How to clean a camera lens

Techniques

24 October 2007 14:16

Knowing how to clean a camera lens is a top priority. Just a little bit of dust or grime on your optics can cause all sorts of problems. Strong light will show up dust and dirt in your pictures, while general grime will affect image sharpness, so it’s essential you keep them clean.

Before you wipe the front of your lens, get rid of any dust or grit that will scratch the glass. A good quality soft brush or air blower is perfect. Clean the whole of lens regularly, ensuring that the external moving parts are free from dust and dirt, particularly sand which can cause lots of problems and scratches.

A useful addition to your kit is a microfibre towel – basically a super high quality duster. It’s great for wiping moisture and muck off your kit and if you sling it over the top of your lens it can even keep your gear dry in light rain. Bike and car photographers often throw a chamois leather over camera and lens to protect them from flying dirt.

When you take a lens off your camera always replace the front and rear lens caps immediately,  to prevent knocks and scratches and keep dust off the optics.

If you have a lens hood, use it. It can prevent flare spoiling your pictures, but also protect the front element against impact damage.

If you plan to shoot outdoors in wind and rain, buy a purpose-built rain cover. Or, try the classic do-it-yourself solution – rip a hole in the bottom of a plastic bag and slip it over the lens and camera, held in place with a couple of elastic bands!

Be careful of rushing straight out of the cold into a warm place, as it could cause the internal lens elements to fog. Try to slowly acclimatise your kit; at the very least open your camera bag, and keep it away from heat sources.

It’s best to invest in a screw-in skylight filter for each of your lenses. They’re much cheaper to replace than a whole lens if you accidentally scratch it.