Kodak lens cleaning tissue?
-
A
- Thread starter ToddB
- Start date
Recent Classifieds
-
Sold Bergger Pancro 400 8x10 Sheet Film
- Started by Roger Thoms
-
Want to Buy WTB: Pentax LX focusing screen SA-23
- Started by dirkfletcher
-
For Sale Cooke 13" F4.5 Portrait Series soft focus brass lens
- Started by filmculture
-
For Sale FS: Wista 45VX Metal Field Camera & Wide Angle Bellows Type II
- Started by B.S.Kumar
-
Want to Buy Pocket Wizard
- Started by aconbere
Forum statistics
I have been told to avoid tissue and instead use micro fiber cloths, the ones that have "shag" like a terry cloth. Large ones are available at Costco and I have found small ones at auto stores like Auto Zone. However, I have not had any success cleaning the cloths after use and have resorted to tossing them and starting a new one. After cleaning they just do not seem to work nearly as well on lenses as a fresh one, but fresh ones work REALLY well.
First canned air then the microfiber cloth and Purosol.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2010
- Messages
- 9,152
- Format
- 4x5 Format
I didn't get the memo.
I use Kodak lens cleaning tissues the old-school way.
Fold a few times, tear and line up the torn edges and roll into a "stick" with a fuzzy end.
That fuzzy end (much like a Q-Tip brand cotton swab) is what touches the lens.
The first pass is dry and with air to remove big particles.
Then roll another sheet (sometimes I'd make two rolled sticks out of a single sheet so I'd have two ready to use).
Then a drop of lens cleaning fluid on one fuzzy stick and moisten the lens with it, get the dry one and wipe dry.
Sometimes it takes several sheets all rolled into these fuzzy sticks to do one lens.
I never use the sheet flat.
I use Kodak lens cleaning tissues the old-school way.
Fold a few times, tear and line up the torn edges and roll into a "stick" with a fuzzy end.
That fuzzy end (much like a Q-Tip brand cotton swab) is what touches the lens.
The first pass is dry and with air to remove big particles.
Then roll another sheet (sometimes I'd make two rolled sticks out of a single sheet so I'd have two ready to use).
Then a drop of lens cleaning fluid on one fuzzy stick and moisten the lens with it, get the dry one and wipe dry.
Sometimes it takes several sheets all rolled into these fuzzy sticks to do one lens.
I never use the sheet flat.
When I was home from college where I studied photography in the 1970s, I mistakenly left a pack of Zig Zag rolling papers on our picnic table one night. When my mom confronted me the next morning I successfully convinced her that they were lens-cleaning papers.
She also one time opened a sample of Ilford printing paper I received in the mail and exposed it, apparently thinking I had ordered porno.
What a snoop! (Loved her anyway.)
On lens cleaning now, I keep a skylight filter over my lenses all the time and use anything handy to clean them, then replace the filter when needed.
She also one time opened a sample of Ilford printing paper I received in the mail and exposed it, apparently thinking I had ordered porno.
What a snoop! (Loved her anyway.)
On lens cleaning now, I keep a skylight filter over my lenses all the time and use anything handy to clean them, then replace the filter when needed.
I only use microfibre cloths on my eye glasses, for my photographic lenses I use lens cleaning tissues because you throw them away after each use so you have a clean one each time, and am not contaminating them with dirt/grease off the microfibre cloth from previous uses.
Microfiber cloths are the devil's work, I wouldn't use one on a bet. Use it and use it, it eventually gets loaded with grit and scratches the lens - and by the time you notice, it's too late. Don't trust those pens either.
It is far better to keep your lens clean, than to keep cleaning your lens. White Kleenex is more trustworthy than microfiber, do the standard drill - brush/blow the lens off, use a loosely wadded bit of tissue moistened with cleaning fluid and wipe the lens, then a dry wad of tissue. Then put a UV filter over it and leave it there. Use lens caps, keep them on the lens at all times and remove it only to take a photo - them put it back on. Some of my lenses, actually most of them, haven't been cleaned in years - just the filter gets cleaned.
It is far better to keep your lens clean, than to keep cleaning your lens. White Kleenex is more trustworthy than microfiber, do the standard drill - brush/blow the lens off, use a loosely wadded bit of tissue moistened with cleaning fluid and wipe the lens, then a dry wad of tissue. Then put a UV filter over it and leave it there. Use lens caps, keep them on the lens at all times and remove it only to take a photo - them put it back on. Some of my lenses, actually most of them, haven't been cleaned in years - just the filter gets cleaned.
tie
Well, I did stop using the end of my necktie. I don't wear neckties any more, and that is probably the reason. But if it was good enough for Weegee....
