Beginner Always worrying... I think I've been cleaning my lens too much!

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Thomas Keidan

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Since i got my new camera two days ago I have been wiping a lot (very gently with a soft microfibre cloth) not knowing the risks! if i don't do it from now on and use a uv filter instead should i be ok? I'm aware of the issue of cleaning marks etc. so it would be good to know that I haven't seriously damaged the camera in any way. It's an Olympus 35 RC.
 
Didn't you ask this question yesterday, Thomas?

Dave
 
ryanyboy said:
Don't worry, I don't think you can over clean a lens.

I remember cleaning mine once..... ;)
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Thanks for this! I have been reading about cleaning marks and got worried that I might have been too enthusiastic with my new camera! Am I just worrying over nothing?
 
Thomas Keidan said:
Thanks for this! I have been reading about cleaning marks and got worried that I might have been too enthusiastic with my new camera! Am I just worrying over nothing?
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I think you're certainly cleaning your lens too much. And if you've left any marks on your lens then wipe them off :)

I've always considered cameras and lenses as tools which enable me to do a job. And whilst it's important to look after them, it's more important to get out shooting rather than obsessing over how clean they are. If you think a cleaning mark is causing a problem post it up and we'll have a look. Highly unlikely though.
 
ryanyboy said:
I think you're certainly cleaning your lens too much. And if you've left any marks on your lens then wipe them off :)

I've always considered cameras and lenses as tools which enable me to do a job. And whilst it's important to look after them, it's more important to get out shooting rather than obsessing over how clean they are. If you think a cleaning mark is causing a problem post it up and we'll have a look. Highly unlikely though.
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Thanks for reassuring me, I can't see any visible cleaning scratches on the camera so I hope it's ok! I've been worrying like crazy over this thing so I'll have to learn to enjoy it more!
 
It's unlikely you've damaged it. In any case, damage significant enough to affect the image (very deep or extensive scratches) will be very obvious. If it looks OK, it is OK. Now go out and take some pictures and look at the results, not the lens! :)
 
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Retune said:
It's unlikely you've damaged it. In any case, damage significant enough to affect the image (very deep or extensive scratches) will be obvious. If it looks OK, it is OK. Now go and and take some pictures and look at the results, not the lens! :)
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Thanks so much, my film should be arriving tomorrow so i'm very excited to get shooting... i'll be even more excited once i learn to stop sweating the small stuff!
 
SsSsSsSsSnake said:
Thomas,is there a chance you have a little OCD?i inow i have
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According to your OCD you would have sold it by now so no problem with cleaning. :LOL:

@Thomas Keidan. Leave it alone and go take photographs. If you are in doubt buy a quality filter and put that on. Microfibre cloths are good but you got to be careful as the dirt the cloth will collect will rub back on the lens, you don't really want that.
 
TLR-330 said:
According to your OCD you would have sold it by now so no problem with cleaning. :LOL:

@Thomas Keidan. Leave it alone and go take photographs. If you are in doubt buy a quality filter and put that on. Microfibre cloths are good but you got to be careful as the dirt the cloth will collect will rub back on the lens, you don't really want that.
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Thanks for this info, should I be OK in the meantime despite my initial over-cleaning?
 
Thomas Keidan said:
Thanks for this info, should I be OK in the meantime despite my initial over-cleaning?
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Do not worry but stop doing what you are doing. If you have removed the coating of the lens what are you going to do about it? Send the camera back (assuming you bought it on-line) saying you no longer want it? It would not be ethical but there again many people are not ethical. Just use it.

What you must not do is keep rubbing the lens clean as whilst you remove grease/wet marks you will be introducing dust, dirt etc. and you do not want to be cleaning grease with something that has dust ... that can scratch the lens. It is the dust and "sand" that is around you that you don't want to rub in the lens whilst the dust/sand on its own it is causing no deterioration to the photographs you take. If you must clean it use an air blower here are some examples. Use the camera, go a step further and get photos printed, and then hang them on the wall and stop just admiring your work through a screen. Get pleasure from what you can do with the camera, it is not a museum piece.

If you are in doubt put a filter on the lens. Hoya, Schneider which I think now is B&W, and another make that escapes me are the brands to have and from within those brands you got to find the better range. There is an endless debate if filters actually result in lower quality photos ... they probably do but if you (or I) can't see the difference you pay your money you take your choice. I got filters on mine and I am aware photographing against the source of light they may increase the issues, there again I may like that increase of issues (people screw up their photographs in lightroom I am entitled to screw them up with my filters :D). There will always be a sharper lens, a better camera, more megapixels, a longer lens than you got, a bigger aperture than you got, so what? Those things would be important if you have reached the limitations of what you have and you have got plenty of spare money. I took better pictures with a twin lens reflex camera (Lubitel) with no light meter than I got with my two subsequent 35mm cameras because my exposures were cr@p. My pictures got better again when I used a Weston Euromaster light meter .... My final word to you is to use the camera and do not treat it like a possession to be admired in a glass case.
 
