Lens cleaning

Donald Qualls said:

Eyeglasses (at least mine) pick up hundreds of times as much junk as camera lenses. After all, I don't wear camera lenses on my face, where they're subject to fingerprints from constant adjustment, dandruff, skin oils, eyelashes, and anything they intercept that would otherwise have gone in my eye. Most of them, additionally, have anti-scratch coatings and aren't expected to last more than a couple years in service.

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Don;t you notice a haze that collects just from wearing them? The glass gets sharper when you clean them. I assume the same happens with camera lenses.

I think the problem is a dirty cleaning cloth too. I use the micro cloth and cleaning solution that came w/ my new glasses. Works fine. Maybe you could try those little books of cleaning papers instead of a cloth? Those never left streaks on mine. Honestly, the best cleaning solution I ever had was one of those blister packages that contained a little red bottle of cleaning solution and papers. Bought it at Walgreens and it lasted many, many years.

Alan Edward Klein said:

Don;t you notice a haze that collects just from wearing them? The glass gets sharper when you clean them. I assume the same happens with camera lenses.

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You would think that was true, but it appears to not work that way. I've used lenses w/ chunks out of the front optic, and once had an R 90 Elmarit lens w/ a rear element that looked like someone had sand blasted it. They all gave superb negs despite their obvious flaws. Lenses can do what our eyes can't. The first time I went up to a chain link fence and focused PAST the links to get a clear picture of what was on the other side was like magic.

I have had R-O-R for decades. It gets used only when I find a greasy smudge on the front element. No longer needing to photograph very young grandchildren, that has not happened in a while.

If I find any residual cleaning streaks, no matter what liquid I may have used, I generally find that a huff of breath to fog the lens and then wiping with a dry microfiber cloth is typically going to get rid of the residual streaking.

Alan Edward Klein said:

Don;t you notice a haze that collects just from wearing them? The glass gets sharper when you clean them. I assume the same happens with camera lenses.

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Skin oil, mostly, I think. Not anything I see on camera lenses, even after carrying them in a bag for months.

The most effective cleaning you can give your lenses, with the least damage, is to cap them when not in use. Both ends if they dismount.

flavio81 said:

Boy, my toilet paper is really premium quality! I haven't scratched any lens yet (due to the paper). In any case I always have the paper wet, never completely dry. But it can leave paper residues that not always will blow off easily.

Lens tissues are better of course.

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If you use toilet paper Flavio, you can clean your lens at your own convenience, but don't be surprised if you get crap results

benjiboy said:

If you use toilet paper Flavio, you can clean your lens at your own convenience, but don't be surprised if you get crap results

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Also a good way to scratch the lens.

Sirius Glass said:

Also a good way to scratch the lens.

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True, Steve , you only need one piece of grit, I only use microfiber cloths to clean my glasses with, I find lens cleaning tissues and Zeiss lens cleanings liquid leave perfect results on my lenses that I need to clean very rarely because they all have protection filters fitted.

benjiboy said:

If you use toilet paper Flavio, you can clean your lens at your own convenience, but don't be surprised if you get crap results

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Sirius Glass said:

Also a good way to scratch the lens.

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benjiboy said:

True, Steve , you only need one piece of grit, I only use microfiber cloths to clean my glasses with, I find lens cleaning tissues and Zeiss lens cleanings liquid leave perfect results on my lenses that I need to clean very rarely because they all have protection filters fitted.

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I still remember the almost like wax paper stiff toilet paper in Heathrow airport. If felt like I was wiping myself with a hand full of razor blades.

Sirius Glass said:

I still remember the almost like wax paper stiff toilet paper in Heathrow airport. If felt like I was wiping myself with a hand full of razor blades.

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Yes I encountered some pretty rough stuff when I was in the military, that really made ones eyes water

Sirius Glass said:

I still remember the almost like wax paper stiff toilet paper in Heathrow airport. If felt like I was wiping myself with a hand full of razor blades.

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I very distinctly remember flying to London in 1981 on my first international business trip, and how horrid the toilet paper and the food both were, at the time.
Fast forward 25 years, and the food had improved immensely, as had the toilet paper!

Sirius Glass said:

Also a good way to scratch the lens.

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Depends on the toilet paper... I use the most expensive, smoothest toilet paper. It is remarkably fluffy and smooth, cotton-like. I use it for years, no scratches on my lenses. My butt is also fine, btw.

Indeed there are many kinds of cheap toilet paper that are sandpaper-like. Horrid.