Well, I did stop using the end of my necktie. I don't wear neckties any more, and that is probably the reason. But if it was good enough for Weegee....
Oh for gawd sake Hoegh will you PLEASE stop beating around the bush and FINALLY tell us what you REALLY THINK for ONCE!
Like E. von Hoegh I rarely have to clean my lenses. When I do I use Kimwipe tissues that were recommended by my service guy. I use them in a similar fashion to Bill Burks fuzzy sticks - you are only presenting the torn ends of the tissue to the lens rather than the flat surface of the tissue.
Now a free tip which I will not patent
. For cleaning viewfinders and other small lens surfaces I take a Pec pad and cut it in half. Roll each half around a piece of bamboo skewer to form a tube of Pec pad with the cut end outboard of the skewer. Tape in place.
Use one tube for the wet cleaning and one for drying off. After cleaning each viewfinder slide the tube up the skewer and cut off with scissors to leave a fresh, clean piece of the tube for cleaning the next lens. You should be able to do 8-10 viewfinders with a single Pec pad and they will be so clean you won't have to repeat for ages. I'm using Kodak lens cleaning fluid.
Now a free tip which I will not patent
. For cleaning viewfinders and other small lens surfaces I take a Pec pad and cut it in half. Roll each half around a piece of bamboo skewer to form a tube of Pec pad with the cut end outboard of the skewer. Tape in place.Use one tube for the wet cleaning and one for drying off. After cleaning each viewfinder slide the tube up the skewer and cut off with scissors to leave a fresh, clean piece of the tube for cleaning the next lens. You should be able to do 8-10 viewfinders with a single Pec pad and they will be so clean you won't have to repeat for ages. I'm using Kodak lens cleaning fluid.
Leave the Costco and auto parts store microfiber cloths for regular household and auto detailing work.
Get a heavyweight microfiber lens cleaning cloth or 2 or 3. The Microdear Dead Link Removed is the best. I have some that are close equivalent, Pro Optic, Lee Filters. The thin, light weight microfiber cloths are not worth buying as they do not work well.
Cleaning lens: roll a section into a ball and wipe from center to edge after blowing loose dust off. The only cleaning fluid needed is your breath. Always use a fresh section for each lens surface. If in doubt use a fresh cloth and wash the questionable one. I have been able to remove ancient haze with microfiber lens cloth and my breath that tissues and cleaning fluid would not phase.
Cloth cleaning: wash with a load of clothes in the clothes washer. Do not use fabric softener. Hang up and air dry, avoid the clothes dryer.
Get a heavyweight microfiber lens cleaning cloth or 2 or 3. The Microdear Dead Link Removed is the best. I have some that are close equivalent, Pro Optic, Lee Filters. The thin, light weight microfiber cloths are not worth buying as they do not work well.
Cleaning lens: roll a section into a ball and wipe from center to edge after blowing loose dust off. The only cleaning fluid needed is your breath. Always use a fresh section for each lens surface. If in doubt use a fresh cloth and wash the questionable one. I have been able to remove ancient haze with microfiber lens cloth and my breath that tissues and cleaning fluid would not phase.
Cloth cleaning: wash with a load of clothes in the clothes washer. Do not use fabric softener. Hang up and air dry, avoid the clothes dryer.
Used them fo decades, never had a problem. Difficult to find them under the Kodak brand name now. Try the Tiffen tissue, it is exactly the same and available almost everywhere (Amazon, B&H, Adorama,...).
I haven't had a problem with Kodak (or any other brand) lens cleaning tissue. I also have a 500 pack of microfober cloths that I use for the barrels and camera bodies.
My regime is blow, with either my mouth or a pseudo-rocket blower or blower brush, then brush (if I didn't use a blower brush), then a folded up lens tissue with one or two drops of lens cleaning solution. Let the solution get absorbed by the tissue, then wipe as needed. I have been known to use my t-shirt as well.
Older lenses I'm more careful with, as either they are not coated, or the coatings are single or thin. Newer lenses, like my Canon L's, I use a jackhammer for the tough stuff. The coatings are stronger then any tissue out there.
Like those above, I don't trust the MF cloths not to gather grit or dirt, and I think lens pens are a gimmick for lemmings that will do more harm then good.
My regime is blow, with either my mouth or a pseudo-rocket blower or blower brush, then brush (if I didn't use a blower brush), then a folded up lens tissue with one or two drops of lens cleaning solution. Let the solution get absorbed by the tissue, then wipe as needed. I have been known to use my t-shirt as well.
Older lenses I'm more careful with, as either they are not coated, or the coatings are single or thin. Newer lenses, like my Canon L's, I use a jackhammer for the tough stuff. The coatings are stronger then any tissue out there.
