Please Help: Cleaning Glass Particles off a Lens

[dslr123]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum and wish my first post was under circumstances but wanted to reach out for advise on how to clean glass particles off a lens. As a background, I have a dslr with a lens and uv filter on and the camera fell on it's lens cover on to the concrete floor. The filter shattered but surprisingly it seems the lens is relatively "okay". (There may be some scratches but I can't really tell until I am to fully clean it.) I was able to shake off and vacuum a lot of the particles but there is still glass particles/dust which seems to be sticking to the lens. What would you recommend in terms of getting it off? Should I use a lens cleaning brush? I didn't want to use a microfiber cloth as I think that might scratch the lens. I also have glass particles in the grooves of the lens but figure a brush should handle that.

On a sidenote, I also had some trouble getting the filter off the lens and had to use a good amount of torque with my hand to get it off. I was using force on the lens without having it zoomed out at first but realized later on that I should zoom it out all the way and hold it by the barrel closest to the lens. I messed around with the autofocus and I think it's still working okay but wanted to get your input on what else I might have damaged or risk damaging by having applied that much torque on the lens. (The lens is an 18-200mm and I didn't have it extended out at first.) I'm hoping the lens is still usable. Thanks much.

-dslr123

[zona5101]

hi and welcome.
sorry to hear about your accident. A blower brush should be the tool of choice for what you describe.

[dslr123]

thank you, bruce. i will give that a shot.

so you don't think this is something i need to have a professional handle?

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by dslr123

thank you, bruce. i will give that a shot.

so you don't think this is something i need to have a professional handle?

No, unless i was seeing something really strange.
I would:1) blower brush
2) compressed air (easy - because you can do more damage than good if you aren't careful)
3) lens paper/lens fluid easy.

don't spray/drip any liquids like lens cleaner on the lens

if you choose to use compressed air, keep the nozzle away, you don't want to freeze/frost the front element. you'll want a shallow angle to blow off and not push in any specks of glass.

[dslr123]

thanks for the information, bruce. i appreciate it.