Bormental said:

I know this topic has been brought up numerous times, but to this day I can't clean my lenses. I have 4 different cleaners and different type of cloth and I can always find an angle to look at the glass and see cleaning streaks. I clean again, they re-arrange or move around, but I can never get rid of them completely. Is it even possible?

Here's what I have:

• ROR
• Pancro
• Zeiss Kit
• Generic isopropyl alcohol, 91%

And look at the results. At the first glance, the glass is pristine:
View attachment 255696

Look closer and it's kind of OK:
View attachment 255697

But then find a certain angle for the lamp light and THIS:
View attachment 255698

Am I hopeless? What am I doing wrong? As you can see in the first photo, I just succeeded at restoring the sticky shutter in this lens, I have to go back and nail down the cleaning now. The last photo is embarrassing.

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Ihad my lenses professional cleaned by Nikon,put a filter on it and never cleaned them again!

flavio81 said:

Depends on the toilet paper... I use the most expensive, smoothest toilet paper. It is remarkably fluffy and smooth, cotton-like. I use it for years, no scratches on my lenses. My butt is also fine, btw.

Indeed there are many kinds of cheap toilet paper that are sandpaper-like. Horrid.

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Decades ago a friend brought me a sample of Russian toilet paper. At that time American travelers in Europe called it John Wayne TP: Rough, tough, and doesn't take crap from anybody.

Alan Edward Klein said:

I spray on the microfiber cloth and shake it beforehand. I wash them occasionally by hand. Why do you need to breathe on the lens after cleaning it? Doesn;t the tissue and cleaner get them clean for you? It seems like an extra unnecessary step. I use the breath and handkerchief as last last minute cleanups right before shooting if I notice some dirt and don't have the lens cleaner and cloth handy..

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I breath on the lens Alan, because it removes any remaining cleaning fluid that may be left on the lens.

benjiboy said:

I breath on the lens Alan, because it removes any remaining cleaning fluid that may be left on the lens.

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That sounds reasonable. What kind of cleaning fluid do you use?

Bormental said:

I know this topic has been brought up numerous times, but to this day I can't clean my lenses. I have 4 different cleaners and different type of cloth and I can always find an angle to look at the glass and see cleaning streaks. I clean again, they re-arrange or move around, but I can never get rid of them completely. Is it even possible?

Here's what I have:

• ROR
• Pancro
• Zeiss Kit
• Generic isopropyl alcohol, 91%

And look at the results. At the first glance, the glass is pristine:
View attachment 255696

Look closer and it's kind of OK:
View attachment 255697

But then find a certain angle for the lamp light and THIS:
View attachment 255698

Am I hopeless? What am I doing wrong? As you can see in the first photo, I just succeeded at restoring the sticky shutter in this lens, I have to go back and nail down the cleaning now. The last photo is embarrassing.

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have you washed yourhands thoroughly before touching your cleaning cloth?It's easy to transfer a little skin grease from the fingers to the cloth and from there to the lens.Then move from the inside to the outside in a circular motion.

Alan Edward Klein said:

That sounds reasonable. What kind of cleaning fluid do you use?

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Zeiss lens cleaning fluid spray from Amazon Alan

Alan Edward Klein said:

That sounds reasonable. What kind of cleaning fluid do you use?

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Zeiss lens cleaning spray Alan from Amazon U.K, it's also available on Amazon U.S, it's the best I have ever used in more than 60 years of photography, but I stress I don't use microfibre cloths only lens cleaning tissues.

benjiboy said:

Zeiss lens cleaning fluid spray from Amazon Alan

Zeiss lens cleaning spray Alan from Amazon U.K, it's also available on Amazon U.S, it's the best I have ever used in more than 60 years of photography.

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That's what I use. But I don't find that I have to breathe and rewipe after cleaning the Zeiss off.

Salt spray, industrial rain and fingerprints among other things, can leave permanent marks in the coating of lenses if left on over longer periods.

It’s wise to keep on a protective filter, and for number of reasons.
That one piece of extra piece of glass along the dozens the image is going to travel through will make absolutely no difference.
Some don’t lend themselves easily to filters though.
Rolleiflexes and point and shoots for example.

Cleaning a lens should always (and I mean always) involve a step where you remove, often invisible, debris that will scratch the lens if the merest pressure is applied.
Either by air or with a very fine brush.

Don’t ever apply cleaning fluid directly to the lens.
It can enter the lens causing havoc with glues and lubricants used inside. As well as cause permanent haze.

