Paul Westwell wrote:
Hi all.

Having recently purchased a Fuji S5000 I was telling someone how I clean
my
lens

How often do you clean your lens??? It should need cleaning only
rarely. Few lenses are ever damaged. Lenses and not as sensitive as they
were many years ago. However I am going to guess that more lenses are
damaged by cleaning than by anything else. Almost all of that cleaning is
excessive cleaning.

by breathing on it and wiping it with my hanky to which they responded
with panic!

Given a clean hanky, not one that has been in your pocket with loose
change and who knows what for three weeks is fine.

The safest leaning would be a puff of clean dry air, as from a clean ear
syringe. Next would be a clean camel hair brush. Your method is good (a
true lens cleaning tissue, used once and discarded would be better) for
smudges etc that will not come off with the air or brush. In any case,
don't clean unless it is really needed.

I don't subscribe to the "protective filter" thing many people and
almost all camera salespeople try to say is necessary but decide for
yourself.


Am I likely to do any harm, are their coatings really that delicate...

No, no lens made today uses the kind of soft glass and coatings that
started all this fear. I might add that even back in the old days, the
"damage" did not really do much real damage. It is mostly worry and not
fact.

is
the damage already done?

Not likely.


Regards,

Paul

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math