Like those above, I don't trust the MF cloths not to gather grit or dirt, and I think lens pens are a gimmick for lemmings that will do more harm then good.
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2008
- Messages
- 86
- Format
- 35mm RF
I, too, never got the memo. Used Kodak lens paper and fluid for years. Never a problem.
That said, these days I use Zeiss Pre-Moistened Lens Cloths. They come in little individual sealed packets and are perfect for the odd fingerprint or dried water spot that needs to be cleaned. I carry one or two in my shirt pocket whenever I'm walking about with a camera.
Even that wonderful product gets used very rarely, however. I think the key to lens care is to do it as little as possible. I suspect more lenses have been degraded by over-zealous or too-frequent cleaning, than anything else. My cameras get carried every day and their front is exposed for hours at a time (I don't use UV or skylight filters; and I don't use a lens cap when the camera is in hand) but, still, I probably don't touch a lens surface more than every couple of years.
That said, these days I use Zeiss Pre-Moistened Lens Cloths. They come in little individual sealed packets and are perfect for the odd fingerprint or dried water spot that needs to be cleaned. I carry one or two in my shirt pocket whenever I'm walking about with a camera.
Even that wonderful product gets used very rarely, however. I think the key to lens care is to do it as little as possible. I suspect more lenses have been degraded by over-zealous or too-frequent cleaning, than anything else. My cameras get carried every day and their front is exposed for hours at a time (I don't use UV or skylight filters; and I don't use a lens cap when the camera is in hand) but, still, I probably don't touch a lens surface more than every couple of years.
Professionally I use Kim Wipes. I've found they're softer (less damaging) than Kodak tissue and seem to have less lint. Fold the sheet up about an inch or two wide, wet with solvent then drag across the surface (don't press and wipe). Then follow with a dry one if needed to clear off the surface.
Keep in mind that cleaning an optical surface is one of the most damaging procedures you can perform in normal use.
Keep in mind that cleaning an optical surface is one of the most damaging procedures you can perform in normal use.
"Good enough" isn't.
In regards to lens cleaning the neatest thing I have seen was back in the mid-70's the camera store I worked at had a DemoDay put on by Minolta. They brought in 2 repair techs from Japan who did minor cla's on the spot. I watched one dismantle a 50mm lens and clean every element group, he did not use tissue or cloth, he used a goose feather and special Minolta lens cleaner. Thur the translator he said the feather would never scratch. It was like watching an artist the way he used the feather. He showed me the elements after cleaning and they were spotless, like new ones. The complete cla took about 15 minutes, the man was a master. Back to the original OP question: I've used Kodak tissue for 45 years, no real problems. I also like the Olympus tissues but they are no longer made.
Kodak lens tissue is as good as it ever was and IMO is far preferable to microfiber cloths because it's used only once and thrown away, avoiding any chance of picking up grit that can scratch your lens. However I use something I think is much better, and even cheaper. I save my worn-out well-washed cotton knit underwear, cut it into small squares and use those only once each. The cotton is softer than lens tissue. I keep a few in a small ziplock bag inside my camera bags.
the best cleaning solution ,I've ever used was either medical pure alcohol or the eyewear cleaning solution you can buy at the optical centers at Walmart.They also give you free refills for life. and clean the most stubborn grease spots or smears.
Back in 30+ years I doubt if most of the guys would have been had other than a moistures breath and a kind of cloth
Which explains ads with descriptions such as "used condition, with cleaning marks and haze on the glass"
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2010
- Messages
- 9,152
- Format
- 4x5 Format
What truly surprises me is the 50mm SMCT f/1.4 that I "grew up with".
Nary a hint of any scratch of any kind.
This thing has been cleaned hundreds of times with t-shirts and paper towels.
I am sure its anecdotal and poor advice to follow. But some lenses are harder to scratch than others.
Nary a hint of any scratch of any kind.
This thing has been cleaned hundreds of times with t-shirts and paper towels.
I am sure its anecdotal and poor advice to follow. But some lenses are harder to scratch than others.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2008
- Messages
- 2,816
- Format
- 35mm
Same here, I always use a filter of one sort or another (a plain UV if I'm not using a colored one for B&W), and, other than a very occasional puff of Kenro air, I almost never need to clean a lens. Microfibre clothes are fine to clean other parts of camera, lens, etc., but even the best and softest cloth can pick up a bit of grit. Just my method which works for me.,
I'm starting to develop a (microfiber) complex...
but with the Purosol they just work so darn well!
but with the Purosol they just work so darn well!
| Photrio.com contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. To read our full affiliate disclosure statement please click Here. |
PHOTRIO PARTNERS EQUALLY FUNDING OUR COMMUNITY:  |