lens question

[idaxj97]

Ok so i bought my girlfriend a canon rebel xs as a graduation gift, she was wondering what is the best way to clean the lens and filters of dust and fingerprints.

[DiploStrat]

Fingerprints???? Break her fingers! Fingers do NOT belong on lenses!

Seriously, I have a lot of use for Bob Johnson: http://www.earthboundlight.com/photo...-cleaning.html

Lots and lots of voodoo on this.

-- Soft, non-gritty material (clean, washed cotton, microfibre, PEC-Pad)

-- Distilled water, methenol, condensation, Eclipse

-- Blower or blower brush

Prevention is best cure; use your lens hood and lens cap.

If you want to provoke teotwawki, suggest using (or not using) a filter to protect the front element of your lens. (Just search any camera forum. )If you do choose to use a filter, note that digital cameras do not need UV protection and a skylight filter is pink - easily done in post processing. Should you choose to use a protective filter for a digital camera (and I do in the bush), the best is probably the NC (neutral clear). Remember, NO filter will improve the quality of your image and a cheap (<$50 - $100) filter can be depended on to degrade the quality of a good lens. In any case, take the filter off when doing indoor flash portraits, etc.

[idaxj97]

Thanks, and she didn't mean to. She was putting the filter on and she accidently droped it and when she caught it she got fingerprints on it. other than that its just dust that gets on the lens.

[DiploStrat]

Thousands of electrons died to bring you this thread on using a filter to protect you lens. A moment of silence and read on: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/readf...ssage=31850905

[nwoods]

I use a LensPen for the glass: http://www.lenspen.com/402/152/
and blower for the sensor. For stubborn stuff, I use a little kit that has a small cloth end and a few drops of cleaning solution, and it works great.

Here is an excellent link: http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/

[off-roader]

Also a fan of lens pens. I got a Nikon one to match the camera. LOL.

+ Filter
+ Lens Cleaning Cloths
+ Lens Hood.

I do all of the above because... well quality fast lenses are $$$$$