A quick question, how do i clean my lense..what kind of product should I use? It's for XL1s Canon lense. tks
You need a compressed air and a soft lens brush (usually made from horse hair). Go down to your local photography store - they will have all the necessary products and advice to get you sorted.
Ben C.
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filmmaking.net
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Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
The object is to clean your lens as little as possible in order to keep it absolutely clean. There is a danger that every time you clean your lens a piece of grit will catch under the tissue and scratch as you clean. If this happens on a lens element, you're screwed. So keep a clear or UV filter on the front of your lens at all times to protect it. If you don't want to do that, a matte box will help.
Before you touch the lens, make sure it is actually glass. IF YOUR LENS IS PLASTIC, OR YOU ARE NOT SURE, DON'T TOUCH IT WITHOUT TALKING TO THE MANUFACTURER. YOU WILL VERY LIKELY RUIN IT AND HAVE TO HAVE THE ELEMENT REPLACED.
A lens brush is key... before you touch a lens with lens tissue, brush it off or blow it off to get rid of the grit. We all use compressed air on a regular basis, but it's really not a good idea, especially in really dusty circumstances. Compressed air is just as likely to blow grit into your lens (or camera body) as it is to clean it off. And cameras (even film cameras) while light-tight, are not dirt-tight.
So, blow off the lens, and then get your wiping utensil ready. If you are a rookie, I recommend Roscoe lens tissue because it is made for this purpose. However, I use something called a Selvet cloth because it is great at absorbing grit and keeping it from scratching. Old diapers work well as do hankies and old shirts. 100% cotton washed many times, which feels very soft it ok. (If you're not sure, don't use it.) These cloths can leave a lot of lint behind which then must be blown off. A microfiber cloth is a great way to go, because it generally doesn't lint. However, it's easy to lose because most are so small.
Take some lens cleaner (I recommend Pancro. It is expensive, but much better than the Kodak or Rosco stuff. It evaporates very quickly and cuts through greasy fingerprints and mineral oil smoke residue quickly) and apply it to your cloth, not your lens. This is very important. Applying it to your lens will cause it to run off and it will seep behind the lens housing. Back there, where you can't wipe it, it can cause many problems.
Start with your damp cloth in the center of your lens, and wipe gently in a circular motion, working your way toward the outside. This keeps the dampest part of the cloth away from the housing, and also gives more wiping in the center, where you need it. Most importantly, it keeps you from dragging grit, which was at the outside of your lens, toward the center of the element. If something on the lens will not come off on the first pass, don't scrub the lens. Simply redo the above steps again until the goober wipes off. Don't pick at it.
One more thing... fingerprints have acid in them which can etch your lens. Remove all fingerprints immediately. The longer you wait, the greater your chance of etching your lens coatings.
Be Gentle. And with rear elements be even gentler. A scratch or gob on a rear element is more likely to show up on film.
All these things are available at a well stocked photo store, but here's a link to Birns and Sawyer in Hollywood.
"On a good gate, that's a wrap."
"On a good gate, that's a wrap."
