How To Keep Your Digital SLR Clean

Dust and smudges. They are the bane of existence for Digital SLR owners. In the old days, when film ruled, we didn’t have to worry about dust and smudges so much. It was still a bit of an issue with lenses, but not so much with film – which moved through the camera frame-by-frame before it had much time to accumulate any dust or smudges. With a digital camera, the CCD or CMOS sensor just sits there – day after day, and year after year – picking up more marks and molecules as every moment passes.

Cleaning is important, not just for your lenses, but for the inside of your camera as well. Mostly I recommend not to clean the sensor to photographers who ask me. If you need to ask if it’s okay, you likely aren’t okay to clean your sensor yourself… and you should get someone else to do it for you. Nervous hands and a sensor wipe don’t mix. Otherwise, most every other surface can be cleaned in one way or another.

Filters

There is a great debate about using a filter to protect the end of your lens. UV filters are the perceived favorite, but NC or Skylight filters are also used for this purpose. Filters are a good protective barrier, but they will degrade your image quality as the light will have another piece of glass to penetrate before reaching the sensor. Furthermore, the filter has not been optimized in the same way the lens elements have in your array of optics, so the degradation of adding a filter may be greater than you would first expect. If you don’t mind this degradation in lieu of the extra protection your lens will receive, then by all means – go for it. Be aware, however, that protection is almost all your getting – and a lens cap is just as good (if not better) for this purpose.

Digital SLR’s all have IR filters in place over the sensor itself – and UV coatings exist on all modern lenses, so a UV or Skylight filter will not improve your image quality. Beyond that, most lenses these days have a piece of protective glass on the end of the lens. That flat piece of glass on your lens is not an optic… it’s there to keep the lens optics clean and safe. Knowing how to clean the lens glass, the viewfinder, the mirror, the focusing screen, and the sensor are important.

Brushes

Get yourself a fine soft brush to clean off any dust particles that settle on your lens or viewfinder, as well as on the camera body itself. Camel hair is a good choice, but there are a variety of brushes that are sold at your local camera store which are most likely synthetic and will work just as well.

Brushes are also handy for picking up dust on your mirror and focusing screen. Some people will use the static charge from a brush to pick up dust on a sensor, or will use it to wipe across the sensor itself, but I don’t really recommend it unless you have a special sensor brush. Otherwise, you’ll mostly just be pushing the dust around rather than picking it up. Typically brushes are for exterior cleaning.

Clothes and Tissues

If you’ve tried the brush or the blower on your lens or viewfinder and there are still marks or smears, it’s likely time to break out the cloth and wipe that glass. The only cloth you should ever use is a clean static free microfiber cloth, and only on a surface that has no visible dust or grit – as this may scratch the surface. Also make sure that your cloth is clean. Most of them can be cleaned in a regular wash cycle, or you can just throw it out and buy a new one whenever you need them – since they are fairly cheap.

Tissues are good for applying lens cleaning solutions… but be aware that not all solutions are made equal. Some cheap solutions will actually leave more streaks than they remove.

Lastly, don’t ever use a Kleenex or paper towel or other cloth to clean your lens. The problem with these “unknown” fabrics and materials is that many of them are made of recycled fibers, which can contain harsh abrasive materials that can easily scar your lens coatings.

Lens Pens

My favorite tool is the lens pen. They look like a big fat magic marker. One end is a retractable brush, but the other is a rubber foot that is great for removing streaks, spots, and smudges from glass. You must be careful that no dust is under the rubber foot when you use it, however, as this could scratch your lens coating. Overall, this soft rubber foot does a nice job of keeping dried moisture specks or finger smudges from accumulating while you’re out in the field, and for portability – keeping this tool around on a shoot makes a lot of sense. Just make sure you keep both ends of the pen clean in between uses.

Blowers

An air blower (of the manual variety – no canned or compressed air here) is invaluable in the fight against dust. They’re usually less than $10 and they will be your primary tool in driving dust every angle of your camera. Giving the inside of your camera body a good blast of air from a blower every once in a while will help it immensely. Again, I must reiterate that compressed air is no good here, it will only cause problems. Also be careful that you aren’t blowing dust into the camera. Whenever you use a blower, make sure it’s in a clean area. While blowers are good, however, the sensor will ultimately require some more rigorous cleaning – which is where sensor wipes come in.

Sensor Wipes and Swabs

There is a good website called Visible Dust which sells all sorts of implements to clean the inside of your camera, including sensor wipes that are made to fit the various sizes of sensors you will find in most modern DSLR. While these are great, it’s a process that is not for the timid, because the sensor is the heart of your camera. If you’re not comfortable doing this, take the camera to a shop and pay the $30 to have them do it. In reality, however, damaging the sensor in your camera is more difficult than you would expect, and while it can be nerve racking… it’s quite easy and very possible to do yourself.

One last tip – moisture is a problem for digital cameras, and likely moreso than you know. If dust gets on your mirror, viewfinder, or sensor – it will only become aggravated by the presence of moisture, making it more difficult to blow or brush off. By dropping a few tiny sachets of Silica Gel (like you get with almost everything you buy these days) into your camera bag, you can reduce the moisture in the bag, making it easier for you to clean your camera when it comes time.