Has anyone else experienced smearing problems when attempting to clean the Canon 77mm circular polarizer?
I have no problems with my Hasselblad or Canon lenses or with other filters and am very fastidious and careful with how I handle and maintain my lenses.
However, I am having the most unusual problems with this polarizer. No matter what I use -- microfiber or Kodak lens cleaning tissue -- in the most careful manner and with the lightest touch to remove dust (after first blowing off the dust with a handheld squeeze bulb) I seem to get smears which only get worse the more I continue to clean.
I have taken it to Canon and they were able to clean it for me about 6 months ago, but it has gotten to that point again and I am about to take it in again.
Seems ridiculous to have to take a polarizer in for this reason but I am out of ideas.
Again, in over 25 years I have never had this problem and in fact I try to adhere to the advice to use the least intrusive methods before resorting to things like using cleaning fluid etc. (by the way, I DID resort to using Kodak cleaning fluid - a few drops on the microfiber not on the filter itself) and even that did not work. I do not have this problem with any other lens or filters.
Do polarizers have a certain inherent glaze on their surface or do I likely have some sort of mysterious "gop" on my filter?