Comments on: Step by Step How to Clean Camera Gear so it Stays in Good Shape

By: Srormin' Norman

Srormin' Norman — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 09:34:00 +0000

I’d like to comment regarding not using a UV filter. I always use one and always encourage others to do so. Your point about dropping it is of course perfectly valid but my argument has been that dropping the lens and smashing it isn’t the only way to ruin it. A scratch caused by sand, dust, a branch or even a small tumble by the photographer would do so as well yet this damage to the lens could be prevented by a UV filter. .

By: Kim T.

Kim T. — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 01:45:00 +0000

I never use filters. Once my camera was accidentally knocked out of my hands and fell about 3 feet onto a concrete porch and bounced down two brick steps. I was horrified, but the lens was not broken (I did have the lens cap on). The camera has a small dent on the back corner of the right side and a little bit of damage around the battery door on the bottom, but other than that, both work fine. I still don’t use a filter, but I ALWAYS wear my wrist strap. As for tools, I have what is technically a cloth diaper, that I use as a towel to wipe down the outside of the camera and lens; it’s very soft and thin and doesn’t take up much room in the camera bag. That, the rocket blower and a microfiber cloth are my go to for cleaning.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 04:49:00 +0000

Hi
All those tips I use but one important difference is cleaning the camera. I won’t clean the sensor either but I try to us a vacuum cleaner when cleaning inside my camera as I brush and blow because it will drag out the dust and not spread in further into the camer

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 23:59:00 +0000

Recently I discovered sensor cleaning swabs for cleaning my lenses and filters. After using a blower and brush/lens pen to remove dust I use a sensor cleaning swab to clean the front lens or filter. I use them in a circular motion from the centre outwards to the edges. They are great for getting right into the edges of the lens or filter. They work in much the same way as microfiber cloth but you can be with much more careful and precise with the amount of pressure you need to apply to get the job done. You can also be more frugal with the amount of lens cleaning fluid used which you apply just to the swab tip, just enough to get the job done. They are cheap to buy on Ebay and easy to carry and store and keep clean in their little individual packets.
When out in the field and you need to remove a few rain drops from the front of your lens or filter they are so easy to use compared to a cloth. You just keep one in its packet in your top pocket.
They are also good for cleaning the rear lens, which I avoid doing as much as possible, but if I need to clean the rear lens I only use a brand new swab in a clean environment. Once again they are great for getting into the corners of the rear lens and the little stick gives you good reach into the rear of a telephoto. But avoid cleaning the rear lens if you possibly can. Best to avoid dirt here by putting rear caps on immediately.
You can get APSC and full frame size swabs as well as little touch up ones. Throw them away if you have used them a bit as they can become contaminated. Same goes for your microfiber cloths.

By: Rebecca Davies

Rebecca Davies — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 12:18:00 +0000

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By: Gordon Lamb

Gordon Lamb — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 07:13:00 +0000

In reply to Daniel Smith. I have filters on when the lenses are packed in bags - they are screwed in and don't fall off like lens caps sometimes do. Often take them off to use the lens,

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By: Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 10:17:00 +0000

In reply to Michael.

Thanks for your comment, Michael! That’s an interesting point you’ve brought up regarding lens contacts. It’s not actually something I’ve heard of. I’ll often use the moistened lens wipes to clean the contacts after I’ve cleaned the lens first.
I think that there could be some truth behind it; cleaning agents, not matter how strong, can wear things down over time. But they’re strength will determine how long that time period is. Perhaps if you were to clean your contacts EVERY day will a stronger solvent, then yes, over a long period of time it could wear the plating down. But I would hazard a guess and say that by the time that actually happens, you’d probably be on the market for an upgrade anyway!

By: Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 10:12:00 +0000

In reply to CrustyOF.

Thanks for the comment! I’m glad to hear that your lens survived!

In most cases, however, in these situations the UV doesn’t save the lens. It can give the appearance of it saving the lens as it’s broken and not the lens. However, UV filters are much easier to break than lenses as they’re made of much thinner, more fragile glass then lens elements. The curved nature of lens elements also gives them much more strength. If you drop a lens, it will break regardless if you have a UV filer on it or not. UV filters can be helpful in protecting the front element from fingers prints and other objects from hitting it, but they’re not ‘magical’. They won’t save a lens from a drop.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 22:05:00 +0000

Thank you Daniel for important article as how to keep your very expensive camera and lenses in the best working condition. I baby my Canon 6D and the kit lens EF24-105mm f/4 L series. Every time I go to shoot something, I clean my lens exactly the way you do but minus the Lens Pen as I use very soft microfiber cloth that my wife brings me from her optical department in ophthalmologist’s practice where they use this special cleaning cloth for high quality antireflection coated plastic lenses to prevent any scratches. I have the same Rocket Rubber Bulb blower and I love it. Now regarding cleaning lens electronic contacts – I have read somewhere that it was unsafe to use just regular rubbing alcohol on them as they suppose to be gold plated and in time the alcohol would remove the plating. There is special electronic contact cleaner and it’s the same that is used for a sensor surface cleaning. The name is ECLIPSE optic cleaning fluid. Well, I don’t know how it’s true but I want to be on a safe side.