How to clean a lens?

[anubis404]

My Sigma 18-50 has a couple of smudges on the front element and I want to know how to get it off. I don't have a lens pen, only a rocket blower, and I'm leaving on a trip tomorrow. Is there any other methods to cleaning them? What should I do and not do?

 

[Samanax]

How should I clean my DSLR’s lens?

 

[Overread]

After the blower I use the following things:
Brush - for those bits of dust and such that don't blow off
microfibre cloth and a bottle of lens cleaning fluid - all three of the above I just got of amazon - nothing that special - and it works well.

Just spray a bit of the fluid onto the cloth and then (starting in the middle of the lens) rub firmly (but not too hard) in little circles that get gradually larger till you have gone round the whole lens surface - then with a dry bit of the cloth repeat the process till the fluid is all taken off and the lens is clean.

 

[anubis404]

Just in case you missed the body paragraph, I don't have any microfiber cloths or brushes, and I leave tomorrow. Is there any home methods you recommend?

 

[Samanax]

A mixture of 50% alcohol and 50% distilled water will work as a cleaning solution. If you don't have any lens tissue then I'm not sure what you could use to wipe the lens with.

No camera shops in your area?

 

[AlexColeman]

Do you have a microfiber for glasses? If not, lint free tissue might be best, but if it doesn't drastically affect quality, why worry if there is nothing you can do.

 

[fred0000]

LCD screen cleaner is the same stuff as the cleaning kits you buy for 6 bucks with the fluid and the cloth/blower, i bought a kit called camera lense cleaner and the bottle of fluid said LCD screen cleaner on it, so if you have that? that would work well too.

 

[AlexColeman]

That wouldn't work so well, lens cleaner is a specific fluid.

 

[fred0000]

That wouldn't work so well, lens cleaner is a specific fluid.

LCD screen cleaner is the same stuff as the cleaning kits you buy for 6 bucks with the fluid and the cloth/blower, i bought a kit called camera lense cleaner and the bottle of fluid said LCD screen cleaner on it, so if you have that? that would work well too.

yes, I am not retarded, i read it right on the bottle, all LCD screen cleaner is is 50/50 alcohal and water, as someone already said to do so for camera lenses...