View Full Version : How should I clean my camcorder lens?


Doug Fearman
October 21st, 2004, 03:51 PM
Hi everyone,
This may seem like a no brainer to most of you but:
What product(s) and materials should I use to clean the lense on my cam corder?
Doug

Michael Bernstein
October 21st, 2004, 05:22 PM
See this thread on cleaning your lenses (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29969) for the experience of others.

For my experience:

Don't buy the $5 Vidpro lens cleaning kit. At the least I can attest that the solution leaves smears on the lens. Smears that aren't visible unless you shine a flashlight across the lens--or unless the lens sees any kind of strong light. And the so-called lint-free wipes left lint everywhere. The blower brush seems OK, but you could buy one separately.

Yesterday at B&H I bought some Eclipse Optic Cleaning System (http://www.photosol.com/eclipseproduct2.htm) (very pure methanol) and some Pec*Pads (http://www.photosol.com/pecpadproduct2.htm) (both by Photographic Solutions (http://www.photosol.com)). It took a couple of passes, but smears went down to practically zero, and the Pec*Pads are indeed lintless as promised. It's not cheap, but at $7 for 2 oz of solution and $7 for 100 additional Pec*Pads, I'll live.

Especially since I'm cleaning the optics of a $2500 camera.

Michael

PS: And you can always use your Pec*Pad to white balance your camera (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27691&highlight=pec+pad)!

Doug Fearman
October 21st, 2004, 05:47 PM
Thank you Michael. I'll order the cleaning system from BH tomorrow.
Doug