h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My dad was a life-long amateur photography enthuisiast. He always said that you should never touch a lens surface and the cleaning of either the objective or camera body-end of the lens would remove/damage the coatings. I've always felt this is a bit over-cautious; surely modern coatings aren't going to wear off after a few wipes? And there are many lens cleaning solutions available so someone must clean their lenses.

What do poeple on here think? Have you heard of the 'never touch a lens' philosophy? I'm sure that ideally this is best, but in the real world of outdoors photography salty sea air or other contaminants will settle on the surface, no matter how fastitious you are with lens cap replacement.

Anti reflective coatings on expensive lenses can be scratched. Always use a recommended lens cloth/brush. Bobstafford has a nice series of photography articles, including camera care.

Thanks; It's a given that I would be using clean micro-fibre lens cloths and either my breath, or a lense cleaner. Not about to set a pot scourer onto the task . Could the coatings wear off, even with such care ?

Put the Brillo pads away!

Suppose everything wears away eventually, I was told never breathe on a lens or mirror....probably the red wine fumes are bad for them!

Are the lenses in my eyeglasses considered to be optic lenses? If so, I sometimes use tissues or my shirt to get them clean. Sure, that could lead to minor scratches, but my eye prescriptions rarely stay valid for more than two years anyway, so all I have to do is keep them usable for two years.

Do not breath on your camera lenses. I first use one of those squeeze bulbs and a dedicated brush (it never touches anything but lenses, NEVER touch the hairs with your hands unless you like wiping oils on your lens). Then I use lens tissues (Kimtech/Kimwipes) and camera lens cleaning fluid or distilled water only, wiping in small circular motions.

Yeah, you don't have to be so picky with eyeglasses. I recommend only ever using those microfiber lens cloths you can get at any optometrists or those premoistened wipes you can get other places. Another really good way to clean glasses is to use your fingers under the faucet with light soap, just after washing my hands. Your wet, clean finger tips won't damage your lenses. You just then need to dry the lenses with an appropriate cloth.

Never EVER use a paper towel to wipe your lenses. Most kitchen/paper towels are abrasive.

I very rarely use paper towels for that.

Very rarely is too often.
There is basically "grit" embedded in the fibers. Which is good for cleaning counter tops, but not so good for plastic and glass lenses.

Okay, I get it.

P.S.

I learned the hard way.

Yeah I knew about not using paper towels- can't remember where I read it or whether I just reckoned they looked as rough as a badgers arse and worked it out for myself

Oh, I "know" I'm not supposed to use paper towels to clean my glasses. I probably haven't done it in years, but I can't sure .

I never clean the camera lens on my phone.

This certainly and most definitely due to a diligent and knowledgable dedication to care for the coatings thereupon....

I'm rather fond of the idea that laziness is sometimes a godsend

Laziness is the father of invention.

Think of all the labor saving devices invented by lazy people.
Think of all the efficiencies in work flow.

Lazy people are problem solvers.

My grandfather was one of those unappreciated lazy people. He taught my mother quick, easy ways to get answers in math. The teacher didn't appreciate this.

I'm not particularly convinced that about saving devices were invented by the lazy.

I presume the reasons are mostly so that the work can be done more effectively/efficiently thereby freeing up people's time for something more effective than drudgery. Once can now clean the house quite quickly, whereas 200 years ago it was literally a full-time occupation for one or more people per-household.

Have we got more productive in more useful areas as a result.. hmmm - debating lots of nonsense on the internet like this and dribbling on our smartphones continuously... watching reality telly until our brains melt.... not sure...?

I don't use a smart phone. I don't watch reality television. Granted, I'm here to discuss things every day, but that represents a gift of my valuable expertise for the benefit of the rest of the world.

Oh, and my eyeglasses need to be cleaned again.

Try the soapy finger method I mentioned. It works really well.

I can try that, BG, but would the lenses air-dry?