TP: How to clean equipment (lenses, cameras, senso

This one is fairly self-explanatory.

How do you clean that valuable gear so that it continues to be reliable in use and won't let you down just as you are lining up that shot of a lifetime?

Suggestions and actual experiences please!

Remember that although you can only make one post, you can edit it.

Here's to good housekeeping!

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Edited by brettania - 11 May 2007 at 22:52

I guess it is fair to be one of the first who will try to contribute to our newly introduced "Dyxum Knowledge Base" forum; especially because I was of the opinion that "health care" of our equipment should be one of the first topic inhere.



But first, let me say one more time that this forum should not be used for "pointless" discussions (we have other forums for this :)) but rather for exchanging our experiences only. This is the only way this Dyxum Knowledge Base will be usefully in the future.



Over many years (of using both "film" and digital)I had experiences with (too) many cleaning products and it is my believe that unfortunately most of the products we can find aren't good or at least aren't worth the money.

Here is what i'm using currently with trust and great results.


part of my cleaning arsenal





Since I have many bags that I use I do have a small cleaning kit in each of them which is consisting of Kodak lens paper, zeiss pre-moistened cleaning cloth (both are for single use only) and microfiber cloth; all packaged in a CD sleeve (which can btw serve as a very good custom WB target if needed).



Along these I do carry LensPen (again, I have one in each of my bag), large blower, and Artic Butterfly 724



This is basically all I need for cleaning my camera and lenses most of the time.

The first step in cleaning my glass is to use the blower. After that I use lens pen brush and finally lens pen cleaning head. I mentioned LensPen several times in our forum since I really do consider it a must have accessory. It's not so expensive, includes both the brush (not the best I have but good enough) and the "magic" cleaning head which will remove most dirt from the lens (including fingerprints).



If you shoot along the sea or in dust environment you should never clean your lenses before blowing (or brushing them) since if you use your cloth or other cleaning accessory you may damage your glass with tiny particles of salt or other dirt that may damage your coatings!



I'm avoiding using any solvent on my lenses if I can. We can find many "lens cleaning" solvents on the market today and most of them are just rubbish in my opinion. So be aware of what you're using. Beside zeiss pre-moistened cleaning cloth I personally like ROR and zeiss solvents since these are very good in cleaning while not leaving any residue on the glass.

I don't like microfiber cloths for cleaning lenses; instead I use Kodak lens paper; it's cheap and safe and 1-3 papers will suffice for wet cleaning. Personally I find them much better (safe) solution for glass cleaning than pec-pad or kimwipes (which are both great for other purposes).



Sensor dirt is for many DLSR users a nightmare, especially because manufacturers do often recommend sending cameras to service cleaning as the only options.

While sensor dust is certainly a hassle I'm dealing with it quite efficiency using my Artic Butterfly 724 for in the field cleaning or Sensor brush for home cleaning. These are the best sensor cleaning solutions I have experience with and in the end they are worth the money IMHO. I use them for my viewfinder and mirror too with great success. Using these brushes is safe, fast and very efficient.

In cases of so called "welded dust" (which I experienced only once in the last 2 years since cleaning with brushes on regular basis will minimize this problem) I use visibledust sensor clean solvent with swabs that came with it.


My camera cleaning kit :)



When I get bored and have nothing to do, something is rare but can still happen :) I use the cotton swabs and chamber clean solution to clean mount chamber of my cameras.



Hope someone will find this writting useful (sorry for bad images .. i didn't had the time to shoot this properly :()



Happy cleaning !

Edited by Kiklop - 04 October 2013 at 12:42

after fixing more than 10+ minolta lens.. here is the solution that i found out to be the best cleaning the optic.

1) use a big blower to blow off all the dust or particle

2) use lint free wipe : KimWipes, dip it with 99% IPA fromBiostain to clean the optic

3) wipe again with dry kimwipes for final cleaning.


this work best for cleaning finger print @ optic... but not practical if you in the field.

For blowing off dust, I use MicroCare Micro Blast canned air. It is ultrapure (and not available for retail sale--I guess because it doesn't have bitterant in it). It's about $8 a can. I attach an antistatic nozzle to it (Stat Zap $6) because otherwise the air picks up a charge going through the plastic tube, charges up your sensor, and makes it even more attractive to dust. The combination gives you a nice blast of clean gas through a metal, aimable straw that has a plastic guard over the straw--it feels safe using it with the sensor. NOTE that I don't think you can get pure canned air at a retail outlet, probably because of 'huffing'.

I also use a Giotto's Rocket-Air, but frankly, it doesn't do 1/4 as good a job as the canned air.

For a sensor brush, I just got a Royal SG700-3/4 INCH - SOFT GRIP GOLD TAKLON GLAZE WASH brush from Michael's (about $3), and washed the heck out of it before using to get the sizing out.

Lens wipes: delicate task Kimwipes ($3 for a 280 wipes). Use highest purity isopropyl alcohol I can find at the drug store (typically 99%).

Except for the brush (and alcohol), I got the items from a Clean Room Supply company. They also have swabs and other items that may be useful.

I've done wet cleaning once, using a PecPad, Eclipse solution, and a "sensor wand" (trimmed spatula). I wasn't very happy with the results (increased number of spots!), but cleanup afterwards with the brush and blower did the job.

Edited by rsjaffe - 17 September 2010 at 02:26

What to do about oily blades (Min50 1.7)

I used to use a Gitros Rocket as a first step in sensor cleaning until I noticed that the sensor was worse after blowing. I keep the blower in a dust-proof Pelican box but still it appeared to be picking up dust from the air. I finally got a filtered blower from Visible Dust and the problem was solved.

My next step is the Arctic Butterfly. I have only had to resort to wet cleaning once in the last three years.

I just use a LensPen brush on the lens glass if there is a significant amount of dust. I only resort to a microfiber cloth if there is a grease spot. There is really very little effect from dust on the lens.

My Rocket was less than a year old when I noticed a problem. I have no idea how long it was sitting in the store???

The Visible Dust blower appears to be silicone.