i'll blame my brother for this one as he was using my camera to take some pictures for a brochure we are doing. there are a few smudges on the lens now - it's the standard zoom lens on an olympus E20. These won't come off with a brush as they look like greesy fingerprint type marks.

tia.

:)

Lens cloth,otherwise a bit of tissue.

Lens cleaning fluid and specific lens tissues, please...:D:D:D

General rule for cameras that take filters - add a skylight or UV filter to protect the front element of the lens. Much cheaper to replace than the whole lens....;)

yeah - i always used to use a skylight filter when i used 35mm cameras, but hadn't got round to fitting one to this lens. it's 62mm wide - can you get a filter that size?

so if i go to a camera shop they will have lens fluid and liquid, i suppose. should have asked when i was in a shop today but it totally slipped my mind. my 1gb microdrive packed up, along with all of my brother's pictures :(. i was amazed to discover that you can now get 1gb compact flash cards. needless to say, i bought one. :)

Lens cleaning fluid and specific lens tissues, please...:D:D:D

General rule for cameras that take filters - add a skylight or UV filter to protect the front element of the lens. Much cheaper to replace than the whole lens....;)

Is absolutely, definitely, positively, the correct answer. 62mm filters are easy enough to come by...buy the best you can - I recommend B+W filters - excellent quality (better than Nikon filters in my case) but not exactly cheap.

Actually I don't use protective filters, and when my lenses get fingerprints on them I tend to just breathe on them and use a lens cloth to clean the grime off. So sue me...

Actually I don't use protective filters, and when my lenses get fingerprints on them I tend to just breathe on them and use a lens cloth to clean the grime off. So sue me...
Heathen....;):D:D:D

Actually I don't use protective filters, and when my lenses get fingerprints on them I tend to just breathe on them and use a lens cloth to clean the grime off. So sue me...

Not protecting the front element is akin to not taking backups of your data...you only make that mistake once, after that you learn ! Good luck !

Nah, don't bother with skylights/UV filters either. They just tend to screw up the shot on decent lenses, i.e. internal reflections when shooting into the sun/lights etc. Protection of a lens hood does me.

Cleaning finger prints etc. is usually a lens cloth/pen and maybe a bit of spit. :)

Cheers

Ian

Agree, a good "huff" and a cotton tee shirt always works for me....but if you do use a lens cleaning fuid ALWAYS put the fluid on the cloth and then wipe the lens.

TBH if your lens has a lot of greasy fingermarks on it a small amount of washing up liquid in a mug of warm water will do the same job.

Nah, don't bother with skylights/UV filters either. They just tend to screw up the shot on decent lenses, i.e. internal reflections when shooting into the sun/lights etc.

Sorry, but I have to disagree. In 30 years of shooting as an amateur and semi-professional, I have never, ever, had a shot "screwed up" because of a skylight/uv filter on my lenses. I have no qualms at all laying out an extra £80-90 on high-quality skylight filters to protect my £1500-2000 lens investments. You might want to take risks with your gear but please do not suggest that images can be screwed up by using protective filters !

I guess it depends what you pay for your protective filters - without a good set of antireflective coatings they certainly can have a profoundly negative effect when the sun comes out. It would be awfully sad to end up spending more on protective filters than it would cost to have a lens repaired :)

I've removed the high quality UV filter from the front of my EF 16-35 f2.8L as there was an adverse affect on quality in SOME conditions, mainly when shooting wide open. Placing a flat faced filter in front of the convex element of wide angle lens seemed to produce unwanted ghosting and flare.

Each to their own and I'm not going into optical physics to explain whether a filter should be used, but I don't.

A number of the Canon L series telephoto's (inc. the 70-200mm f2.8L and IIRC all the fixed 200-600s) have a protective element at the front anyway.

I don't bother with filters either. Can't see the point in buying expensive lenses then putting another layer of glass between them and the subject..... I'd rather be careful in the first place.

Just like I don't keep it wrapped in cling film - I just don't drop it in water ;-)

As Andy says, breath and a lens cloth ought to shift it - if not then take it in to a decent camera shop for them to take a look.

Sorry, but I have to disagree. In 30 years of shooting as an amateur and semi-professional, I have never, ever, had a shot "screwed up" because of a skylight/uv filter on my lenses. I have no qualms at all laying out an extra £80-90 on high-quality skylight filters to protect my £1500-2000 lens investments. You might want to take risks with your gear but please do not suggest that images can be screwed up by using protective filters !

Well, all I can say is that you have been very lucky.

However, I will suggest and will continue to suggest that plain glass/UV etc. filters used for lens protection can and do have detrimental effects on the final shot in cases when shooting towards the sun or other bright light source, e.g. city skyline.

Ian

No question at all that filters can degrade an image! Generally nasty things (except a polariser :D ). They certainly won't improve a picture. Fitting a UV filter like this is just a saleman's way of selling you a bit more kit, on which they will make maybe 100% mark-up.

The thing to do is a) take extreme care not get get your lenses dirty ;) (a good lens hood helps, and that WILL improve your pictures!) and b) use one of those hi-tech cleaning cloths from an optician. They absorb oilly prints and can be washed and reused. Only a few quid. Jessops do a nice big one for about £7 I think.

Modern lens coatings are much tougher than they used to be. Just make sure you have no dirt or grit on the lens before you wipe it :eek:

Richard.

OI PC,

You are about to start a filter war....
in true scoobynet fashion.

i use the lens off and old pair of chips style foster grants, sellotaped to the lens with scotchtape (only the best ;))

BB:)

How about this then:

Buy cheap filter to attach to lens when lending camera to other people (it technically belongs to the business so gets passed around occasionally). As I don't care if their photos get f*cked up I can't see any problem here.

Take off filter when I get camera back, as I have managed to work out which button you need to press to make it work, and it isn't the big shiney bit at the front.

Sorted. :)