How do I use a camera lens cleaning kit

[The Duke]

I lent my compact camera to my family over the weekend and got it back with a fingerprint covering the entire lens. As far as I can tell it's not greatly affecting the photos, but in some of the night time long exposure shots I've taken since then, lights have come out with these long blurry lines

eg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/7562/dsc06607fe9.jpg
I'm not sure if this is normal or not

Either way, I've got a lens cleaning kit that I bought ages ago but never used it. I'm not sure of steps or precautions I should be taking to clean the lens. (eg which tool in the kit do I use first)

This is the kit

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9643/dsc06652ui6.jpg
There's a bottle of liquid, one of those air squeezey things with brushes on the tip, q-tips, a packet of 'lens tissues' and a yellow cloth.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need to use my camera tonight so I was hoping to clean it before then. But is this lens cleaning kit ok to use? Or should I just leave it and buy a better quality kit some other day.

[Suteki]

Tried reading the manual or the instructions on the bottle etc?

[molecule]

what you've got is more than enough to clean the lens. use either the cloth or one of the tissues to gently wipe the lens over. start with enough gentle pressure to wipe away the fingerprint. it will probably leave smears over the lens so lighten the pressure and continue wiping until you get smear-free glass. i don't think it matters which direction you wipe in but i usually go for a circular motion both clockwise/anticlockwise

i guess the fluid would be an evaporative cleaning agent so you could try using that in conjunction with the cloth/tissue but you should be fine without it

[Spectrum]

1. Rip the brush off the blower bulb and throw the bristles away. Not a fan of the brush at all.

2. Use the blower on its own to blast off any debris. You don't want to be rubbing debris over the lens.

3. Dampen a folded over piece of lint-free paper with the fluid, and wipe the lens gently.

4. Repeat using a dry piece of lint-free paper to leave an immaculately clean piece of glass. Repeat if necessary.

5. Be wary of wiping around the edge of the lens, where the screw mount is (if applicable) as it can dislodge grime and grease and make getting the glass clean an endless nightmare.

6. Use the lens cloth for cleaning the camera and lens bodies - not the glass - as it's gonna end up dirty and what good is that.

7. From now on, unless you fingers slip onto the glass, you should be able to get away with using the blower on its own for all future cleaning sessions. Use the paper+fluid sparingly, and only when the blower can't get the job done. You may wish to invest in a larger, rubbery-rather-than-plastic blower bulb as they're far more effective.

Good luck. :thumb:

[Spectrum]

Interesting photo too.

The lines of the finger print have caused the light refraction (correct term?) effect.

One can buy filters with micro criss-crossing lines etched into it for similar effect with highlights. As seen in tragic 1970s glitzy photos of famous people...

...and then used with the same 1970s has-beens on modern day appearances on Good Morning Australia (RIP) with Bert.

[The Duke]

Thanks for your help guys. I think I remember phunkdust mentioning a Hanman blower (I'll have to double check) in an old thread that was about cleaning the sensor part. I'm planning to buy of those as I've also recently bought a DSLR.

Thanks again for your help everyone.

(by the way, there was no instructions at all with that kit.)

[phunkdust]

my blower is an INCA

also I have a lenspen which is great.