Lens pen leaves black pieces of fabric on lens?

[sofakng]

This weekend I purchased a "Gemini Lens Pen" from Circuit City for $9.99. Well, it doesn't seem to work very good -at all-. After using it several times, I've noticed that the fabric (cleaner?) actually breaks apart and leaves many black pieces on my lens. I've also noticed that it doesn't clean the lens very well either (small spots on my lens are nearly impossible to remove)

Is this normal?

 

[linuxworks]

are you turning the cap halfway to 'activate' it?

the black stuff, I'm told, is carbon dust. the cleaning agent, sort of. compressed air should blow that away.

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

 

[sofakng]

Yeah, I'm turning the cap halfway -after- I use it (which is what the directions say to do)

 

[Kota2k2]

sofaking wrote:

This weekend I purchased a "Gemini Lens Pen" from Circuit City for $9.99. Well, it doesn't seem to work very good -at all-. After using it several times, I've noticed that the fabric (cleaner?) actually breaks apart and leaves many black pieces on my lens. I've also noticed that it doesn't clean the lens very well either (small spots on my lens are nearly impossible to remove)
Is this normal?

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When I clean my lenses...

First I blow off dust from the lens using an 'ear bulb' which IMO is an important & inexpensive accessory. I use this every time the camera comes out of it's case & on every lens that is attached, be it closeup filter or telephoto lens.

If the 'ear bulb' does not dislodge a stubborn particle I try the brush on the lenspen then blow air on the lens with the 'ear bulb' again.

If there's still residue on the lens I very gently use the lenspen cleaner to remove it followed yet once again by the infamous 'ear bulb'. ;-)

I also use Eclipse optic cleaner & Pec Pads which do an excellent job cleaning lenses & leave no swirl marks or residue....but this stuff isn't cheap!

http://www.2filter.com/prices/products/eclipse.html

Look for an 'ear bulb' in your local pharmacy or you can find 'em cheap on eBay for a buck or two, IMO this is a good, cheap way to keep unwanted stuff off your lenses... ;-)

 

[michael212256]

Michael wrote,

I have used one pf these pens for years, and they work well. A camel hair brush/blower is all I have ever used to remove any particles left behind by a Lenspen.

DO NOT use compressed air on any lens, as the force has the potential to drive dust and particles inside the lens or camera body.

 

[Rottweiler]

I use a Leupold Lens Pen, doesn't seem to leave any residue on the lens. I use them for the camera's, scopes, etc.

 

[sofakng]

Well I give up. Again I tried to use my Gemini Lens Pen and it smears something on my lens (I've tried cleaning my UV filter, Pro1 camera, and regular glasses and it smears something on ALL of them. Hopefully I can get this junk off of my lens because every shot I take is now blurry. My glasses I've cleaned with my shirt (and they are 10x cleaner) but I don't want to clean my camera or UV filter with my shirt.

Maybe I got a defective pen but this thing is GARBAGE.

 

[atari1356]

I bought one of those from Circuit City as well... and yeah, it's garbage.

It leaves swirl marks on the lens that don't come off no matter how long you rub it with the lens pen. I ended up taking a microfiber lens cloth and wiping the residue from the lens pen off with that.

I don't know if this Gemini brand is different than other lens pens or not, but I'm definitely not impressed by this one.

 

[Toedtoes]

I picked up a Habuka lenspen at Longs for the same price. It works great - no residue.

Perhaps the Gemini's are old stock and dried out?

 

[woffles]

On stubborn spots a little hot breath on the lens to fog it up for a second really helps.