Lens cleaning
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The external glass surfaces of lenses should be cleaned by the user whenever there are visible marks or dust. Internal surfaces are not user maintainable on Nikon lenses.
Only optical cleaning equipment should be used. Ordinary tissues tend to scratch the surfaces.
There are four levels of glass cleaning.
- a dust blower will remove loose surface dust from the lens.
- lens cleaning paper can be used to remove slightly more stubborn dust.
- breathing once on the lens before cleaning it with lens paper will allow slight smudges to be lifted
- optical quality isopropyl alcohol, such as Eclipse fluid, can be applied as one or two drops before cleaning with lens paper to remove the most stubborn smudges.
Opinions vary about whether cleaning should be done with a linear or with a circular motion.
Dust on the subject end of the lens has much less impact on image quality than dust or smudges on the camera end.
