grant130•18d agoProlific Poster

Wasted $80 on a questionable lens cleaning kit from a random eBay seller

I bought one of those full lens cleaning kits that claimed to have 10 different tools and a special cleaning solution. Turned out the cleaning cloth was scratchy and the solution left smudges on my vintage glass. Live and learn, I should've just stuck with my regular microfiber cloths and ROR solution. Anyone have a trusted source for cleaning supplies they actually use?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_green18d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain so much! I did the exact same thing about a year ago with some cheapo kit I found on Amazon. The cloth felt like sandpaper and I swear the liquid left a weird rainbow film on one of my older lenses. I tried wiping it off with my regular microfiber cloth and it just smeared around. Took me like three careful cleanings with distilled water to get it back to normal. I totally learned my lesson too. Now I just stick with the basic Zeiss wipes like the other person said, or honestly even just a clean microfiber cloth and some lens cleaner from a camera shop. It's way too risky with vintage glass to mess around with mystery chemicals. Better to spend a couple extra bucks than ruin a lens you can't easily replace.

james_ross18d ago

I heard from a camera repair guy that those cheap kits often use alcohol-based solutions that can damage lens coatings over time. He said the BEST thing is just a plain microfiber cloth and distilled water, nothing fancy. For my vintage glass I just buy the Zeiss lens wipes now, they cost more but at least I know they work.