ART How do you clean the back element of a lens?

[Prison Mike]

I see dust and a rocket blower isn't helping.

 

[ok_computer]

my shirt?

 

[MSIGuy]

Blower + LensPen.

Funny story, a guy comes into where I work with a 70-200 2.8L II complaining that the pictures have specks all over them. I look at the font element and it's flawless, the lens is barely a week old, so I take the mount off and find thousands of little specks of kleenex on the back element and the felt lining the back chamber of the lens! The guy used tissues to clean the rear element of his lens! He said, "it felt soft enough on my nose, I didn't think it would hurt anything."

He asked if I could clean it off for him, I told him, "Sorry... that's going to take hours and hours..." and gave it back to him.

 

[jared_IRL]

my shirt?

 

[Jcolman]

lint free cloth. Like the kind you use for glasses or.....gasp!.....lenses!

 

[Prison Mike]

So whatever I use for the front element, I can use for the back also? I thought the back was special or something.

 

[jared_IRL]

it's special only in the fact that it will show any dirt or scratches 100x worse than the front element. so really, if people wanted to use filters to protect anything, it should be the rear element....

 

[isaac86hatch]

my shirt?

.

 

[Cicada]

lens cloth and a blower?