Most of us pros use the corner of our shirt for lens cleaning. Unless you're at the beach or in bed, it's a good bet that you have shirt on, so there you go. Time tested, and cheap. Spit is optional. If you wear glasses you can go for a twofer and polish them up at the same time.

Alan Edward Klein said:

Can I use this Kimwipe instead of microfiber cloth on my lens or plastic eyeglasses with Zeiss lens cleaner?

Also, I've noticed that with the pollution in the air, glass will take on a slight coating that brightens up with the Zeiss cleaning or even a breathe cleaned with the lens cleaning microfiber cloth. Does this "haze" lower contrast or have other effects?

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Alan Edward Klein said:

What about eyeglasses? I've found they need to be cleaned daily. I use Zeiss lens cleaner with either Kimtech or eyeglass cloth. If they're really bad, I;ll wash them first in Dawn dishwash detergent that cuts grease with lots of warm water from the faucet. Then I spray them with the Zeiss lens cleaner and use the eyeglass cloth or Kimtech.

As an aside, if eyeglasses get that haze or slight film over them, so should lenses. Just because you don't see it (you're not looking through the lens), doesn't mean it isn't there effecting the photo image.

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I believe the Kimtech Kimwipes (for delicate surfaces) are OK for plastic eyeglasses, but I would be cautious about using Zeiss cleaning products on coated eyeglass lenses. I believe the most expensive antireflective coatings used on eyeglass lenses may be similar to the coatings used on your camera lenses - metal ions deposited in a controlled chamber - so cleaning requirements should be similar. EXCEPT, the plastics used for eyeglass lenses are much more likely to be damaged by solvents like acetone than a glass and metal camera lens would be. Other (cheaper) eyeglass coatings may be very different from camera lens coatings - more like a coat of varnish - and also more likely to be damaged by solvents.

The antireflective coating on a pair of eyeglasses I bought from a national chain store failed in less than a year. They replaced the lenses, and the coatings on the replacement lenses also failed in about a year. Like most of us photographers, I am very careful about the care and cleaning of optical surfaces. I also worked in a hospital laboratory where I was trained to clean the lenses on our microscopes (we used Kimwipes and an alcohol-free cleaning solution made specifically for microscopes; if I recall correctly, it contained xylene). When I started investigating why the coatings on my eyeglass lenses were not holding up, I was told by multiple sources to not use any cleaning solutions which contain alcohol. Zeiss may have different lens cleaning solutions, but the lens wipes I was using definitely contained isoproply alcohol.

When I contacted the company that made the eyeglass lenses - Essilor - I was told:

The lens manufacturer seems to be saying that 'it is OK to use alcohol containing cleaners, as long as you don't use them too often' - whatever that means

I am confused and disappointed that the legendary Zeiss name* appears on a product sold specifically for cleaning "Eyeglass lenses and high quality optics" and that product contains alcohol - which multiple different eyeglass retailers tell me should not be used for regular cleaning of eyeglasses. One of those retailers sells the Zeiss brand eyeglass lenses, and they recommend using only mild dishwashing liquid for cleaning their Zeiss lenses.
* The cleaning wipes I have were distributed by Carl Zeiss Vision, San Diego, California

There are a variety of sovents commonly called "alcohol" - which more specifically, may be: ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, methanol, etc. Some alcohols are more agressive solvents than others, and some plastics are more easily damaged than others, so it's hard to make generalizations. And also, it seems the actual ingredients in Zeiss lens cleaning products may have changed, as different data sheets I looked at show different alcohols being used. I was never able to determine with any certainty whether it is safe to use 'alcohol' on 'plastic' lenses, but multiple sources recommend using a mild solution of Dawn dishwashing soap, and to avoid alcohol-based solutions. Other eyeglasses retailers give you a a free bottle of alcohol-based lens solution when you spend $450 on a new pair of glasses. If I was cynical, I might think they want the coatings on your your new glasses to fail just about the time when your one-year warranty expires.

Having said all that, I believe alcohol-based lens cleaners are probably OK for cleaning modern coatings on glass camera lenses.

Alan Edward Klein said:

That sounds reasonable. What kind of cleaning fluid do you use?

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Zeiss lens spray from Amazon.

I can share the traditional way the russian photographers clean their lenses.
They drink up the glass of highest % of alcohol available and than immediately breath on glass they want to clean and very soon fully enjoy the results - killing two birds with one stone.
Cheers.

I don't clean my lenses, but I do clean the filters that are always attached to them. I like the Zeiss cleaner, which works but like the OP has found it always leaves a residue. I'm not picky about the residue.