How To Clean Camera Lens At Home

What you need

A plastic tub full of lens cleaning supplies. — Photo: Phil Ryan

Chamois: A soft fabric is great for wiping down the outside of a camera or lens.
Air puffer: The classic Giottos Rocket Air Blaster is the best fashion to use air to boom away dust or dirt.
Soft toothbrush: Proceed information technology simple—none of those mucilage-massaging condom bristles. Just go a evidently toothbrush similar the Oral-B Sensi-Soft.
LensPen: Whether you're out shooting or sitting downwards to clean your lens at home, a LensPen is an essential tool.
Dispensable lint-free wipes: Nosotros don't like to recommend dispensable products, simply when it comes to cleaning stubborn gunk off your lens, you lot need something similar PEC-PAD non-abrasive wipes.
Lens cleaning solution: If all other methods fail, a few drops of Photographic Solutions Eclipse Optic Cleaning Fluid on a PEC-PAD will remove any stubborn gunk.
Premoistened lens wipes: Ane alternative to the PEC-PAD and Eclipse combo is Zeiss Lens Wipes, towelettes that are already soaked in lens cleaning solution.

How long volition it take to clean?

If yous're doing a quick wipe-downwardly after a day of shooting, it'll accept you less than five minutes to make clean your camera. If the photographic camera and lens are both very muddied, plan for 20 to thirty minutes.

Before cleaning. Photo: Phil Ryan

Before cleaning. Photograph: Phil Ryan

Wipe down the camera trunk

If you own a compact camera, wipe it down with a chamois. If you find dirt or crud on the camera body, you lot can add some soapy water to the chamois for more cleaning power.

The same approach applies to camera bodies that use removable lenses, though in that case you should blow abroad loose dirt with the Rocket Air Blaster first. Only remove the lens, put the torso cap on, and wipe it down.

If your camera grip has dirt stuck in the textured pattern, interruption out a toothbrush and dip the brush in soapy water before scrubbing away the offending particles.

Make clean the viewfinder

Only the viewfinder should need special attention. The viewfinder has coatings similar to that of your lens's glass, so it'southward best to put a drop or 2 of Eclipse solution on a PEC-PAD and wipe information technology down with that, or to use a Zeiss wipe.

Clean the lens barrel

When cleaning a lens, you tin treat the barrel the aforementioned as you practice the camera body: A quick wipe with a soft textile, dampened with soapy h2o if necessary, should be all it needs.

If the zoom band and manual focusing ring are ribbed tightly, yous may take to resort to the toothbrush to elevator debris from their grooves. Annotation that you should do all of this cleaning with the front and back lens caps on the lens.

Clean the lens glass

The most delicate part of a lens is its glass. The front lens element gets the most exposure and is probable the one you'll end upward cleaning the near, though we recommend putting a basic UV filter on the front end to protect it.

First, utilise the Rocket Air Blaster to accident away whatsoever loose dirt or dust. Y'all shouldn't use canned air considering information technology can leave behind rest. If you still see particles on the lens, use the retractable castor of a LensPen to wipe away as much every bit possible. Roger Cicala of Lensrentals suggests using the air puffer on the brush commencement to make sure the brush isn't carrying whatsoever dust or lint.

Next, flip the LensPen over and uncap the carbon-charged felt tip. The carbon in the tip absorbs oils or grease that may be on the glass and won't damage the coatings on the lens. (Within the cap of the LensPen is a sponge-like piece that recharges the felt tip when you cap it, so exist certain to put the cap on all the way between uses.)

Identify the felt tip of the LensPen in the middle of the glass so movement information technology in widening circles out to the edge of the lens. If the LensPen gets the drinking glass clean, all that's left is to give the glass some other blow with the Rocket Air Blaster to remove whatever bits of carbon that the LensPen may accept left backside.

If the lens has gunk that's more than than the LensPen tin handle, at present is the time to move on to either Zeiss wipes or a PEC-PAD with a couple of drops of Eclipse solution.

Wipe away any is plaguing your glass and so fold over the wipe and use a nice swirling motion from centre to edge.

The rear lens glass typically doesn't get dirty, and then just apply the Rocket Air Equalizer and a LensPen as described above. You can clean extensive gunk on the rear glass the same way you clean the forepart of the lens. If your camera's rear optic moves during focusing, you should rotate the transmission focusing ring every bit necessary to bring the rear glass every bit close to you as possible before cleaning.

Many people use microfiber cloths to clean away modest smudges, merely we prefer our method because a used microfiber textile can behave particles that could cause minor scratches. A new or freshly cleaned microfiber fabric is okay, but we think the LensPen is easier to utilise anyhow.

Make clean cases and caps

Keeping your gear in a instance is a smashing way to protect it, as is putting lens caps on your lenses. Of course, cases and caps tin get dirty, also, and that clay could hands transfer to your camera or lens. You lot can vacuum out a instance.

Lens caps tin can be trickier, as lots of lens caps have places that can trap dust and dirt. Even just the edge inside can trap dust, but the crimping mechanism that lets you squeeze the cap to remove and replace information technology ordinarily traps the well-nigh debris.

A toothbrush can typically remove this dust, just if necessary you lot can dip the toothbrush in some soapy water kickoff to help lift that filth from your lens's protective gear.