Camera Lens Cleaning Tips

These camera lens cleaning tips will teach you how to keep your DSLR camera lenses clean. When your lenses are smudged with greasy fingerprints or covered with dust it affects the quality of the pictures you take. To make sure you get the best image quality possible with your lenses use these camera lens care tips.

Protection

I'd recommend buying UV filters for all of your lenses. These filters will not only cut down on the UV light in your picture, but they will protect your camera lenses from getting smudged and scratched.

Using your lens hood will also help protect your lens from dust particles.

Camera Lens Care

What You Need

There are a few basic items that you'll need to properly clean your lens. Here's the list.

• lens cleaning fluid
• lens cleaning paper
• hand squeeze dust blower
• soft artist's paint brush
• microfiber cloth

Now that you have the equipment you need let's get started.

Cleaning Your Camera Lens

Make sure you're not in a dusty or damp environment when you clean your lenses. Camera lens cleaning should be done in a dry relatively dust free environment that is well lit.

Remove the lens you wish to clean from your camera. First you'll need to clean the lens cap so that it doesn't put dust onto your lens once you've cleaned it. Remove the lens cap from the camera. Hold the cap upside down and tap on the top to dislodge any particles that may be trapped in it. Then use the hand-squeeze air blower to blow away any dust or debris on the lens cap. Once you've done that use the paint brush to go over the inside of the lens cap. It's especially important to wipe the inside edge and any grooves in your lens cap with the brush.

Now its time to clean your lens. If you have a filter on your lens remove it. Now use the air blower to remove any dust from the lens. Hold the blower at a slight angle when you use it to blow the dust off the lens. Once you're satisfied that you removed the dust use the brush to gently wipe of your lens. Be careful not to hit the lens with the hard part of the brush. Wipe the edges well too. These two steps are very important because if you have any particles on your lens when you start the second step you will scratch your lens.

Once you've removed the dust particles from your lens you can start the wet clean. Do not put lens cleaner directly on your lens. This could ruin the protective coating. Instead put a few drops of lens cleaner on your lens cleaning paper and starting from the center of the lens wipe gently in a circle out towards the outer edge in one stroke. Then lift the paper off and do it again. Make sure you do this gently. Pressing too hard could damage your lens. Wipe the edges well to make sure all of the grime is completely off the lens. Repeat this step if needed.

Now use your microfiber clothe to dry the lens. Wipe in a circular motion starting from the center just like you did with the lens paper.

Use the same technique to clean your UV filter.

Camera lens cleaning is something you should do occasionally. Cleaning them too often will increase the likelihood of scratching them and will wear away the protective coating on the lens.

I hoped these camera lens cleaning tips. Find out more about digital photography basics.