If you’re professional enough and taking the right type of shots, you can get away with referring to a smudge-blurred photo as an ‘artistic direction’.For the rest of us, dust or a smudge on a camera lens is almost always an annoyance and something that detracts from the quality of our photos. If you’re still learning how to clean your lenses, you’re not good enough to call your dirty ones a style, yet.
So, how do you clean a camera lens, potentially worth thousands of pounds, without any risk of scratches or harming its protective coating? How can you cut down on cleaning time while ensuring spotless and streak-free lenses for photos that do your lenses justice?
When it comes to cleaning delicate glass—whether in the form of a camera, telescope, binoculars, or other types of lenses—delicate, made-for-glass microfibre cloths are the clear and obvious choice. In this post, we’ll run you through exactly how to clean your camera lenses safely and effectively, ensuring you always get the most out of your equipment.
Why you should keep your camera lenses clean
Keeping your lenses fingerprint- and dust-free is important for more reasons than simply sharper images and professionalism. While you could brush off blurry or distorted images, lens flare, or spots as a cool practical effect, excessive dust buildup increases the likelihood of developing microscratches, while fingerprint- or other oils may cause long-term harm to lens coatings, reducing their lifespan.
Keep your lenses clean; keep them working as expected for longer!
Keep your lenses clean on the go with Paragon Microfibre’s range of specialists, made-for-glass microfibre cloths
We offer a broad range of ultra-premium glass cleaning microfibre cloths. Check out our collections below:
Tools you need to clean your camera lens with confidence
Cleaning your camera lens is part and parcel of being a camera owner. If you’re serious about doing it regularly and doing it right, we strongly recommend creating a portable camera lens cleaning kit, always at the ready when you need it.
Equip your lens-cleaning kit with:
1. A high-quality glass cleaning microfibre cloth
There is no substitute for microfibre when it comes to cleaning sensitive glass. Its electrostatic properties allow it to lift dust and debris away from the lenses, reducing the risk of scratches. Its moisture-wicking properties also make it ideal for use with specialist glass cleaning solutions for a spot- and streak-free finish every time. Keep a DEDICATED lens-cleaning microfibre cloth in your kit.
2. Lens cleaning solution
It would be an incredible shame to ruin a good lens with some home-brew, shady-side-of-the-internet lens cleaning solution, and even saferoptions, such as isopropyl alcohol, can be harmful if used incorrectly. Do your own research or visit a reputable store, but protect your investment with a trusted lens cleaning solution.
3. A soft-bristled lens brush
A soft-bristled brush—clean makeup brushes work well—can help excavate dust from hard-to-reach corners at the edge of the lens. Not necessarily essential every time you clean your camera lens, but you’ll be glad to have it in your kit on the day you do.
4. A lens blower
A lens blower uses a hand-pump action to blast bursts of dry air across a lens, blowing dust and debris loose and away.
DO NOT blow dust or debris off a lens with your mouth. The moisture or any spit particles in your breath may catch on the lens, trapping dust and potentially scratching the lens when cleaning. Lens blowers are affordable and readily available online; get one for your kit!
How to clean a camera lens: Step-by-step
When dealing with heavily soiled, neglected, or second-hand lenses that could still be salvageable with a good clean, it’s important to lift as much dust and debris away from the lens as possible with as little friction as possible.
Use a lens blower to remove any loose dust or particles. Follow up with the soft-bristled brush, wiping from the centre outward. Alternate if needed until all visible dust has been blown off.
Realistically, you’ll only rarely have to clean your lenses using step one, unless you’re frequently shooting in dusty environments.
With the lenses dust-free, apply 1 or 2 drops of lens cleaner to your cloth—never directly onto the lens. Again starting from the centre, wipe gently in a circular motion to prevent streaks and ensure even cleaning.
Buff the camera lens with the dry side of the cloth. This will polish the lens and remove any remaining moisture or haze.
Under a phone or other light, tilt the lens to various angles to spot any leftover smudges, moisture, or imperfections. Either polish to perfection, or repeat steps 2 through 4 with a dry section of cloth.
Paragon Microfibre: Trusted by professionals, loved by lenses
As the UK’s leading supplier of specialist microfibre products, we understand that our clients use our glass- and lens-cleaning cloths to clean and maintain expensive and often difficult-to-replace items. Our glass cleaning cloths are precision-engineered for delicate glass—lint-free, ultra-soft, and safe for use on even your most expensive lenses.
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