Just realized most people are cleaning their lens elements the WRONG way

I was at a swap meet in Portland last month and watched three different guys scrub at a front element with shirt sleeves and lens wipes like they were scrubbing a dirty pan. All that does is push grit into the coatings and create micro scratches. I saw a Zeiss ZM 35mm f2 that had a haze ring from 2 years of this bad habit and the owner was clueless why his images looked soft. Has anyone else run into customers who swear by their aggressive cleaning method and refuse to listen about proper technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo_mason15d ago

How can you tell if someone's actually caused permanent damage to the coating versus just leaving dust and oil that wipes off easy? Most people I see scrubbing hard on glass are the same folks who think they need to remove every speck of dust from a sensor too. A proper two-step method with a blower first then a microfiber cloth and lens cleaner would save everyone a lot of wasted money on scratched glass.

wendyc5315d ago

Isn't that just assuming everyone lacks basic common sense though?