johneb21945

I have a stubborn smear of dirt or grime on my lense. What is the recommendation to clean it? JohnB

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

lens cleaning fluid with a soft micro fiber towel

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Quixdraw Loc: x

If you have one, first a blower to get rid of possible abrasive particles, then as suggested, or with shredded / ripped lens tissue edges.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

For the grime
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GH2Y5VW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For general lens cleaning
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1100350-REG/zeiss_2127721_60_count_box_lens.html

For dust removal in the field
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/318545-REG/Giottos_AA1910_Rocket_Air_Blower.html?sts=pi&pim=Y

chemsaf Loc: San Diego

90% isopropyl alcohol and lens cloth. IPA is used for cleaning in final steps of lens coating and coatings are not harmed by it.

anotherview Loc: California

Yes but put the fluid on the cloth, NOT on the lens face. The fluid could leak into the innards of the lens.

GLSmith Loc: Tampa, Fl

Not commonly mentioned, however manufacturers do use it.
With a soft microfiber cloth, wet a small section with regular household vinegar and apply to smudge & let it sit for about 15 seconds to moisten & soften the smudge B4 rubbing. Once finished, clean off with another section of the microfiber cloth with distilled water. When done, softly clean entire lens with dry microfiber cloth. I seldom bring my lenses around salt air, but if I do, I follow the above procedure.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I would clean it up by taking the extra “e” off the end!
😜🤪

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

There's always a post that just Makes My Day on UHH!! This Be Da' One today!! ....Whooohoo!! Hahahahahah.... ....thank you, SuperflyTNT

cbtsam Loc: Monkton, MD

So, Bill, you use your wrist strap to clean lenses?

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Proper lens cleaning is a multi-step process...

1. I agree with a previous response that the first thing you should do is use a bulb blower or similar to puff away dust and grit. You don't want to do the other cleaning until that's off the lens, or it might scratch. You also may need to use a brush if there are stubborn, somewhat adhered specks. If there are any oils on the surface they will contaminate the brush, limiting it's use to only early in the cleaning process. A vacuum also can be used, but needs to be low powered or take care to keep from getting too close with stronger ones (because strong suction from a vacuum might do damage).

2. Next you need to use some form of fluid to "wet clean", but don't drip or spray directly onto the lens. That risks the moisture "wicking" inside the lens. Instead dampen a clean, microfiber cloth or a proper optical swab and use that. This wet cleaning step is necessary to remove oils in particular. While a microfiber cloth can work, it may be difficult to get right to the edges with it (and it cannot be used for sensor cleaning, see below). Optical swabs may work better. You can buy optical swabs in bulk and moisten them yourself... or there are more expensive, single packaged pre-moistened ones (might be ideal to put in camera bag for emergency use)... or a cheaper solution is to buy Pec Pads or similar to wrap around a wand tool, making your own swabs. Which ever way you go with them, swabs are lint free and single use. Note that some of the pre-moistened ones may be "too wet"... dripping with cleaning fluid. Shake off any excess fluid before using them.

Someone might suggest using plain household cotton buds (Q-Tip, for example) for convenience and low cost. These are generally not a good idea to use around cameras because they shed tiny, tough cotton fibers. This is fairly low risk cleaning the front optics of a lens, but might be more of a concern with the rear lens optics (and definitely should never be used elsewhere inside a camera for sensor cleaning or anything else... the tiny fibers they shed can get into mechanisms like shutters, jamming them and requiring an expensive repair).

3. With anything other than the pre-moistened swabs, the fluid you use can be various things. Some suggest alcohol (though to me "IPA" is a type of beer: "India Pale Ale"! ). Even plain "rubbing alcohol" is fine. There are also specific lens cleaning solutions, many (all?) of which also might serve for sensor cleaning. Heck, in a pinch even a window cleaner like Windex can be used... just be sure it doesn't contain any ammonia. I don't know why, but that's what I've been told by techs.

Some of those cleaning solutions dry fairly rapidly. If you're in a hurry, you might need to dry the glass with a clean, microfiber cloth.

Some cleaning fluids are flammable and not approved for air travel or shipping by air. When traveling, be sure any lens/sensor cleaning solution you plan to take along is acceptable. The unapproved types might end up in a trash can at the airport!

4. If you look very closely you will nearly always see some haze remaining from the cleaning solution. This is when a "Lens Pen" or similar can be used. This is a small round pad on the end of a pen like tool that can be used with some gentle polishing to remove the haze. Doing this will also make the lens more resistant to dust specks adhering to it. While the folks who sell them suggest using Lens Pens as a stand-alone cleaning solution, I wouldn't do that. Dust specks need to be removed first, as described above in #1, to be sure not to scratch the surface. Oils also need to be removed, with the wet cleaning described above in #2, or they will contaminate the Lens Pen.

Shop around for things like microfiber cloths. The ones offered specifically for photography are pricey, but there's no difference with cheaper ones offered for eyeglass wearers. There are also inexpensive microfiber cloths being sold by auto parts stores and for other purposes, which might work just fine.

It is possible to clean and reuse microfiber cloths a few times. However, never use any "fabric softener" on them either in the washer or the dryer. That will leave a residue on them that will cause smears on your lenses! I just hand wash and air dry them, since I don't have my own washer and dryer at the moment and there may be residual fabric softeners from previous users.

I don't recommend using cheap paper "lens tissues" sole everywhere. Most paper is made from wood pulp, which can contain minerals that might scratch. In fact, often old lenses have "cleaning marks", which are swirls of fine scratches that very probably were caused over time by repeatedly using those tissues they sold us at the camera store. I'd also generally not use facial tissues ("Kleenex" and similar) or paper towels for the same reason. There may be "100% rag" cloth tissues that are safer to use, though I don't know of any. I'll also note that professional repair techs often use these inexpensive paper product options. But repair techs are almost certainly will only cleaning the lens once or twice in it's usable lifetime. It's different for you and me, cleaning our lenses more frequently. Today's lenses use harder glass and tougher coatings, so are less likely to get "cleaning marks". But why risk it when for a few $ more we can simply get good, safe supplies to clean our lenses?

Or, you can just skip all the above use a corner of your grubby t-shirt, like some "pro" photographers do!

Note: Much of the above is the same when cleaning a digital camera's sensor. In fact, when doing that you're actually cleaning is a glass protective filter in front of the sensor, not the sensor itself. Like lenses, this filter is multi-coated and you need to take similar care to prevent damaging it. About the only differences between cleaning a lens and cleaning a sensor are that to reach the sensor down inside the camera you'll need a brush and optical swabs the right size, plus the round Lens Pen won't get into the sensor's corners so a square Sensor Pen is used instead.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Alcohol Preferably single barrel bourbon. If you drink enough you won't see the dirt on the lens

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

Get Zeiss wipes at Walmart.