Regardless of how careful we
are, sooner or later our lenses need cleaning.
Opinions differ widely on what the best method to clean a lens is. Subsequently there are quite a large number
of products on the market, and virtually all of them claim that their method is
better than anyone else’s. What to do?
Regardless of which product
or which method we use, the two important objectives are that the product and
method does clean the lens properly, and that it can be done in a manner that does
not harm the lens.
It is often said that glass
scratches easily. That is correct. But with modern lenses we actually do not
clean the glass surface but rather the anti reflection coating on the lens. This sometimes brings up some outlandish
claims, like the coating is substantially more scratch resistant than just
glass, therefore making it unnecessary to be overly careful. As a matter of fact, at one camera store I
overheard a sales clerk claiming that the lens coatings are almost impossible
to scratch. To my horror, he used a
pencil with an eraser tip and vigorously rubbed it all over the lens.
One problem is that harmful
ways to clean a lens don’t necessarily show up in visible scratches
immediately. These effects are
accumulative, and prolonged use will eventually show up. At that point the harm is done. It is virtually irreversible.
The best approach is to touch
the surface of your lens as little as possible.
If only some dust has settled on the lens, use a rubber blower to remove
it. That often is all that is
necessary. It is advisable, however, not
to use so called canned air. These items
emit a rather powerful stream of “air” which inevitably will pick up small dust
particles in the air and pound them into the lens surface. This parallels the principle of sandblasting. When full, these cans also have the tendency to emit so much of the material inside that it does not gasify before it reaches the lens. In that case it will settle on the lens in a frozen state. That obviously will be harmful and should be avoided.
Typical blower bulb
Any dust that still clings to
the lens ran be removed with a soft lens cleaning brush. Here too a lot of cheap, useless products can
be found. High quality lens cleaning
brushes, in many cases, use camel hair or other similarly soft materials. Any good lens cleaning brush should come with
a protective casing to prevent the brush from picking up dirt while being stored. It is also necessary to shake or blow off any
accumulated dust and dirt from the brush, otherwise we end up simply moving
dirt around on the lens.
So called lipstick brush. It retracts and is protected by the cap
Unfortunately it will happen
that we get a fingerprint or other smudges on the lens. Blowers and brushes are of no help here, we
need something in addition. Several
years ago, on a visit to Leica, I asked them about this. I expected some complicated, overly technical
approach. To my surprise I was told to
use lens cleaning tissue and lens cleaning fluid. A bit of research on the internet revealed
that this still holds true today.
But caution is definitely on
order. There are a lot of cheap products
of this kind on the market. Some of
these are often used as promotional items.
Stay away from them. Instead pay
a bit more for a high quality lens cleaning tissue, as are sold by Zeiss, for instance. These should be soft and lint free. The same goes for the cleaning fluid. To use this system first remove any loose
dirt and dust with a blower or brush,
Then use a sheet of the cleaning tissue and put a drop or two of the
cleaning fluid on the tissue. Never put
it directly in the lens. Most lenses have
a front element with a convex surface.
Adding the cleaning fluid will most likely result in the fluid to run to
the edge of the front lens element and potentially into the lens. Moisture inside a lens is never a good thing.
Use the moistened lens tissue
and gently rub the surface of the lens in a circular motion for just a few
seconds, beginning in the center and working your way outward, removing any
marks or smear. If necessary use a
second tissue and repeat. Some lens
cleaning fluid might leave a slight haze after drying. The Kodak lens cleaning fluid used to do
that. This is not harmful. In such cases
simply breathe on the lens and clean off the haze with another, clean piece of
lens cleaning tissue. As a matter of
fact, breathing on the lens is often all you need to clean it. The thin layer of moisture works as a
lubricant. Never use dry tissue on the
lens. This too can cause harm.
Instead of lens cleaning
tissue, you can also use a microfiber cloth.
These are relatively new on the market.
They are made of extremely thin fibers that will actually reach
underneath smudges and dirt on the lens and lift it off the surface. Of course here too exist substantial quality
differences. Promotional items, like the
ones you get with your eye glasses, are usually too coarse to be of any use.
One of the best microfiber cloths
is the one offered by EDDYCAM. It was
especially developed for cleaning high quality lenses. It offers high moisture absorption. To achieve the extremely fine fibers used,
the regular microfibers are split 16 times to render the extremely fine fibers
used in the manufacture of this cloth.
The structure of the surface is
so dense that a square meter of the material weighs 180 grams. Another advantage over similar microfiber
cloths is that the EDDYCAM one comes in white.
This makes it much easier to see when the cloth is dirty to the point
that it needs to be washed. It even comes
with an envelope in which you can leave the cloth at the end of its usability
at a dealer or send it directly to EDDYCAM and receive a 10 percent discount
when buying a new one.
Finally there is the LensPen. It consists of a special cleaning tip and a
lens brush that retracts into the pen for safe storage. The cleaning tip surface is covered with a
special invisible carbon compound that removes fingerprint ans smudges. This is
not “high tech” – this is “old tech”! Many years ago our grandmothers often
used newspapers to clean the windows and mirrors in the house. Why did that
work so well? Newspapers are covered with printer’s ink, which is about 25%
carbon … and the carbon molecule has a unique ability to absorb oils. The
invisible carbon compound in LensPen products is unique and it has been
specially formulated to handle the fingerprint oils on lenses, filters,
eyepieces and screens.
To use it first remove any
loose dirt or dust off the lens with the built-in brush. Then twist off the cap and wipe the lens
surface with smooth, circular motion of the cleaning tip. If some smudges persist, breathe gently on the
lens and repeat the process. At the end,
simply twist the cap back on.
I have used all of the above
methods over the years and all have served me well. But most importantly, they have served my
lenses well. Even the oldest ones are
clean with no scratches. Treat your
lenses well and they will give you almost unlimited years of good service.
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