Yongmin Choi Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 For lens cleaning, somebody says only lens expert can clean the lens because if non expert clean lens, the coating on lens removes quickly. So he said avoid it. But now it looks really dirty.. i have a question on this moment. can we just clean the lens really often with lens tissue with Panchro? Or should we send the lens to expert? Is there big difference? Do the lens experts in Rental shop have special technic or special lens cleaner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aneesh Kumar Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 You could do it yourself. You have to use a lens blower/lens pen and get rid of any visible dust particles. And then wipe gently using lens tissue in a circular motion. Pancro lens cleaner is ideal, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Dom Jaeger Posted January 21, 2022 Premium Member Share Posted January 21, 2022 It doesn’t require an expert to clean a lens. Coatings don’t remove easily, certainly not just by cleaning if you’re careful. What you can do accidentally is scratch the coating if you try to clean without blowing debris off first, or if you use a dirty micro fibre cloth, or dry tissues. You can use a lens cleaner like Pancro, or just isopropyl alcohol. It’s best to clean in a spiral from the centre out, don’t keep using the same tissue, and don’t scrub. If something doesn’t come off easily with lens cleaner, leave it. You don’t need to be constantly cleaning a lens to keep it perfectly spotless. A bit of dust won’t affect the image. The things you should clean off promptly are fingerprints or salt spray or softdrink or things like that which might be acidic or alkaline or corrosive since they can etch into coatings if you leave them on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said: It doesn’t require an expert to clean a lens. Coatings don’t remove easily, certainly not just by cleaning if you’re careful. What you can do accidentally is scratch the coating if you try to clean without blowing debris off first, or if you use a dirty micro fibre cloth, or dry tissues. You can use a lens cleaner like Pancro, or just isopropyl alcohol. It’s best to clean in a spiral from the centre out, don’t keep using the same tissue, and don’t scrub. If something doesn’t come off easily with lens cleaner, leave it. You don’t need to be constantly cleaning a lens to keep it perfectly spotless. A bit of dust won’t affect the image. The things you should clean off promptly are fingerprints or salt spray or softdrink or things like that which might be acidic or alkaline or corrosive since they can etch into coatings if you leave them on there. I can attest to that. I've shot in very filthy locals where you had to clean the lens every hour or two. Only time I marred the coating was when on a sailboat and must have picked up some salt spray. Other than that it is amazing how durable the lens coating is. After decades of cleaning lenses, I settled on alcohol wipes and Kimwipes. Kodak made some good lens tissue back in the day. Now it is a crapshoot with tissues. I like Kimwipes best. I generally use skylight filters or uv filters. But some lenses like circular fisheyes can't use them. If you use the hi-tech coated B&W German filters...they are hard to clean. The coating makes it tough to clean. Their basic filters clean better. Other than that...alcohol pads and Kimwipes with a Rocket blower to dust it off before and after cleaning. Edited January 22, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Palmer Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Don't know if others frown on this... if the dirt is superficial, before using tissue I find just breathing on the lens works OK. Less invasive maybe than lens-cleaner. Then only sparngly wipe the tissue where it's needed when the lens or filter is still moist. Only use the softest kind of lens tissue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) A clean lens is basic to getting a good photo or cine' shot. You should always be looking at your lens to see what condition it is in, When I'm out in the field, hitting the pavement, I carry around some lens tissue such as Pearstone or Tiffen. I keep the Kimwipes at home or in my car or tent. If you are lucky enough to have a lacky intern, have them carry around a mini box of Kiwwipes in a Ziplock bag in the backpack. You can pack some loose Kimwipes in a Ziplock bag...but you risk picking up dirt. If you carry lens tissue in your pocket...keep it in a Ziplock bag. I can't say I'm the world's expert on lens cleaning...but I have lots of experience shooting in filthy places and working to keep a clean lens. Many times, the gear gets ruined before the lens coating does. Selection from