending on the size of the area to be cleaned. Kodak lens cleaning fluid or ROR may be just good as Super-Cote, but Super-Cote was recommended to me by an impeccable source: S.K. Grimes, the eminent large format repair specialist.

According to Mr. Grimes, Super-Cote leaves no residue, a claim made for other lens cleaning products as well. That not withstanding, I have never used any kind of cleaning fluid on a lens that did not appear to leave some trace of residue. After I have cleaned a lens or filter, if I breathe on it to mist the surface and hold it up to the light, I can always see faint swirl patterns reflecting the motion of the cleaning cloth or cotton. Something must be causing that pattern, and I infer that it is trace amounts of residue. For this reason, I clean my lenses as infrequently as possible, and generally use UV filters, though I am concerned about the increased risk of flare that they pose.

-- David Mark (dbmark@ix.netcom.com), January 10, 2002.

Most of the time, a blower brush to get rid of any accumulated dirt and dust. If there are still spots, I'll use a clean microfiber cloth (and lens cleaning fluid if absolutely necessary). The cloth only gets used a few times a year at most.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), January 10, 2002.

The advice about camel's hair brush, blower brush, the microfiber cloth is probably about as safe as you can get. Canned air is probably reasonable, provided the air is not contaminated with a propellent that could affect the glass. You also don't wamt to use any cloth or tissues impregnated with chemicals.

But I basically agree with Rob. Leica lenses (especially the new ones) are so expensive that I think it is best just to keep a UVa filter on the lens so you only have to clean the filter, not the lens. And if you are using older lenses with soft coatins or soft glass, you certainly don't want to be frequently cleaning the lens glass.

I'm sure there are many threads here dealing with the pros and cons of various types of filters. The point is that they do protect the lens, including protection against see sprays, water splashing etc, as well as dust. To paraphrase something I read in a magazine or book (can't remember where): "It is better to keep your lenses clean than to keep cleaning your lenses.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), January 10, 2002.

I don't usually clean them much. When they start to look too grubby I huff on them and wipe them off with a microfiber cloth. I don't think moder Leica lenses need to be babied, given the hardness of the coatings.

-- Paul Chefurka (paul@chefurka.com), January 10, 2002.

I huff on the front element and then wipe it with a microfiber cloth.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), January 10, 2002.

Paul,

I use an artist's brush (finest sable) and then a large puffer (without the brush). Then a gentle breath followed by an absolutely clean (preferably new) micro-fiber cloth. I wouldn't use canned air personally as I have heard some horror stories of damaged and cracked front elements from it's use.

Actually I use the high quality Heliopan multi-coated UV filters on my Leica lenses and have yet to see any degradation of image quality, even on 16"x12" enlargements and larger.

-- sam smith (Ruy_Lopez@hotmail.com), January 10, 2002.

For Paul and Dan and Sam

I know a camera dealer that uses the "huff and wipe" technique to clean lenses. He claims that his breath is "optically pure"!

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), January 10, 2002.

The key to keeping your lens clean is simple: a high quality filter, usually a B+W MRC UVa. The filter is cleaned periodically with a camel brush and small manual air blower. I never used compressed air given the chance of chemicals in the propellant interacting with the MRC (multi resistant coating). If this fails, then a microfiber cloth is gently used along with a good puff. If this fails, then a drop of ROR or Clearsight on the micro-fiber cloth is used. This later step is done only as a last resort. Finally, I aggree that the Micro-fiber cloth should be changed frequently and thrown out, not washed and re-used.

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), January 10, 2002.

Paul, I keep UV (Heliopan and B+W multicoated) filters on my lenses; contrary to the protestations, they do not degrade the image to a visible level. I clean the filters and lenses rarely, but a microfibre cloth is invaluable, as is a sable brush. A product that is relatively new to the US (has been in the UK for some time now) is Opticlean, which will clean lenses down to the molecular level without damaging coatings. It is used on very expensive telescope objectives and other optics. Dantronix is the US distributor for Opticlean. I supply this information without any vested interest in Opticlean or Dantronix.

http://www.dantronix.com/oppolsec.html

-- David (pagedt@chartertn.net), January 10, 2002.

Front elements: B+W MRC UV filters. Shot those right into the sun and found no difference to naked lens. Never take them off even if I use a polarizer, except if vignetting occurs.

Rear elements: old cotton undergarment, ROR, breath. *VERY* gentle wiping, *no* pressure.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), January 10, 2002.

Do you find that the Opticlean is worth the price? It costs $95.

-- David Enzel (dhenzel@vei.net), January 10, 2002.

I bought most of my R lenses used in 2-cam for conversion to 3-cam and everything worked out really cheap. They take expensive odd size filters so use them naked. I blow the dirt off of them from time to time and whatever cannot be removed by air I wipe it gentley with a clean cloth. Ditto with the VC glass. I do insist on putting a filter on new Leica glass and I don't bother cleaning the filters. Maybe when they get really dirty I run the filter under a running faucet and then soak in a 10 to 1 dishwashing/water solution for a minute or so and let it air dry; no streaks.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), January 10, 2002.

David, Opticlean is expensive (even though the smaller quantity will last for a long time), but I know of no other lens cleaning substance as effective. FYI, lenses may be stored with the Opticlean polymer applied to the lens surface for additional protection. It is used by universities and government agencies as well as amateur photograpers.

-- David (pagedt@chartertn.net), January 11, 2002.

I use Brasso. I hate that stubborn blue/orange/green stain that are on the later lenses, and Brasso cleans things up quite nicely. 8Ý]

Actually, I use water vapor and a microfiber cloth, only

-- Chris Chen (chrischen@msn.com), January 12, 2002.

Sorry, water vapor from the breath (after a shot of Russian Standard Vodka ;^0). It's a great way to check out a lens before purchase. Normally invisible "flaws" will show up. I know it's picky. But, all things being equal, which one would you choose?

-- Chris Chen (chrischen@msn.com), January 13, 2002.