"Monkey
Monkey" <monkey_monkey_camera_boy@go.com> wrote in message
news:79890349.0312220145.7f8aae27@posting.google.com...
> I
shot over 3 hours of video on our recent trip to
>
New Zealand. The last tape was almost unviewable, due
> to
the lenses ( camera's built-in lens and a thread
>
mounted wide angle) becoming very lightly water spotted
>
from being near the mist of a large waterfall. I tried to
>
clean the lenses, but the supposedly "Lint-Free" lens
>
cleaning paper wipes I purchased just seemed to smear
>
the spots and leave a fine dust on the lenses.
>
>
What procedure do you folks recommend for getting a dirty
>
lens *really* clean? (I know...I know...don't get it dirty
> at
all is the best answer)
>
>
Should I use very slightly damp lens cloth with distilled water?
> Is
there a "Lens cleaning" solution on the market?
>
How about a mild solvent, like isopropyl alcohol?
As a
photographer for 40 years or so, one of my least favorite
things
to do was cleaning lenses. Not that it is hard, but I value
my
gear, and want it perfect and undamaged (ever notice how
bad
against-the-light shots can look in video on TLC on TV - I
think
few of the "pros" actually clean their lenses carefully...! ;-).
In the
single-coated lens days, lenses were easier to clean
enough
to look good - but the surfaces were easily damaged
(one
tried to minimize the cleaning numbers/duration to better
preserve
the lens quality). With multi-coating, the surfaces
became
much harder to damage with cleaning, but MUCH
harder
to clean to the point of looking clean ("spotless"), so
one
usually decides at what point in cleaning off
"gunkiness" in
the
field there will be minimal negative optical effects from the
"gunk"
remaining on the lens surface. With the high DOF small
camcorders,
not only will all dust/grease/damage marks show
in the
image, but even normally-minor surface material will
also
show. I cover ALL camcorder lenses with a UV filter for
protection
(this actually makes the problems worse, but it
also
protects the camcorder lens from the minor-but-fatal
damage
that can occur from a bad cleaning), though I rarely
cover
WA lens converters (ANY dust, marks, or damage is
critical
with these, but they are replaceable).
As for
cleaning (in order of effectiveness - choose the level
appropriate
for the need, but start "low"):
- Try
air alone for dust (NOT "canned air", but air from a large
hand-syringe,
without brush attached). A piece of good
silicone-free
tissue can be used (once!) as a brush, if necessary.
- A
piece of wadded tissue applied to the surface moistened
with
breath (wash hands in detergent, and breathe upward onto
the
inverted glass surface only, to avoid silvery spit marks and
oils
from hands appearing on the glass), followed by the above
(the
tissue [or cotton swab] should be good-quality, fresh, and
WITHOUT
silicone).
- A
piece of lens tissue with a drop of ordinary glass cleaner (or
alcohol.,
or lighter-fluid, depending on need - applied *to the
lens tissue,
NOT the lens*), followed by the above (change
tissues
often when finishing).
- For
"disasters", a 1:1 mix of Palmolive dish detergent and
water
can be applied with a tissue to the glass (messy!), and
the
resulting mess can be removed by using the above stages
in
reverse order.
- Some
people like the microfiber lens-cleaning cloths...
Never
apply liquids directly to lens surfaces; never apply
anything
that contains silicone; never use cloth or tissue
(cotton
swabs are OK) that were not specifically designed
for
lens cleaning; avoid solvents that will attack plastics
(though
none that I know of will attack the coatings); if
necessary,
learn to live with imperfection, and suffer
bad-looking
back-lit shots...;-)
--
David Ruether
d_ruether@hotmail.com
http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com