Lenspen - The good? The Bad? The Ugly

[SteveM_NJ]

Hi,
Anyone have any info on the LENSPEN tool to use on cleaning lenses?

I never used one, wondering if any stories or first hand experiences can be socialized with the group. (it is good, it is bad, makes lenses ugly)? ( likes/dislikes, safe/harmful, etc.).

here is one such for "sale" i was considering. ( as example)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllViewItem&item=7595172508&fromMakeTrack=true

Thanks for any info.

Steve

 

[Socke]

The good - easy and convenient way to remove damaged coatings
The bad - removes undamaged coatings, too
the ugly - most coated lenses with coatings removed don't perform as well as lenses which were made without coating

 

[Nick R.]

Steve,
The best advice I can give you is to buy good lenses. I've gone down that road of buying 'slightly' hazy, 'barely' scratched glass and the money you save isn't worth the aggravation of knowing you're using second-rate stuff. Note that I can care less about how the stuff looks on the outside. It's the glass that counts.

 

[aterlecki]

I've been using Lenspens for years on all my glass including quite expensive Leica glass. No problems ever and I certainly have never encountered a single scratch,mark, or any other damage to any lens or coating from its use. I think they are just about the best thing you can use to clean a lens. It uses a very fine graphite powder deposited on the pad as the cleaning material which simply picks up (maybe absorbs?) any grease and dirt. There is a powder reservoir in the cap and the felt pad is recharged when the cap is replaced. Eventually the graphite exhausts and you need to replace the pen but it lasts for quite a while.

I'm a bit bemused by Socke's comments and I'm not sure whether they relate directly to any experience he has had with the Lenspen but my experiences (and those of people I know who use them) have been nothing but positive.

 

[Socke]

Aterlecki, I'm not sure if Lenspen is a Trademark or a generic term.

I had one with a felt tip and a fluid in it to clean my reading glasses, it removed the antireflective coating in no time 🙁

 

[aterlecki]

Aterlecki, I'm not sure if Lenspen is a Trademark or a generic term.

I had one with a felt tip and a fluid in it to clean my reading glasses, it removed the antireflective coating in no time 🙁

I think the original poster was referring to (and pointed to on ebay) the trademarked item. It certainly isn't the same item as the one you've described (which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole 😀).

The LensPens were selling like hotcakes to all the professionals at the Focus on Imaging exhibition last week.

 

[Kim Coxon]

I know of several camera shops who swear by them as being the best. I haven't used one, I try to live by the adage "keep the lens clean rather than keep cleaning the lens".

Kim

 

[vinh]

i use a Lenspen, and i love it. they say Nikon's service people uses lenspens, so if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for my Nikon lenses. i always use a UV filter, so i'm only cleaning the filter and never the lens itself.

regarding socke's comment about the anti-reflective coating on his glasses, i find that that coating comes off the glasses regardless of whether you clean it with a lenspen or not... any coating i have on a new pair of glasses is always gone within a year of normal use. i tend to think the coatings on camera lenses are "hard" coatings.

 

[Avotius]

I have been using a lenspen for about 2 years now, same one. Been using it on everything from my old canon fd lens on my ae1 to the spiffy lenses on my old mamiya 6 to the new canon L lenses and the heliopan multicoated filters I have on them. Never ever had a problem with it not once, although im thinking of getting a new one, they are cheap and effective and theres nothing wrong with having a new one just in case.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Been using a lens pen for years and have not had a problem.

Nikon Bob

 

[traveller]

No complaints about the lenspen, a good way to clean my lenses when I got a little bit careless

 

[SteveM_NJ]

Im glad to hear that this product hasn't given anyone trouble. -- i will get one or two.

As long as it is the name brand item, i think ill be safe with it, just in case there are inferior copies.

yes- keep clean beats cleaning, we all know the saying, i agree, but sometimes i'm all thumbs and need to remove the evidence.

I intend to use it on expensive canon L lens, and a handful of average costing canon, and summicron. and CV.

- as for the comment from Nick R , im not so sure i follow my original question about the tool history. but -good lenses versus hazy. (always try to start with good gear)
Since I have never purchased a used lens before this recent purchase of 50 summicron and have yet to use it.
(a pretty big particle on inside element that ill be looking at, pondering - open to remove or not...)

this tool just adds to my "weapons" against grime.

thanks

 

[Nick R.]

Yeah, I think I went off the deep end there.

 

[back alley]

steve, is there a reason you put this thread in the leica m section?
just curious...before i move it.
joe

 

[SteveM_NJ]

Sorry for setting it in the wrong starting point -- not intentionally placed here... 😕

 

[back alley]

not a problem, was just curious if i was missing something...

 

[SteveM_NJ]

3 lashes with a wet noodle for me.
whip away.

 

[Ken F.]

I know of several camera shops who swear by them as being the best. I haven't used one, I try to live by the adage "keep the lens clean rather than keep cleaning the lens".

Kim

Exacto!

Cheers,
kf

 

[rbiemer]

There are two sizes for these("pro" and "mini" maybe?) and I have two of the larger sized. Very useful! I clean filters more often than lenses and these have worked well for me.
I thought I just bought one of the smaller sized ones--sometimes the bigger one is too big for VF/RF windows-- but when I got home and opened the blister pack, it turned out to be something completely different: The end with what I thought was the pad is actually a tiny spray head. Don't think I'll use this one for anything but my eyeglasses but I got another micro-fiber cloth with it so it's not a total loss.
Rob

 

[Jon Goodman]

I'm not a fan of them...in a big way. The chamois tip can and will hold grit, dirt and anything else you get into it. Furthermore, the brush attached to them is stiff nylon, and not what I would use on a lens. Here is an alternative suggestion: If you want a lens brush that will never hurt your lenses, get what the ladies call a "blush brush." It is all natural hair, and you will be amazed at how soft it is compared with the lenspen. In fact, a blush brush makes the lenspen look like a toothbrush. If you want to rub on your lens with a piece of cloth, ask an optician for a small piece of microfiber cloth, and keep it clean by washing it very often and rinsing it well in clean water. You'll be miles ahead of the lenspen.
Jon