Whoop-Whoop D.D. Teoli Jr. Take this Juggalo wedding. If this was the only time I would get drenched in Faygo, things may be OK. But it is constant day and night gear abuse. Selection from Whoop-Whoop D.D. Teoli Jr. If you could get behind the action and not be touched, you may be OK, but the Juggalos love to soak everyone in front of them. I tried shooting with telephoto from way back with a tripod. Put they thought I was a cop and almost got attacked a few times. Selection from Whoop-Whoop D.D. Teoli Jr. And it is not only liquids and dust. People put their hands on your lenses sometimes. This hen party wanted 5 Euros to take their photo. Their greasy hands ruined the lens until I could clean it. Luckily, I had some alcohol wipes and lens tissue in my pack...and a small blower. Selection from De Wallen D.D. Teoli Jr. As a bonus for getting pushed into the mosh pit, my lens got greased up and they broke my flash off at the hotshoe! Selection from Whoop-Whoop D.D. Teoli Jr. If you are shooting in dangerous or dirty locations, use some disposable gear if you can. The first year shooting the Juggalos, the lens and body got messed up. The drenching in sugary drinks froze the lens focus ring and froze the off / on switch and the shutter button. After 3 years of shooting the Juggalos I gave up on them. It was just too much ruined gear and could not afford to keep replacing it. But...the lens coating never suffered at all from what I could tell even though some of the lenses had been cleaned near a hundred times or more. Bottom line... Have backups and be ready to clean your lens. A clean lens is especially important at night. Edited January 22, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) Got timed out. Here are a few other tidbits on cleaning lenses... I didn't settle on Kimwipes and alcohol pads first thing. I found the combo after trying everything else and not being happy with the results. This is a sample of alcohol wipes. Never used this brand. Internet Photo: Fair Use When I ran out of the vintage Kodak lens tissue and Kodak lens cleaning fluid, I shopped around. I found much of the lens tissue and lens cleaners to be subpar. So, I bought everything that was on the market at B&H, Adorama, Sammy's, Walmart and the local eyeglass shop...and gave them all a try. That was how I settled on Kimwipes and alcohol wipes...by testing. And some of the tissue and lens cleaning solutions were terrible. I ended up trashing almost all of the cleaning solutions and some of the lower grade tissues. I tell you guys and gals all the time to TEST your setups, lighting, etc. So don't take my word for it, YOU test it out. It could be 25 years from now all my lenses have the coating eaten off of them. But for the last 12 years my system has worked fine. Sometimes when in the field I would not have anything to clean a lens, so I used the fog from my breath and my undershirt or Kleenex. After you have cleaned the lens, you can check out the quality of the clean with a bright flashlight. Shine it on your front element. It shows the problems. The flashlight is also good to use when buying a used lens. Shine it through the lens and it picks up any dirt or dust in the lens when wide open. eBay Photo: Fair Use But let's go back in time to hear from the old timers... This thread inspired me to do some archiving from eBay on lens tissues and cleaning solutions. Here is a small collection you can look at. Some of their instructions on how to clean a lens is there. At least one said don't use alcohol! eBay Photo: Fair Use Collection Of Vintage Kodak & Other Lens Tissue & Cleaning Fluid D. D. Teoli Jr. A. C. : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive If you want to practice cleaning lenses, practice cleaning filters or buy a cheap, used Pentax manual 50mm lens on eBay. You can get them for $15 - $25 each. ...and here is how you can test your cleaning tissue for abrasives. Testing film cleaning wipes for abrasion qualities – Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection – II (home.blog) Edited January 22, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 This is Brian from PANCRO. I recommend using our Pro Lens Cleaner obviously because it is and excellent product and is time trustee by ACs…but would also like to mention that our partners @ Filmsticks have made a lens tissue that we have tested in our labs. In order for a tissue to be most effective it needs to have the correct absorption rate, lint free and most jokers t won’t scratch the lens or filter. I don’t work or sell this product directly but wanted everyone to know it’s out there and works well with our lens solution that many of you already use in the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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