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How often do you do it?

As rarely as possible.

 

Most modern lenses have a coating on the front element that could be damaged by repeated and/or improper cleaning. The first step, would be to use a blower bulb to remove any debris and see if that does the trick. Failing that, I usually use a camel hair brush that is reserved only for cleaning lenses and kept in a sheath of some sort.

 

Unfortunately sometimes a lens needs a bit more work to get clean. In those instances I take a fresh lens tissue (Rosco, Kodak, etc. - I typical don't use KimWipes on lenses as they seem a bit too abrasive), roll it, and then rip it in half. Ripping the tissue in half softens the ends of the synthetic threads of the tissue, again making them less abrasive for the surface of the lens.

 

Spray a small amount of Panchro on the split ends of the tissue. Start in the center of the lens and work outwards. It's important not to use too much fluid as this can seep through the sides of the element and eventually gunk up the insides of the lens. I find Panchro is usually the best to use instead of other lens fluids as it seems to clean up any smearing much quicker, resulting in a lot fewer headaches.

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I take a fresh lens tissue (Rosco, Kodak, etc. - I typical don't use KimWipes on lenses as they seem a bit too abrasive)

 

I prefer kimwipes, actually. They're packages more handily than tissues and, ever since I saw the prep techs at Clairmont Camera here in LA using them on glass, I don't worry about them being too rough.

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Kimwipes and Ultra Clarity cleaner are in my case. http://www.filmtools.com/ulclarlenspr.html

 

I don't like the ultra clarity nearly as much as good old pancro. It doesn't evaporate as quickly off of the lens and it leaves a haze that needs to be buffed off. It works well but just isn't quite as nice as pancro to me.

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I don't like the ultra clarity nearly as much as good old pancro. It doesn't evaporate as quickly off of the lens and it leaves a haze that needs to be buffed off. It works well but just isn't quite as nice as pancro to me.

Weird, I've had the opposite experience - I found that Panchro always left a residue while the Ultra Clarity did not, so I switched to the latter. Plus I like their tiny 1 oz. bottle, it fits into my AC pouch much better. But maybe my Panchro was just really old... I'll never go back to lens tissues after switching to Kimwipes though.

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Weird, I've had the opposite experience - I found that Panchro always left a residue while the Ultra Clarity did not, so I switched to the latter. Plus I like their tiny 1 oz. bottle, it fits into my AC pouch much better. But maybe my Panchro was just really old... I'll never go back to lens tissues after switching to Kimwipes though.

 

I'll have to give it another try. I do have a half-dozen bottles hanging around unopened, after all. If I end up liking it this time around, it would save me lots of grief given me by production about the price of pancro.

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