So I went to clean my new lens the other day and it was a disaster. I used the ziekos lens cleaning fluid and it made everything look worse. The included cloth left little hairs all over the lens and the build left smears and streaks even after decent rubbing.

I then started trying to clean my uv filter and that was even worse. The ziekos fluid looked like crap with the cloth so I got out paper towels and that looked better than the cloth (I don't know what I was thinking) but still smeared and greasy, so I got out a glass cleaner and tried it out on the uv filter, and that was even worse. I then got some glasses cleaner and tried that (it said non damaging to coatings) but stopped immediately after that and decided I didn't know what I was doing.

I can not for the life of me remember if I used the glass cleaner on the actual lens or if I just used the glasses cleaner on it in addition to the ziekos stuff. I am worried I could have messed up my new 600 dollar lens. I know I used paper towel on the lens but I wet it first and didn't press hard.

So to sum it up did I mess up my new lens irreparably by using glasses cleaner on it? It was high end stuff from lens crafters. I think I screwed the uv filter up but I don't care its only 60 bucks, I am more worried about the lens.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

You didn't mess it up. But throw that stuff out, get and micro fiber towel, one of these, will do; ... and hot breath. A lenspens is good if a little dirty than normal. Again using hot breath. At least this is my way of cleaning my lenses.

 

I do the same as Jup

 

i used a lens cleaner fluid i got as part of a bundle from adorama and it works well. i think the key is to not use too much of the fluid, and to spray the fluid on your cloth, not on your lens. the cloth you use is critical. i use one that is similar to the kind you use for your glasses.

 

I recently got a Lens Pen and it works great for both removing dust and fingerprints (two sides to the pen, each one has a different function). But also, I use Kirkland brand eyeglass lens cleaning spray which was only about $5 from Costco and has unlimited lifetime refills. It is specially made for coated lenses like my anti-reflection glasses lenses, so I figure it would work well on coated camera lenses & filters as well. I have read similar success on other people's comments on various sites with this spray. Also, Costco's glasses microfiber cloths work better than any other cloth I have ever gotten from anywhere.