An oft-posed question I daresay, so my apologies in advance ...

What is the best way to (1) take dust off and (2) maintain the cleanliness of a lens? ('lux 50/1.4 and 'cron 35/2, specifically).

Thank you.

-- pd (pd100@hotmail.com), March 01, 2002

Answers

1. I use a combination of a blower-brush and canned air (used obliquely)

2. Keep a UV filter on it.

-- Tim Franklin (tim_franklin@mac.com), March 01, 2002.

Camel-hair brush, canned air, hot breath, and micro-fiber cloth; followed by ROR IF there is a stubborn spot that did not come off during the previous steps.

:-),

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 01, 2002.

The front elements of my lenses have never been cleaned unless they were dirty the day I bought them. B+W MRC filter goes on right away and never comes off. Rear elements would only get cleaned if likewise they were dirty at the time of purchase. I've never had to clean one after that. Quick changes and lenscaps. I carry a heavy- duty bulb blower, some ROR and some scraps from old BVD's to clean the filters.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 01, 2002.

Prevention is ninety percent of the game. Therefore, all my lenses have a B+W UV MRC filter for protection (they are removed in contre-jour situations.) Dirt and dust usually come off with a heavy duty blower (on the road) or condensed air at home. Any tough stains are attacked by a combination of hot air and a microfiber cloth. Any RESISTANT stains/prints usually succumb to one of the lens chemical cleaners such as MC cleaner (sold by The Filter connection @ www.2filter.com) or other commercial cleaners such as Zeiss or ROR. I am concerned about the latter two because they may damage the MRC (multi-resistant coating) of the new filters. The MC cleaner is specially designed for the MRC filters and works like a charm.

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), March 01, 2002.

Albert, ROR will not damage the MRC coating (neither will wiping them with a Kleenex or your shirt tail) and you needn't take them off for backlit shots.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 01, 2002.

I rarely clean my lenses. Maybe once in one or two years. I do use a blower bulb occasionally. The filters go on in very muddy/spray situation but otherwise I use no filters. I swear, I can't tell the difference in my pictures.

I can tell the difference in lenses, between my old Nikkor 50/2, which I regularly cleaned every couple of days of shooting, and my Leica lenses. The former has myriad microscratches, especially around the periphery, from the regular grindings. I can tell the decrease in contrast in that now very old camera lens, I think. But I can't be sure.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), March 02, 2002.

Jay- Are you really sure about the safety of ROR? I would love to see any data but I know that Ken Hansen and a few other dealers have recently stopped selling the product out of concern. As for Zeiss, I have used it on a few older filters that I keep for testing purposes and I find that it blurs the lens and leaves a whitish sediment that may be secondary to a cleaner-coating interaction or just due to the cleaner. It is a pain to remove completely and therefore, I avoid Zeiss. Finally, I always use a microfiber cloth although BVD cloth seems reasonable. However, don't you have a better use for your BVDs???

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), March 02, 2002.

The first (and last) time I used ROR it left a haze on my lens that wouldn't come off. I finally got rid of the haze using the LensPen, which I've been using with 100% satisfaction and no problems ever since. That and a can of compressed air are all I need to keep my lenses clean, and I also use B+W MRC UV filters.

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), March 02, 2002.