Lense Cleaning (GL2 with WD58)

[Charlie Durand]

Hey there,

Another question regarding my GL2. What do you guys recommend for cleaning the lense? As religious and I am about keeping the lense cap on when not in use dust and the occasional finger print get on the lense.

I bought a cleaning kit at the local camera store. I thought they'd have something good. The kid behind the counter really didn't seem to know much and just pointed me to a section along the wall with some cleaning kits. It consists of a brush with a squeeze bulb, some tissue paper, and a bottle of what I assume to be water.

Results are mediocre. The brush works OK on the dust but the tissue seems to only turn any finger prints or smudges into big long streaks. They really show up when the light hits the lense just right.

On my previous video cameras I just used Windex on a paper towel. The lenses are a lot smaller. Didn't seem like the dust builds up as far. This new camera has a lot more glass up front in general though and I want to take care of it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm going to try a higher end camera store this week as well. Otherwise I'm breaking out the Windex and a paper towel. Just kidding.. maybe.

Thanks!

Charlie

[Ken Tanaka]

You'll find many tips on cleaning lenses here. But basically the procedure is the same as with still camera lenses. Brush off the solid debris. Use a brush with a blower if you have one, but do not blow directly onto the lens. To clean non-solid spots use a microfiber cloth or lint-free lens tissues and a -tiny- amount of lens cleaning solution such as Kodak's. DO NOT use glass cleaner, eyeglass cleaner or paper towels, each of which will leave streaks on coated glass. When cleaning with liquid -be gentle- and use a circular motion.

On the fly, you can also use a LensPen which has a brush at one end and a special cleaning pad at the other.

[Curtis Leo]

The best way to clean your lens is with 100% Methanol. This is what I used on all my optics, coated and uncoated. We used this is the semiconductor industry to clean laser optics as well. Put a few drops and take a cleanroom cloth and drag it across.
If you are unable to get Methanol in the 100% range, try looking up medical research supply companies, industrial solvents suppliers. Methanol is also used in gas chromography.
Next best thing to use it 100% alcohol. It has the same structure as Methanol however it does not evaporate as fast.
Windex is not the best to use as it has other compounds inside it, artifical colors and flavors, thus leading to streaks on coated lens.

Hope that helps

Curtis

[Ken Tanaka]

Curtis is correct.

Eclipse lens cleaner is the methanol photo cleaning product. When used with Pec Pads or a similar soft and lint-free wipes it represents perhaps the ultimate lens cleaning media. Methanol evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue.

You should note, however, that methanol is banned from airlines due to its high combustibility. It's possible, perhaps probable at some airports these days, that it will cause you more than a little trouble if it's identified at a security checkpoint. So be careful.