Looking for best practices for cleaning a UV filter.

[Eric Piercey]

I just got a 77mm Hoya UV filter. As soon as I pulled it out of the plastic case I noticed a piece of something stuck to it, about the size of a dust particle. I gently blew on it, and it didn't budge so I then took a new post-it note, bent it, and used the edge to gently dislodge the debris, and no I didn't get sticky stuff anywhere near the lense.

Anyway, the little booger or whatever it was left a very small smudge. Now it was time to quit playing around- so I put a drop of lense cleaning solution on a pec pad and (ever so gently of course) went to town on the smudge.

The smudge was quickly gone but now to my dismay my filter had become a streaky prismatic mess. I did the natural thing whenever one has a problem in life, and googled- and it seems I wasnt the only one to ever encounter this phenomenon. Unfortunately there was a wide range of input on the subject (both wet and dry) ranging from breath and a t-shirt to lense pens.

After repeated attempts I was eventually able get the new filter looking... well -almost- new again. *sigh* There are still a few streaks near the edges, and I'm sure since they're so far from the sensor they'll have no impact on the photos, but nevertheless is there a more bulletproof way to get these UV filters clean?

In hindsight my first intervention after getting that little smudge would have been a dry pec pad or a qtip. The lense cleaning solution was a bad idea. There is definitely an art form to swabbing the filter with a wet pad with enough solution on it, then using a dry-oil free- NEW pad in circular motions, moving outward, ...but then there's the edges of the glass next to the metal frame which are hard to get to. Any misstep of course makes a new smear. It's like a rubiks cube, you get one smear off and make a new one. Any thoughts?

 

[Torus34]

I've always used lens tissue and a small amount of moisture from my breath.

 

[DSLR noob]

I've cleaned all my filters and lenses with a small pad that came with my MP3 player for cleaning the screen, it looks a bit like the backside of leather only on both sides and is really soft. the filters are crystal clear, I think it is specially designed for removing the oil on your hands from smooth material, IE glass, plastic etc.

 

[Garbz]

There's many ways to clean glass. I have yet to find one that under really close scrutiny passes off as new. It's the reason I use UV filters in the first place, so the filter gets dirty and not the lens. Although I doubt that the very tiny little marks have even the remotest impact on visible image quality

 

[sdgmusic]

Use a microfibre cloth. It's a special type of cloth that will never scratch.

 

[Garbz]

Used them looked at them under close light and no you will get microfinesmudges with it. But that is what I use too as it does give the best results.

 

[Mike_E]

90 something percent alcohol (everclear- the kind you drink) and a well washed soft cotton baby diaper. After brushing any particles away that will budge, dampen the diaper with the alcohol -do Not drink any- it's bAd- and do the circular motion thing starting in the middle and roll the diaper so as to use new parts every time for each new stroke. When you get to the edge use your thumbnail in the cloth all the way around and then make a second pass with the first method. Repeat as needed. Works for me. mike

 

[shingfan]

honestly.....you always get some sort of dust on all your optics exposed to air......but what is important is that......they DONT show up on your image...that's all it matters....so no need to be a neat freak....i was once a neat freak and realize that it makes no difference as long as they dont show up on the image