Lens care and scratches...

[DocFrankenstein]

I'm trying to determine the amount of "reasonable" care for my lenses.

From the assumptions that:
Every point on the sensor is formed from the whole surface of the front element.
The anti reflection coating on the front element is quite hard...

I can't find a very good reason for using "special lens tissue"... Why not just go with a Q tip?

Does it scratch the surface at all? Will you be able to tell after 10 years? Will it affect the image?

[drisley]

I just bought some ROR solution, and I'm going to get some pec pads.
Also, the LENSPEN works great in a pinch.

BTW, if I'm not mistaken, the anti-reflection coating on a lens is on the inside of the glass, not on the outside, so cleaning won't affect it.

[CyberDyneSystems]

The trouble with a Q-tip is more about streaking... you'll never get a streak free clean with a Qtip I would imagine...

The trouble with say... Tissue paper is lint and dust.. in your efforts to clean you could leave behind lot od white dust.. (same with a cotton ball or Q-tip) that would then need some other method to clean THAT off...

Peck pads and Eclipse is also frustrating... I find it amazingly tricky to work with.. and there are apperently things that can get on your lenses that Eclipse simply will NOT clean off. I had something on one of my filters that was so stuck to the front I literally though the filter had been eaten away by something acidic....

Eclipse had NO effect... nor did alchohol.. but a quick wash under hot water and dish soap fixed it right up. (no idea what the stuff was or how it got there :roll: ) Anyway... then I needed to clean the dish soap and water strks off with lens cleaning fluid and lens tissue/pec pads.

[drisley]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=46525

[DocFrankenstein]

So... is it ok to use the ROR with the Q tip? It won't leave anything behind I beleive. :?

[Jon]

So... is it ok to use the ROR with the Q tip? It won't leave anything behind I beleive. :?

Just around the edges (of the swab). Lens tissue you have a gradual transition between wet & dry tissue to help get a blending.