how to clean lens?

I looked around but could not find anything good on how to clean the outside of my lens. It seems it has a spot or two on it that show up in the picture ... any ideas or links you would suggest?

I found this video .. minus the ridiculous music .. .what do you think?
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=G7S6VARidHk

clean "soft" microfibre cloth like a spudz

copenhagen69 wrote in post #11804475
I looked around but could not find anything good on how to clean the outside of my lens. It seems it has a spot or two on it that show up in the picture ... any ideas or links you would suggest?

By "outside of my lens", do you mean the glass surfaces? I assume you do because of the "spot or two" statement.

First of all, no spots on a lens' front end glass will ever show up as spots in a camera's image. They would be WAY out of focus and could not be recognized as such. To experiment, make a 1/4" round dot out of a dark-colored sticky note to put on the lens simulating a dark smudge on the lens. Make two images of the same subject - one with and one without the dot on the lens. You probably will not be able to tell one image from the other.

Here's my method for cleaning the glass in camera lenses:

A squeeze-bulb blower such as a Rocket Blower by Giottos, quality lens tissue (such as that sold by Kodak and now Tiffen), 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).

I have always just used a washcloth and a bar of Lava but Skip's methods seem superior. I will switch to those.

well when I say spot I mean like a big blurry thing in the picture. Like a wet window with lights on the other side you know how it blurs out and gets fluffy. kinda like that .... if that makes sense.

copenhagen69 wrote in post #11805323
well when I say spot I mean like a big blurry thing in the picture. Like a wet window with lights on the other side you know how it blurs out and gets fluffy. kinda like that .... if that makes sense.

Can you post an example so we can better understand what you're seeing? My initial guess is something on the filter that is just in front of the sensor in your camera, but I'd need to see an image to analyze it to be sure.

Lenspen FTW! I just got it...love it sooo much better than the microfiber clothes.

josullivan79 wrote in post #11805646
Lenspen FTW! I just got it...love it sooo much better than the microfiber clothes.

Yep, Lenspen is a real deal, dealing with tissues and cleaning liquid is so messy and leaves hard to get rid of smudges, Lenstip can be used on the go and works quickly and very effectively.

I use sandpaper to clean my lenses.

This sounds like a dirt sensor, not a dirty lens.

For a dirty lens, I use one of my soft bristle paint brushes and lightly brush the surface of the lense until all dust and marks have been removed. I trust the pressure of the bristles a bit more than the pressure of my hand and cloth (for tough marks, the cloth comes in handy though )

BestVisuals wrote in post #11805911
I use sandpaper to clean my lenses.

Yes, sandpaper is a good option too, but I don't want to risk getting the dust from sanding onto my sensor!

Second to LensPen! Definitely gotta have it!

1. Blow
2. LensPen

Microfiber leaves thread.... :P

cheesiong wrote in post #11806567
Second to LensPen! Definitely gotta have it!

1. Blow
2. LensPen

Microfiber leaves thread.... :P

Forgot about blower. Gitzo Rocket Blower + Lenspen is the best combo to have in the bag.
Plus Gitzo also does a great job on sensor cleaning.

copenhagen69 wrote in post #11810671
that is what I am talking about ...

Are you referring to the two hexagonal "spots" on the image? If so, that is known as flare. It's caused by reflections of light within the lens. Often, flare is induced by using a cheap filter on a lens.

Removal of the filter can often improve the image quality. Addition of a properly sized and shaped lens hood can often improve the image quality by blocking strong stray light sources that would impinge on the lens without the hood in place.