cleaning your lens

Ghost in the Shell · 27 Feb 2006 at 13:35

how do you look after your front and back elements?

i have a dust cloth but i dread using it on my lenses as i feel it makes them worse over time.. just after some advice.

Leigh · 27 Feb 2006 at 13:49

NEVER touch the rear element. I use a blower to move dust. On the front i use a lens pen.

ranarama · 27 Feb 2006 at 13:51

I probably don't look after them as well as I should but I've not had any problems. I have a lens pen to take smears and dust off if I'm out and then have a proper lens cleaning cloth I use at home. Most of the time I just use a rocket blower to clear dust off though.

As I keep a UV filter on all the time I don't have to touch the front element and if I do anything silly with it at least I've only done it to the filter. I've not had to touch the back element on any of my lenses yet though.

hoodmeister · 27 Feb 2006 at 13:51

Excuse my ignorance... But what is a lens pen?

I use a cloth on the front, blower everywhere else - although the "front" is a UV filter for me.

ranarama · 27 Feb 2006 at 14:10

hoodmeister said:
Excuse my ignorance... But what is a lens pen?

It's shaped like a marker pen. At one end is a retractable soft brush for removing dust. At the other end is a pad with some sort of cleaning solution for removing fingerprints/smears.

Don't think this counts as a competitior but if it does please remove. lenspen

Gamefreak501 · 27 Feb 2006 at 18:29

I am guilty of using a various lint-free cloths to clean up both elements of all my lenses

Maybe I have been fortunate thus far to not cause any damage/scratches etc. on any of the elements on my lenses.

I need a blower really.