Quoted By:
For the external surfaces of the lens, don't be too anal about it.
If you're cleaning the internals:
- ROR, Eclipse, etc. are good. Personally isopropyl or lighter fluid work good enough for me, are a lot cheaper.
- pec-pads, kimwipes etc.
- cotton swab
Put the wipe over the cotton swab, add a drop of cleaning fluid. Make a single stroke over the lens. Pick a different part of the wipe and repeat.
This is the only way I've found to genuinely get a lens clean from oils. The most important part is never using the same part of the tissue twice, can't stress that enough.
It's slow and seems to take forever, but if you start to cheat and reuse the same surface, you'll just push the dirt and oils around and it'll take longer in the end. There are no shortcuts if you want it perfect.
Getting rid of tiny dust particles is actually the hardest part. I try not to get too OCD about it. For impeccably clean lens elements you likely need professional equipment like an ultrasonic cleaner and a proper dust-free working environment.
