I have a an XL1s with the standard 16X lens. Recently I had to clean a small dot from the front outside face of the lens with a small amount of alcohol. Can any one tell me if the outside faces of this lens have protective coatings or not.

The front element of the standard 16x lens is multi coated. The multi coating used on exposed surfaces is very hard and not easily damaged.

Jeff

FWIW: The front element is a piece of plane optical glass, its purpose is to protect the internal VAP elements which is the next item in the optical path.

Don,

Are you saying that it's not multi coated? I'm holding the lens, looking at it in the light and I sure see a multi coating.

Jeff

Speaking about cleaning spots, what about filters? I had some spots on my multi-coated polarizing filter and didn't have any lens cleaner with me, so I hesitantly used generic glass cleaner. Is this not recommended?

It no doubt is coated. But it is not an active (refractive) element. It is there to protect, much like flks use a UV or skylight filter to protect the front element.

Don,

Thanks for making that clear for me.

Jeff

Still a very good idea to *always* have a UV filter on the front though, it's cheaper to replace if it gets scratched.

Rob -- for those filters, if that's all you have at the moment then it shouldn't hurt things too much. I wouldn't make it a regular practice though.

I normally just use those new polyester cleaning rags, which work pretty well, but I was wondering is a Windex or some eye glass cleaner safe to use on the lens? And I do know that a UV filter is the best but....are these glass cleaning products safe? Also what are others using to clean their lenses?