Hoya Pro1 Digital Filters - Help

[CxThree]

Ok. I give...

How do you clean these filters? I used them yesterday for the first time. They are very good quality and I love the thin design. However, a few hours into my trip, I noticed the one on my 24-105 lens was dirty. I had been using it a lot. I tried to clean it multiple times with a good lens cloth. It just kept smearing more and more. Do I need to use a cleaning solution or something? I did not want to do anything more until I talked to people that have used them.

 

[benhasajeep]

Sounds like some oil or something sticky got on it. A drop of cleaning fluid will not hurt it. Also switch to paper lens tissue and only use a piece of it once. Don't keep swirling it around. Wipe, then go to a dry area of the paper, wipe, etc... Don't be afraid to use several pieces of lens tissue. And look closely at your lens cloth as if the stuff is sticky or oily you will transfer it to your other filters / lenses if it is.

 

[Joves]

I use air first then I use my lenspen. That usually does the trick.

 

[Phranquey]

Sounds like some oil or something sticky got on it. A drop of cleaning fluid will not hurt it. Also switch to paper lens tissue and only use a piece of it once. Don't keep swirling it around. Wipe, then go to a dry area of the paper, wipe, etc... Don't be afraid to use several pieces of lens tissue. And look closely at your lens cloth as if the stuff is sticky or oily you will transfer it to your other filters / lenses if it is.

+1

A lens cloth is good for a quick wipe to get dust off your lens (or filter). If you have something that is smearing, you don't want that on your cloth to transfer to something else later. Use disposable lens tissue and cleaning fluid...you will not hurt the filter.

 

[Garbz]

Some things just don't come clean easily without some help. The beach is a good one. Salt spray from the ocean doesn't wipe off very well. To get things like that off I use a clean microfibre cloth and either isopropyl alcohol or a 1:1 dilution of white vinegar and distilled water (our tap water is disgusting).

Once it's clean wash the microfibre cloth. Some people don't realise that a magic cloth is only magical if kept clean.

 

[CxThree]

Thanks everyone. All great feedback and much appreciated. I am going to get some supplies and try them out.

 

[Josh66]

I always use two microfiber cloths.

Use the first one with some lens cleaning solution, use the second one to dry it. They should both be clean, of course.

I guess if you had a large enough cloth, you could just use a different part of it for the drying. Just make sure you keep it clean.

 

[FrankLamont]

Cleaning fluid can actually hurt it, but it'll take a lot more than a drop.

 

[Garbz]

Cleaning fluid can actually hurt it, but it'll take a lot more than a drop.

State your source! The manuals of my lenses say clean with ethanol, lens cleaner or any other cleaning product that doesn't have benzine (paint thinner) in it.

 

[FrankLamont]

Oh, yes.

But you see, a lot of these fluids claim to be 'cleaning fluid' - when they contain articles such as benzine in it. There should be no more than around 40% of Ethanol, preferably below 30%.

I did say can.

 

[Garbz]

Yeah ok. It pays to read the bottle, but Ethanol is not an issue. The more pure the better. It is impossible to dissolve the coatings on lenses using pure Ethanol. In fact it's all we used for cleaning in our optics lab at the uni, where even the slightest smudge would scatter a laser beam and cause measurement problems. This is not to be confused with cleaning an LCD screen where a concentrated Ethanol, solution should never be used. Diluted 1:5 is the least conservative suggestion I have seen when using Ethanol for cleaning LCDs.

But this is all beside the point since the cheapest and yet still very effective option is white vinegar which can be found in your cupboard, and if it can't then it should be since you need it for cooking anyway.