Where to get your camera lens cleaned?

[iKwak]

Hello, there is a fingerprint right on the center of the lens. (clumsy buddy)
I don't whether to take the camera to a dealer (Ritz Camera stores) or buy one of those cleaning kit you find in Office Depot and Staples.

Suggestions?

[IndyJeff]

Lens cleaning solution and lens paper from a camera store.

[stopbath]

The most important part of cleaning the lens is a lint free cloth. A good cloth could be: a bit of cotton, a hankie, a lens tissue. A brush will allow you to brush away grit. A blower will allow you to blow away grit (without using your lungs)

Never scrub a lens clean. First blow on it lens to remove any particles. Then moisten the lens with your breath (say AH) or put a drop of liquid (with no ingredients to leave a residue) on a cloth. Gently clean the lens. Change the cleaning surface of the material so if you pick up grit you don't rub it into the glass....

Repeat until the lens is spotless.

Be careful of "lens cleaning solutions" Some will leave a 'protective' residue on the lens.

[MediaMagic]

For common smudges or cleaning, I highly recommend the Lens Pen. It fits nicley in your vest pocket, shirt pocket, or back pocket, and it simple and easy to use. No solution, no wadded paper, just pure lens cleaning power at your fingertips. Use the handy built in brush to remove loose particles (or a blower bulb), then Lens Pen that sucker.

It's very versatile, you can use it for glasses, or even shower with it! okay, maybe not the shower, but it *is* a nice tool.

For nastier cleaning jobs though, solution and paper patch should always be handy.

[toddb]

I use one of the micro fiber cloths for cleaning sun glasses and eye glasses. I scratch up allot of my plastic eye ware before getting these. They seem to work really well and they are easy to find.

[DocFrankenstein]

For common smudges or cleaning, I highly recommend the Lens Pen. It fits nicley in your vest pocket, shirt pocket, or back pocket, and it simple and easy to use. No solution, no wadded paper, just pure lens cleaning power at your fingertips. Use the handy built in brush to remove loose particles (or a blower bulb), then Lens Pen that sucker.

It's very versatile, you can use it for glasses, or even shower with it! okay, maybe not the shower, but it *is* a nice tool.

For nastier cleaning jobs though, solution and paper patch should always be handy.
I've used the optex cleaning pen and it seemed to work ok.

Then I tried to use a ficrofiber patch and it turned BLACK! Apparently the pen leaves a residue.

No more pens. Lens fluid and patches only.

[MediaMagic]

For common smudges or cleaning, I highly recommend the Lens Pen. It fits nicley in your vest pocket, shirt pocket, or back pocket, and it simple and easy to use. No solution, no wadded paper, just pure lens cleaning power at your fingertips. Use the handy built in brush to remove loose particles (or a blower bulb), then Lens Pen that sucker.

It's very versatile, you can use it for glasses, or even shower with it! okay, maybe not the shower, but it *is* a nice tool.

For nastier cleaning jobs though, solution and paper patch should always be handy.
I've used the optex cleaning pen and it seemed to work ok.

Then I tried to use a ficrofiber patch and it turned BLACK! Apparently the pen leaves a residue.

No more pens. Lens fluid and patches only.

You know, that's not pen residue. That black stuff is the disembodied soul snippets of those whom you've photographed. For that stuff, the Exorcism Pen, with self contained holy water solution capsule works wonderfully. Or you could sacrifice a picture of a chicken, but that's a little drastic. :wink:

That residue is actually the dry cleaning solution, so yeah, wiping it down with a paper patch is optimal, but not necessary for a quick clean. I find it more convenient than the liquid solution unless the lens or filter has been splashed.

I have a large and a small one, the large one is just marked LENSPEN with the name Photoco on the side. The smaller one is marked LENSPENminiPRO and the address pecaproducts.com on the side. I think they all work pretty much identically though.

[ron chappel]

I second stopbath's description!

Just one little extra hint- If you find that you have cleaned the lens very well but there are tiny specs of lint/paper on the lens,just fold a lens tissue into a point,just barely moisten it (let it dry abit if ness) and touch the specs one by one to lift them away :)