camera lens cleaning

[Chuck Wintle]

Would like to clean a camera lens and there is still streak marks on the lens.. Need a way or some product to clean lens without the streak marks. thx!

[Eric DeSilva]

Any decent camera shop will sell you lens paper... That's what I use.

[Myk Rian]

Same way as telescope lenses.
I use gun bore patches dampened with alcohol.
A new patch for every wipe.

[David G Baker]

Chuck, The camera store will also sell you a lens cleaning solution along with the lens paper. Buy a UV filter for the front of your lens to protect the lens from dust, scratches and finger prints. It is much cheaper to buy a new filter rather than a new lens. When I was shooting years ago I kept a chamois in my camera bag along with the cleaning solution to clean the UV filter if it had smudges on it.

[Brian Brown]

Use disposable lens tissue, and work from the center of the lens out. Each cycle will remove a bit more gunk, and should be done with a fresh piece of tissue. The stubborn gunk, is usually wax or oil based, and can be removed with a little patience. Try wrapping the tissue around your finger (best if you double or quadruple it first), then wipe toward the gunk. When the tissue hits it, it will just push it to new area, so try to roll your finger as it passes over the spot. This puts fresh clean tissue always rubbing the lens, and the gunk sticks to the tissue. You will likely have to do this several times to get it all, but at least you are not just moving it around. If at all possible avoid the use of detergent solutions; most people use too much, it builds up, and has the possibility of wicking around the lens and getting inside. Not good. Never use the "Reusable" polyester cloths pushed so hard by camera salesmen. Once a tissue or cloth has cleaned fine dust from a lens, it is now classed as sandpaper. You can guess the effect of this on your lens. They claim the cloths are machine washable to be as good as new, but when you do, they will pick up the pumice and other ingredients in your laundry soap, and they are now classed as a lower grit sandpaper, lather rinse repeat. Good luck.

[Joe Angrisani]

use disposable lens tissue.....never use the "reusable" polyester cloths pushed so hard by camera salesmen. Once a tissue or cloth has cleaned fine dust from a lens, it is now classed as sandpaper.....

Absolutely ! ! !

[Mac McQuinn]

While I've not used this method on my old camera,(Olympus XA) I clean my rifle scope optics with a cleaning kit from Nikon. I had a streak on a Redfield 3200 scope on one of my rifles and it removed it in one try. Seems like it would work well on camera lens also.
Mac

[Bob Turkovich]

I've used a LensPen with excellent results (particularly on fingerprints). Brush on one end - microfiber pad with charcoal on the other. (You need to get over the idea of using a dry powder to clean a lens...) They are partnered with Nikon and Canon, among others (and they're a Canadian company!).

[Gerry Kaslowski]

Two of my top choices are the LensPen and Zeiss Lens Cloths. I use a LensPen for my lenses and filters and a separate LensPen for my sensor cleaning. The Zeiss Lens Cloths are also great. They are used to clean high end optics. They are individually wrapped and moistened with cleaning fluid (alcohol). They are easy to get. WalMart optical departments carry a box of 50 for about $3-$4.