How To Clean Lenses (1 Viewer)

[cl5man]

I own a pair of Zeiss FL's and Swarovski SLC's. Both tend to get a little dust on both lenses due to normal use. I hate to rub the dust off, but blowing doesn't seem to remove alot of it. Is there some kind of aresol spray or something I can use? Haven't tried holding the lenses under a faucet yet, would that work? Thanks

 

[Katy Penland]

You might find this thread useful: :t:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=35409&highlight=cleaning+lenses#post35409

 

[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings!

I've posted this before, and I'll gladly post it again - because I love my fine optics and want them to last as long as possible. I want other people to enjoy theirs for as long as possible too!

First off, clean your optics AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. Take proactive steps to insure that they won't need to be cleaned very often - don't be careless with them, use the lens caps, try to avoid letting other people handle them, etc.

OK... once they need cleaning, there are only 3 things in this universe that should EVER touch your lenses!!! Seriously!!! These are:

1 - Air (blow on lenses to remove large particles or use canned air)
2 - Pure Cotton balls (NOT the polyester replacements that are becoming more common)
3 - Distilled water (NOT tap water)

Clean as gently as possible, using the smallest amount of force necessary to remove the foreign matter.

I'm speaking from tens of years of experience here, having owned literally hundreds of pieces of optical equipment, everything from cameras and lenses to riflescopes to spotting scopes to rangefinders to surveying equipment to binoculars. Consider me melodramatic if you want. Ignore the above suggestions if you want, and use some fancy cleaning product or the latest lens-pen or whatever... but do so at your lenses peril. Seriously.

Best wishes,
Bawko

 

[iporali]

OK... once they need cleaning, there are only 3 things in this universe that should EVER touch your lenses!!! Seriously!!! These are:

1 - Air (blow on lenses to remove large particles or use canned air)
2 - Pure Cotton balls (NOT the polyester replacements that are becoming more common)
3 - Distilled water (NOT tap water)

Clean as gently as possible, using the smallest amount of force necessary to remove the foreign matter.

Now that IS gentle - but in my experience it does not remove greasy or oily matter. It is however a good idea to start with water, because salt crystals don't dissolve into 100% solvents like alcohols. If the lenses are not clean yet, I would add:

4 - Wipe gently with lens paper, Q-tips or cotton balls moistened (not wet) with 70%-100% (pharmacy grade) isopropanol. Isopropanol dries slowly and tends to leave spots or streaks, but that doesn't usually matter. Wiping slowly may help. If you want, you can get rid of them with a clean, dry lens paper.

5 - A solvent that really leaves the lenses pristine is pure methanol. In some countries you can't even buy it, but if you can, remember that it is very toxic and penetrates easily through the skin. It can damage your vision much more than dirty lenses. But this is what many professionals use eg. for DSLR sensor cleaning.

Solvents like acetone or xylene can be used on lenses, but they may dissolve paint or plastic/rubber parts of the binoculars, so don't use them.

If you trust on the sealings of your binoculars, you can use dilute dishwashing solution and clean the binoculars in warm, running tap water. This is a very efficient and gentle method and does not leave any drying marks - but do it at your own risk. I have used this many times on my waterproof Nikon HGs without any problems. If the seals fail one day, it will be a sign that the bins need service anyway.

Just remember not to clean lenses too often, do it only at home in clean environment with enough cleaning solutions, cotton, lens papers etc. available. Careless and too frequent cleaning is probably the most common reason to damage lenses. And don't believe when someone tells you this or that "eats away lens coatings" - they don't, but scratches do.

Good luck,

Ilkka

 

[Otto McDiesel]

I hate to rub the dust off, but blowing doesn't seem to remove alot of it. Is there some kind of aresol spray or something I can use? Haven't tried holding the lenses under a faucet yet, would that work? Thanks

For me, the same dillema. Don't put them under the faucet, too much pressure.
Here is what i do:
1. Drip distilled water slowly on the lenses so that it washes the dirt and it runs off the lens. You don't need much. I use a squirt bottle. This will remove the dirt without scratching the coatings.
2. Let them dry or dry them with a hair blower or can of pressed air.
3. wipe with a Zeiss moist tissue or cleaning fluid/microfiber cloth.

Whatever you do, remember:
Too much cleaning is worse than a bit of dust, and
never clean them in the field, that is the best way to end up scratching.

 

[RAH]

I find that a microfiber cleaning cloth can be amazingly effective, and much better than cleaning paper.

 

[chartwell99]

Greetings!

First off, clean your optics AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. Take proactive steps to insure that they won't need to be cleaned very often - don't be careless with them, use the lens caps, try to avoid letting other people handle them, etc.

Bawko

Bawko is right - it takes a surprisingly large amount of grease, dust etc to degrade most binocular images, and most cleaning, in my view, is risky and unnecessary. That said, I do get conerned about fingerprints on lenses from careless "May I look through your binoculars, please" types, not because of immediate image issues, but rather out of concern that the objective coatings will be affected, a problem which will ultimately cause image degradation. My current approach to cleaning is to use Zeiss lens cleaning solution very sparingly and a truly clean microfiber cloth.

 

[MacGee]

I like microfibre cloths too. I've been using them to clean laptop screens for a few years and they're excellent. I find it difficult to follow the advice about not cleaning lenses too often, so the gentleness of the microfibre and its extreme efficiency in removing grease, makes me hope I'm not doing too much damage each time.

Michael.

 

[AlanFrench]

Here is some expert advice Al Nagler of TeleVue...
http://www.televue.com/engine/page.asp?ID=143

You can also find instructions by Roland Christen of Astro-Physics at....
http://www.astro-physics.com
Click on "Technical Support" and then on "Cleaning Instructions for Optical Surfaces."

Clear skies, Alan

 

[lvn600]

I blow the dust off with an air brush, breathe on the lenses then clean them with a microfiber cloth.A quick half swirl at a time.-Otherwise they always leave a smudge.-
I agree with atomic chicken-the less you clean the lenses the better-avoid getting them dirty.-When the lenses get to oiled up -I use lens paper and residual oil remover but only about every 6 months or if I accidentally put my fingers on them.

 

[ceasar]

If you've been crawling through the mud with them, Leica no longer recommends hosing them off, or holding them under a faucet. A wet rag will do nicely thankyou.
Bob