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TLR-330 said:
Do not worry but stop doing what you are doing. If you have removed the coating of the lens what are you going to do about it? Send the camera back (assuming you bought it on-line) saying you no longer want it? It would not be ethical but there again many people are not ethical. Just use it.
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I will stop worrying once I have got over my initial worries and hiccups, I am mostly excited to go out and shoot but I fear I may have ruined the thing before i've even had chance to go out and enjoy it! I really want the camera to be perfect as it is my first camera and i'd hate to damage it out of clumsiness or stupidity! Thanks for the advice and I hope I haven't done any damage and can move on and enjoy the shooting!
 
You are in good company from what I've read on here with how people examine every minute detail of a photo.
OCD seems to be a major problem when you see how many times equipment is changed in case that's at fault

Get out and use the camera, no point it being a cupboard queen although I suppose some people do enjoy just having the gear.

On second thoughts, pack it in now and run for the hills
 
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Thomas Keidan said:
Since i got my new camera two days ago I have been wiping a lot (very gently with a soft microfibre cloth) not knowing the risks! if i don't do it from now on and use a uv filter instead should i be ok? I'm aware of the issue of cleaning marks etc. so it would be good to know that I haven't seriously damaged the camera in any way. It's an Olympus 35 RC.
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Thomas, it's a lens! You assess its condition by visual inspection. Any smears, chips, scratches? No way do you need a filter! Forget that!

Of course you must look after it in a reasonable manner - protect it from salt mist and blown sand! But it is to be used! Its function isn't to be anally cosseted, but to produce photographs! And it wasn't a huge investment, was it?

Yes, be sensible, but also be free. It's a camera - it's your servant. Learn how to make it do stuff.
 
We were always told the best way to clean a lens is to breathe lightly on it and rub in circular motion from the inside out with a piece of cotton something like an old vest,don't worry to much about it they are quite robust.
 
I only ever clean my lenses when I look through the camera and can't see anything, and even then it's usually just a wipe with the t-shirt I'm wearing. People make clean glass a much bigger issue than it actually is, and you won't even notice small smudges or bits of dust unless you're shooting into direct light
 
I don't use my camera in difficult situations so my experience might be untypical but, I've had my camera for about 5/6 years and I think I have cleaned any of my lenses, ie using some fluid and a cloth, less than 10 times. I use a blower much more frequently but rarely 'clean' a lens.

Dave
 
If you can see dust on the lens - Clean it.
Don't see anything on it? Just leave it be.

Simples.
 
Don't clean your lens unless you can see some dirt or dust on it. Carry a lens brush. The first cleaning attempt is simply to use a lens brush to brush off any easily dislodged dust. It usually works. I inspect my lenses probably every 3rd or 4th time I put them on. They usually don't need cleaning. When they do a lens brush usually does it. For greasier and stickier dirt I use Zeiss disposable lens wipes, available cheaply in packets from your local chemist. I use one or two of those a year. I am by the way very (OCD) about the cleanliness of my lenses.
 
mickledore said:
This is what you should be using to clean your lens
View attachment 115585
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Not sure I fancy using that, it seems to have left that horse looking a bit streaky? :confused:

Joking aside, I don't like cleaning lenses for fear of making a pig's ear of it, so I leave well alone unless it's absolutely necessary.
 
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Hi Thomas, I hike all over Dartmoor in all weathers with my camera dangling off my hip (lens down) on a "Spider Pro" system, no filters or covers over the lens, my two Springer Spaniels are with me all the time and as they race past me they fling all sorts of rubbish up in the air spraying me and the camera on a regular basis, if I'm out for 4 or 5 hours I must clean the front element half a dozen times with a soft cloth, water, mud, water with peat in it, cow sh*t, sheep sh*t and pony sh*t, my girls have no respect.

So my lens gets wiped down a lot, sometimes I get the odd dried water mark but I just breath on it and give it another polish, all good and no marks or scratches that I can see and nothing on my images when pixel peeping, I do change the cloth on a regular basis, maybe once every six months or so when I think about it :eek: but as I said, so far no problems, just enjoy picture making and relax.
 
Use a filter and clean that to save stress.
 
I can't remember the last time the cap was on some of mine lol they really aren't as breakable as some think . A bit like the sensor also :)
 
stumac said:
I can't remember the last time the cap was on some of mine lol they really aren't as breakable as some think . A bit like the sensor also :)
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Yeah, I misplaced some of my lens caps ages ago and so just haven't been using them - everything survived a recent trip to Patagonia just fine.

Does the lens look dirty? wipe it with something soft and clean and if that doesn't work then breath on the lens and repeat. Store in bag in a way that the front element is protected (often that means wrapped in a snood for me!).

This is always the post I link to when people are worried about their lenses: https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/10/front-element-scratches/
 
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