When
it comes to cleaning SLR camera lenses, photographers use different methods
that work for them. In this article, I will show you my way to clean DSLR
camera lenses. I often get emails and comments from our readers, who ask to
provide detailed information on this process, so I am including a detailed
article along with an accompanying video to thoroughly explain the process.
Cleaning lenses is a fairly straightforward process and is almost risk-free, as
long as you are using proper tools for the job. If you are impatient and want
to see the video where I show the entire process of cleaning a lens, skip all
the way down. I hope you find the below article and video useful.
1) Why Clean Camera Lens?
Besides
the obvious answer “because it is dirty”, keeping your lenses clean will ensure
that you get the best and highest quality results from using your gear. During
a Photo Walks that I led a couple of years
ago, a novice approached me with a question about his camera. He told me that
his images look cloudy and he had no idea why it was happening. I asked if I
could take a look at his camera to see if I could find anything wrong with it.
As soon as I opened the front lens cap, I knew exactly what the problem was.
The front element of the lens was very dirty and had oily fingerprints and
other stuff all over the place. I showed him the lens and asked if he knew
about the problem. He told me that he had a toddler that likes his camera too
much and apparently, that’s how the lens ended up getting all the stuff on it.
He did not know how to clean the lens properly and after spending so much money
on the camera gear, he was too scared to clean it himself. Gladly, I always
carry my cleaning kit with me, so I took a picture before and then another
after cleaning the lens. We compared the images and as expected, the first one
indeed looked cloudy, while the second one was clear and sharp. This is one
example of how dust, dirt and oil can affect your images.
Another
important reason to clean your camera lens is keep your images free of
particles that might show up in background highlights and other parts of the
image. Take a look at my earlier post on “the effect of dust on lens bokeh” – you will
see, that dust on the rear element of your lens will show up in your images,
especially if you have large specks of dust there.
Dust
is a normal part of a photographer’s life. While it is a good idea to prevent
dust from landing on your gear, whether you like it or not, you will eventually
end up in a dusty environment some day. So, it is not a matter of how, but
when. If you see a beautiful sunset on a windy and dusty day, are you not going
to take a picture? Some photographers say things like “do not get your gear
dirty in first place”, which I consider to be a ridiculous statement. I would
never want to miss an opportunity for a good picture, just because I wanted to
keep my gear clean. Every time I go to places like Sand Dunes, I know beforehand that it is most
likely going to be windy.
2) Dangers of Improper Lens
Cleaning
Most
people end up with bad equipment because of their creative ways to clean it.
Remember, camera lenses are very similar to glass lenses on eyeglasses, which
means that they can be easily scratched. Lenses are generally made of tough
optical glass, but if you attempt to clean it with cloth that might have sand
particles on it, you will surely scratch the optical surface. That’s because
sand is harder than glass. If you use a wrong type of chemical liquid on
lenses, you might damage the lens coating. If you put too much of the liquid on
the lens, some of it might get inside the lens and give you all kinds of
trouble afterwards. The list goes on and on.
If
you decide to clean your lenses yourself, it is very important that you choose
the right tools for the job and use them properly.
3) Using Protective Filters
Every
lens I own and use has a high quality protective filter in front of it. I also
suggest protecting expensive lenses in my articles on purchasing camera gear and other
gear-related articles I post on this blog. Why? Because filters make it easier
not only to protect your lens, but also to clean it. Some lenses have threads
or “steps” right by the front lens element (separate from filter threads),
which attract dust and even cut off pieces from microfiber cloth. Overtime, it
gets difficult to keep the front of the lens clean due to all the stuff that
gets attached to those threads. A protective filter will go over those threads
and you will spend much less time cleaning your lenses. If you are too worried
about image quality, don’t be – take a look at my gallery and Lola’sweddings page.
Every picture you see was taken with a lens that had a protective filter. Do
you see any problems with image quality? Just use professional multi-coated
filters from companies like B+W and Hoya. Those filters will have the
least impact on image quality, because they are made of high quality glass.
They are expensive, but definitely worth it. When you consider the amount of
time you will be spending on cleaning your lenses and when you weigh in all
potential problems such as scratching your lens, you will quickly realize the
benefits of using filters. If you happen to scratch or break your filter, you
just buy another one and your lens stays protected.
4) Tools to clean lenses
There
are plenty of different tools available on the market today for taking care of
your lenses. I have used many different solutions before and I found some
products to be more effective than others. Here is the list of tools that I
personally use and recommend for cleaning lenses:
- Zeiss Liquid Lens Cleaner or Eclipse Optic Lens Cleaning Solution are the liquids Ipersonally use and recommend for cleaning lenses
- Visible Dust Magic Cleaner is a large piece of microfiber cloth for cleaning lenses. Grab a couple of these.
- Tiffen Lens Cleaning Paper to clean the optical lens elements.
- Giotto’s Rocket Blower to blow off the dust from lenses.
- Giotto’s Hair Brush or any other soft & clean brush you can find for removing dust before cleaning lens elements.
- A hard toothbrush or some other hard brush for cleaning the rubber focus/zoom rings.
There
are many other types of liquids and tools you can find online or in a local
camera shop that also work great. Giotto’s Lens Cleaning Kit is also great
if you don’t want to spend much – just don’t buy the other kit that comes with
a small blower, you will need the large one.
5) Lens Cleaning Process
My process of cleaning lenses is divided into three parts:
- Cleaning the exterior of the lens, including the lens hood – I first start off by using wet microfiber cloth to remove any dust or dirt from lens exterior and lens hood. I apply the same optical formula that contains anti-static material on microfiber cloth or if the lens is too dirty, I start off by using regular water (distilled water would work best) and then finish off with using the solution. To clean the rubber zoom and focus rings, I use an ordinary toothbrush, which works great for removing particles in between the rubber lines.
- Cleaning the lens mount – a very important part of the process that sometimes requires me to clean the mount several times due to oil and dirt. Apply the same lens cleaning solution on microfiber cloth and clean the mount thoroughly. Don’t forget to clean the round contacts on the lens as well.
- Cleaning the rear and the front optical elements – I find microfiber cloth to be unsafe for cleaning optical lens elements, especially if you reuse the same microfiber cloth that you use to clean your lenses outside. Also, sometimes microfiber cloth will leave particles that are hard to remove with the rocket blower, so I rely on lens cleaning tissues instead. They clean glass very well and if they leave anything on the lens, it can be easily removed by the rocket blower.
Reference : https://photographylife.com