How to clean your lens?

I'm always reading about cleaning sensors, but not about lenses.

Can I use a T-shirt or tissue to wipe the front of the lens if I accidently touch it, or if some rain drops on it while I'm out and don't have any lens cloths? Or am I better off leaving the finger print or water spot on until I get home and wipe it with a cloth that I bought from a camera store for lenses?

Can I use the lens cloth to wipe the back of the lens (the part of the lens that is closest to the mirror when it is attached to the camera)? Or is it recommended to just use the blower?

When I had just my kit lens, I would just wipe it with a t-shirt or whatever I had handy. Now that I have slightly more expensive lenses, I want to be a little more concerned as to how I treat the lenses.

Thanks in advance.

Quality lens tissue (such as that sold by Kodak), a good lens cleaning fluid, and PROPER TECHNIQUE is the way that I have cleaned my lenses for decades. What is "proper technique"?

First - the goal is to clean the lens (or filter - I would use the very same process) without grinding any dirt/debris into the lens. To me, this absolutely dictates single-use surfaces for anything that touches the lens. That's why I use lens tissues instead of a washable cloth or - particularly - something like a lens pen.

Here are the steps that I use to clean a lens:

1. Use a squeeze-bulb blower to blow any loose dust off the lens. 90% of the time, step #1 is all that is necessary.

2. Take a lens tissue out of the pack. Fold it once, holding only what was the ends of the tissue. You want to be extremely careful to NEVER TOUCH the areas of the lens tissue that will be touching the lens. This will avoid transferring oils from your fingers to the lens.

3. Moisten the folded portion of the lens tissue with a little lens cleaner. You don't want the tissue dripping wet, but it must be damp.

CAUTION: NEVER apply lens cleaner directly to the lens (though it won’t hurt a filter, you don’t want liquid leaking into the lens’ innards).

4. Wipe LIGHTLY across the lens ONCE with the damp tissue. Then either turn it over or fold it so that you can wipe again, but with an unused surface. You can do this as often as needed, as long as you never wipe the lens twice with any surface of the tissue. This prevents scratches. Again, make sure you never touch an area of the tissue that will touch the lens.

5. Ensuring that the lens is actually clean, use a dry tissue, handled the same way as above, to wipe the lens dry. Since you have already removed the dirt, there's no risk of scratching the lens with the dry tissue.

6. Dispose of the used lens tissues in a proper trash receptacle.

That's it in a nutshell. Simple and effective. I've been cleaning my lenses this way for over 40 years, and all of them have pristine glass (and none have ever worn "protective" filters).

Dear segasaturn,
What I do was always have a pack of lens tissue and liquid in a ~SEALED~ Plastic bag..... in my camera bag......
What the brand of tissue will be choise of yours...... And some Liquid by other cheep brand......
Drop around 2-3 drops of liquid on the Tissue.... and wait for 30 second to allow the tissue fibire to absorb and get soft.... After use the tissue to wipe the lens gently......
Hope this will help....
Chengvc

I use a clean & dry spot of my shirt after blowing it off (carefully) with canned air or a bulb blower.

i use a lenspen

Does anyone here ever suffer from the grease that hides in the outer portions of the element? I usually start in a cirular motion from the middle and work to the outside, but sometimes seem to find a bit of greese that is right at the edge and have to start all over again

My top tips:-

1) Never ever allow the lens (either end) to be touched by a finger
2) Use a lens hood whenever possible
3) If there's a bit of dust on the lens, don't worry, it'll never show up in your shots
4) Use a lens-pen (or Skip's solution above) only when you really absolutely have to

For my business I have to clean about 12-20 lenses a day and I've tried most everything. I think we all agree that blowing off dust is the most important first step - and those wimpy little fingertip blowers don't do the job. Give me a Rocket Blower type that takes a full hand squeeze.
If that doesn't get all the dust I use a clean brush (use the blower on the brush before using). My next choice is a Lens Pen (I go through about 5 or 6 a week) because it leaves no residue - and for those who shudder at the thought I've never left a mark with one. They're also great about the lens edges mentioned above.
If that doesn't get it I use Zeiss disposable premoistened lens tissues - I've tried every liquid cleaner in the world and the Zeiss tissues work just as well, don't leave as much residue as cleaning fluid, and come in little packets perfect for sticking in the camea bag when travelling.