Tips for water spot lens removal

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TeqP

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Location
Yorba Linda, CA
# of dives
200 - 499
Does anyone have any tips for removing water spots from an Inon macro lens? Any tips other than don't let water dry on the lens would be appreciated. :D I must have let some water dry on my macro lens and now can see some very faint spots when viewing the lens at an angle.

Thanks.
 
don't let water dry on the lens. :) Just kidding...

Cleaning lenses is a delicate job, with the major problem being the risk of scratching. Scratching happens when you use something harder than the glass or the optical coating. I don't know what coating this lens has so I can't advise you on that part, but most lenses built for UW use are hard enough to sustain some solution cleaning without danger.

I would start with just a little warm water. Soak it for a bit, too, just to soften the calcites or other deposits that are forming it can reabsorb the water they were once dissolved in, and then gently pass a CLEAN tissue or very soft cloth over it. I'm a bit of a risk taker, but if it's really bad I might fill the sink, put the whole lens under water, and gently rub the tip of my finger over the spot and see if that will loosen it.

Another easy and viable option is lens cleaner, which is often made with alcohol. This should also work fine and you can try this again with a clean tissue or soft cloth. Avoid acetone as a cleaner (nail polish remover), this is bad for lenses and coatings.

In both cases MAKE SURE THE LENS IS CLEAN! Any dirt or fine grain of sand or salt on the tissue or lens will cause a scratch when you wipe the lens, so be careful. For more details, there's also a page I found:

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/lens_filter_cleaning.html

Best of luck!
 
If this lens is like my Inon wide-angle lens for my Oly 5050, it isn't coated. This means that the protocol that livewire suggested should work fine. The good news is that any droplets and small blemishes on the lens, are not in focus in the images. Other than a slight reduction in the overall image contrast, they won't affect the overall image quality. This isn't to say that you shouldn't keep the lens clean, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 

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