What to use to clean camra lens.

[Brian L]

Hi, I need to know what to use to clean my lens on my camera. I touched it by mistake when taking some pics and there is a nice little finger print on there now. Where do I purchase the cleaner. Thanks.

 

[nikonkev]

There are soft micro cloths which you can purchase for about $10 to wipe the glass on the lens. If there's more than just a fingerprint, like ketchup, for example, your local camera shop should also sell cleaning fluids for it. If there's dust you want to blow off, I suggest a canned air blower (make sure it's oil free!).

You can purchase any of these off websites too, should your local camera shop not carry any. Check out B&H Photo.

I recommend that you buy a UV filtre for your lense. It "protects" it from scratches and stuff, aside from it's supposed purpose. Always better to have to buy a new filtre than a lens

 

[Don Simon]

A "rocket"-style squeezy blower will get rid of most dust. As nikonkev says, a clean microfiber optical cloth is probably the best thing to use for getting rid of fingerprints. I doubt you'll be needing any cleaning liquids in this case.

 

[Brian L]

Ok very good. Is there any certain brand that you guys like of micro cloths vs. just picking up a micro cloth off brand or something. I know that sounds weird but dont want to just pic a micro cloth and have it scratch the lens or something. Thanks.

 

[Garbz]

Lenses are very hard to scratch. Don't use sandpaper.

Microcloth or a lens wipe or a clean cotton cloth or a lint free kitchen wipe, heck a clean shirt will do it.

 

[TATTRAT]

so, a little spit and my elbow covered in the bottom of my T-shirt should work too, right.

 

[Alex_B]

so, a little spit and my elbow covered in the bottom of my T-shirt should work too, right.

depends on the spit, but in general: yes

 

[TATTRAT]

Well, hookers are clean right, I men for the most part?

/threadjack, lol.

 

[Dave Hoffmann]

A Chamois - I buy a large one at the local auto supply store and cut it up into squares about 3x3.

 

[Brian L]

HAHAHA!!! Well got some good laughs out of the question. Thanks guys and gals for the info.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Yeah, just to chime in last - it's your lens, stop freaking out. Just use your t-shirt or one of those free shmattes you get with new sunglasses. Believe me, combat photographers et al do not carry little cleaning solutions.

Now your sensor is a whole different matter, that you'd want to clean with a blower, followed by a solution on a swab.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Go into your local opticians and get a micro-fibre cloth from there. Generally speaking they are washable, which means they last for years. I have them scattered round at work, home, back in the UK, stuffed into my travel bag or whatever. The one sat next to me at the moment is a Pentax one, think all the others are branded for Boots the Chemist. To use, just breath on the lens and use the cloth to clean away the nasty marks.

 

[AUZambo]

Lenses are very hard to scratch. Don't use sandpaper.

Microcloth or a lens wipe or a clean cotton cloth or a lint free kitchen wipe, heck a clean shirt will do it.

Exactly...just whatever you do don't use a paper product (napkin, paper towel, kleenex, etc.) They tend to be more abrasive and repeated use of paper products could scratch the lens.

You could also just buy a new lens.

 

[patrickt]

A. Glass is hard to scratch but the coating isn't.
B. Use a lens cap.
C. Perhaps once a year I need to clean my lenses. I blow and brush loose grit off and then use a liquid and microfiber cloth.
D. In the field I sometimes us a lens pen. For example, I got two greasy fingerprints on a lens in the middle of shooting. The lens pen has a brush on one end, use it, and then the felt eraser gizmo on the other.

 

[Sideburns]

I use lens paper and my breath. works great.