Fingerprint on my lense! Urgent, please help!

[ahsm57]

Well, I let my sister take the digital camera with her when she went to a party so she could take some photos, and I told her to be extra careful so that no one touches the lense. And guess what, she came home with a nice touched lense, theres a fingerprint on it, I tried using this rag I have to lenses but no help. The smudge keeps getting smuged around and if I look on the lense under the light at a certain angle I can still see it. How bad is this and how do I clean off the lense? I also was told by a friend whos into photography that it's alright to use a tad bit of dish detergent, like on the tip of a toothpick, and water and I tried that, and still no luck. What should I do?

P.S. I called Henry's and they said they have lense pens, do these really work, and will they get the smudge out?

Thanks in advance.

[xdjoynerx]

well 1, do a search cause this has already been answered.

and 2, take a micro fiber cloth made for cleaning lenses, and LIGHTLY rub it. hard rubbing will just smudge it around.

[ppuga]

I buy that pen in Henry's, when I get the camera but...

...so far I have never need it. But to me it seems that it could work, and its only a couple of CADs, so give it a Try, and lets use the search for this kind of questions, or just go to the bottom of the page there is a "similar thread" area.

Good luck!

[sameerb]

you can buy lense cleaning kit available in markets

for example : www.pcvideoonline.com/productdetail.asp?productid=284 (http://www.pcvideoonline.com/productdetail.asp?productid=284)

[ekrunaj]

Go ahead and buy the lens pen.I have both the small and large versions, which work extremely well. My experience is that lens pens will clean a lens properly when everything else seems to leave smudges.

[rohitkumar]

get any lens cleaning moist tissue from walmart (where you get all the contact lens things) and gently wipe it out. pick the one which says 'safe for coated lenses'

[ahsm57]

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond. I promise in the future I shall search. Thank's a lot, and I will buy a lense pen. Btw, my lense isn't ruined because I used a small amount of dish detergent, is it? I hope to God not. My friend searched Google and said that I can use detergent.

[DocFrankenstein]

Umm... I would never use a detergent on the lense. :confused: It's basic... bases are not good for your lenses.

Cheers

[ekrunaj]

Here's a link I discovered while browsing. The claim is that the lens cleaner is formulated for Multi Coated lenses and filters. I have not tried it myself, but if you have exhausted all other avenues, it might be worth a try. http://www.2filter.com/prices/products/formulamc.html

[ProblemSolver]

How about this very affordable way that I use for my Ixus 500? -> Use a moist cotton bud and wipe the lens by polishing it round and round from the middle and outwards.

[ahsm57]

I bought a Lense pen, and it seemed to have work. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!