Originally posted by ytterbium Most dust or particles have next to no effect on the pictures. May happen to be visible in high F shots. Fingerprints and other smudgy substances (fat, liquid raindrops) can cause haze and softness so should be cleaned.
Indeed. Even fairly severe front-element damage won't affect images much beyond lowering contrast, except at tight f-stops. Somewhere I saw a contest about HOW F*CKED IS YOUR LENS? where objectives with scratches, cracks, smashes etc still deliver decent images. Anyone with an extra Meyer Domiplan 50/2.8 can easily conduct the test: How badly can you smash it before it becomes useless?
(I don't have an extra Domi, but one of my superfluous M50/2's might be sacrificed. For science, of course.)
Quote: Unless the there is a good reason (moist buildup etc) to clean the lens, the least you clean it the better and safer for the lens.
And the other end of the lens pen is a nice soft brush for whisking-away dustoids.
Last edited by RioRico; 08-13-2011 at 02:16 PM.