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I recently acquired some lens cleaning fluid from a camera chain store (Jessops if anyone's interested). Thinking about it now, is this fluid likely to damage the coating on the front element of my lens? Should I try to find a more expensive cleaning fluid, or does it not particularly matter?

micheal65536
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    Why is it that you feel you need any fluid to clean your lens? – James Snell Feb 06 '17 at 09:29
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    Possible duplicate of http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/1408/what-is-the-best-way-to-clean-lenses-and-filters – James Snell Feb 06 '17 at 09:29
  • @JamesSnell That's the advice I found online. Seems a lot of people use fluid for stubborn grease/marks on the front of their lens. Don't worry, I've also got a blower and a cloth. – micheal65536 Feb 06 '17 at 12:10
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    The suggested duplicate doesn't answer the question specifically regarding cheap/highstreet-brand lens cleaning fluid. – micheal65536 Feb 06 '17 at 12:11
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    Does it say on the label what the fluid is made of? – vclaw Feb 07 '17 at 10:46
  • @vclaw It says it contains isopropyl alcohol and specifies to shake before use. I've gathered that isopropyl alcohol is a common ingredient in lens cleaning products but it doesn't say what concentration the alcohol is in or what other ingredients there are. – micheal65536 Feb 07 '17 at 11:10

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Why do you think that Jessops (a long established company) would sell something named "lens cleaning fluid" which would damage a lens ?

Should I try to find a more expensive cleaning fluid, or does it not particularly matter?

Why would paying more make you feel better ? Paying less usually makes me feel better. Try it, you might get used to it.

I'd be surprised if there's any significant difference between more expensive and less expensive lens cleaning fluid.

StephenG - Help Ukraine
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    I don't have anything against Jessops specifically, but they're a retailer not a specialist and someone suggested that it may not be the safest fluid to use on my lens. – micheal65536 Feb 06 '17 at 12:11
  • Can't think why. If anything might damage your lens, it's obsessive cleaning and getting them very dirty in the first place. The fluid is mainly useful to remove grease and to avoid abrasive rubbing of the special optical coatings on the glass (i.e. don't rub the glass with a dry cloth or paper towel if possible). – StephenG - Help Ukraine Feb 06 '17 at 12:15
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    I'm sooo tempted to say "Drink it and if you live, then it's ok to use on your lens" :-) – Carl Witthoft Feb 06 '17 at 12:35
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    @CarlWitthoft a) It's not safe for drinking. b) If it was safe for drinking, that doesn't mean it's safe to use on a lens. c) If it isn't safe for drinking, that doesn't mean it's not safe to use on a lens. – micheal65536 Feb 06 '17 at 15:45
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    @MichealJohnson you hear that big WHOOSHing sound just above you? – Carl Witthoft Feb 06 '17 at 16:00
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    @StephenG Price does sometimes indicate quality. There are any number of photography products out there that are much cheaper than the competition but which nevertheless manage to offer less value. – Caleb Feb 07 '17 at 14:29
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The lens coating consists of as a thin coat of various minerals. The idea is to mitigate reflections from the polished glass surface. Uncoated glass reflects away 8% while coated glass reflects away 2%. A multi-element lens array can lose 30% or more as each element reflects thus the total loss is huge. Worst, the internal reflections bathe the film or sensor with stray light that destroys contrast, we are talking flare. The optimum coat thickness is 1/4 the wavelength. This will be specific for just one color. A modern lens is multi-coated to control reflections from the various colors. A modern lens array can have 6 thru 12 coats. The coat is quite durable. At the factory, ethyl alcohol is used to clean the lens as it is assembled. The real danger is aggressive scrubbing can alter the thickness of the coat.

While not actually recommending that you clean this way, I use ordinary Windex on my lenses. Never harmed one in the 60 years I have been working with this stuff.

Alan Marcus
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