Learn how a lens cleaning kit can help prevent the destruction of your camera
One of the horror scenes every professional photographer would hate to see is other photographers wiping their lens using a rough cloth, the tip of their shirt or any other destructive method that scratches the camera. Every cheap cloth designated even for one's sunglasses, can grave a tiny grain of sand or dust into the camera’s lens, and infeasible scratch. There are various, both surprising, and common ways to clean cameras in a destructive way. On the other hand, a cleaning kit shouldn’t cost so much money, but can really save you a dirty frame in one hand, and a scratched lens on the other.
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Camera cleaning kit – get to know the dust blower brush |
Why is a lens cleaning kit so important to your camera?
A lens cleaning kit is truly important for your camera for these main reasons:
- Using a lens cleaning kit for aesthetics – As same as you wish to keep your shirt clean from stains, you probably wouldn’t want to walk around with a stained and dirty camera. Cleaning the LCD screen is another important aspect, but it’s also important from the aspect of producing a high-quality picture. A dirty LCD screen can cause a difficulty viewing the frame and shooting a good picture.
- Using a lens cleaning kit to ensure the photo quality – you should always aim to prevent sand and dust, hair and fellow trouble makers from affecting your photo. For this purpose you should concentrate on cleaning your lenses, but always notice that dirt can also reach the inner parts of the camera and may also affect your photo.
- Using a lens cleaning kit in order to maintain the camera’s performance - Dirt, same as the dirt in the engine of our car, can impair the functioning of your camera. Even a tiny piece of sand invading the camera’s mechanism can damage the lens auto focus and to disable the lens, or even the whole camera.
Even if you are not an enthusiastic cleaner, your house is always a mess and your T-shirt knew better days – if you like your camera, keep it clean. Otherwise, dirt may disable it.
How to use your lens cleaning kit
First, always use a microfiber cloth (microfiber is common and cheap cloth, available with every optometrist). Microfiber doesn’t leave any fibers on the lens while other fabrics will (fibers might affect the photo). The cloth should be used in circular motions, from the face to the outside (Start at the center of the lens and slowly move to the edges in circular motions).
Before you use the lens cleaning kit, get rid of the large dirt particles – Use a dust blower or a gentle brush in order to get rid of large grains and dirt particles. That will ensure that no grains will remain in your cleaning cloth and scratch the lens. Don’t be alarmed if some small particles will still remain on the lens - A few small objects won’t affect the photo’s quality.
Why should you purchase a lens cleaning kit
If your camera is important to you and you use it outdoors - you should consider buying a lens cleaning kit. Lens cleaning kits usually includes a brush, a cloth and a dust blower. There are also kits designated to clean the camera's memory slots and the camera’s sensor. You should be very careful when purchasing the camera sensor cleaning kit, since the sensor is a sensitive component. Many photographers prefer to clean it in a laboratory every once in a while, or as part of the warranty. Never the less – you can certainly buy a basic lens cleaning kit, a dust blower, brush and cloth, which will enable you to clean your camera on site, and not carry the dirt with you.
Lens Penn – A pen cleaning kit
The lens pen is a cleaning devise the size of a marker or a pen. The lens pen includes a small brush to remove dust and dirt grains on one side, and hard sponge on the other side. The sponge head contains active charcoal, which performs the same action as a microfiber cloth. The advantage of the lens pen is that you can easily carry it in any camera bag almost without noticing, while it’s available for quick cleaning.
Why not invest some more time and improve your photos. Select an article out of the photography studies section. Find out how to use your equipment in the Photography equipment section. You can also simply register for a free photography course and receive a weekly lesson directly to your mailbox, including a short practice and better Photography Tips: Photography course.
