Keeping your camera lens and filters clean is essential for photos and vlogging. Some tools will effectively help you to clean your camera lenses and filters. I used to clean my lenses regularly. Every time before I left the house and I had a camera, and when I came home.

In this article, you will learn how to clean the camera lens and filters. So, let’s keep things simple and straightforward and find the best and safest way to clean your camera lens and filters so you can spend more time taking pictures and less time on clean-up chores.

So, let’s start with some common facts:

Dirty vision can affect and will affect the quality of your image.
There are appropriate methods and tools for lens cleaning and light filtering.
There are wrong methods and tools for cleaning the lens and filter optics.
There is a lot of information available on the topic of lens cleaning – some of which are contradictory.

Here are some common mistakes that you do when cleaning your camera lens and filter:

Table of Contents

Don’t over-clean your lens and filters:

Your camera lens is made of durable material, but the various coating is done on the camera lens. Excessive cleaning can remove that coating and over of the lens. This will allow the surface to be more vulnerable to scratches and damage.

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Don’t clean in a bad environment:

Don’t clean your lens when you are outside of the workplace or studio. It can allow the external dust to sit on the filters and lens, and you won’t be able to take one good shot.

Don’t blow dust away:

If you don’t have the gears to clean your camera lens and filters, don’t try to blow away the dust, as you will allow some saliva splits to sit on the lens and filters.

Cleaning your lens and filters is easy to do, even in the field. Here’s a simple, three-step process for lens cleaning and effective filtering:

Remove as much dust and dirt as possible from the lens with a soft brush.
Apply a few drops of the lens cleaning solution on the cleaning cloth.
Using a circular motion, gently remove oil, fingerprints, and deformities from the lens surface, working from the center to the outside.

Blower:

When it comes to dust removal, the best way is to use a blower and to avoid using compressed air. The blower should be mandatory equipment in your DSLR camera case for cleaning the camera lens and filters.

Brush:

There is plenty of lens cleaning brushes in the market but high quality is recommended. Camel’s hair works very well. Also, do not touch the bristles with your oily fingers, unless you want to transfer the dirt to the lens while cleaning.

Cleaning cloth:

Lens cleaning tissue is cheaper. Use one and dispose of the tissue after cleaning your lens. Microfiber cleaning cloths are also popular. There are a few precautionary measures to help ensure their beneficial use. Keep them clean, as they may be used for frequent cleaning, and you do not want to re-apply dirt and grime or particles that may scratch your lens.

We hope that our techniques on how to clean camera lens and filters will help you in nailing the cleaning process and will be able to avoid these mistakes that we have mentioned above.

FAQ’S

How do you maintain your DSLR lens? And, how often do you clean them (given you are not using it in months)?

In no particular order:

Keep the rear lens cap on, Minolta / Sony auto focus rear lens caps open the aperture fully to prevent sit-down adhesion of the aperture leaves, and to prevent shock to the aperture assembly during transport.
Fully extend a zoom lens while in it’s storage environment, before exposing it to different air temperature and humidity, to prevent “inhaling” colder or wetter air, that may cause condensation on the inner elements, eliminating the 20+ minute wait time in the field for internal condensation to clear away.
Fill a front-element scratch with India ink so there is no light-scattering in the capture image, the loss of light is minimal, compensated for by auto exposure, and allows uncompromised use of lenses acquired at rock bottom prices because the seller believes they are useless, they are not.
Use a hood to protect the front element from impact, only use a filter for the filter’s benefits in image qualities.
If the front lens element fogs, lick it, then rub it clear with your T-shirt, enzymes in saliva will reduce front-element fogging, then you can clean the front element more appropriately later after your successful, non-fogged, photo session.
Store and transport lenses in mechanically closed, padded, hard cases, available new and used at camera stores, yard sales, and on the web — lenses plopped into cloth or vinyl bags with string ties get knocked around and broken, and slip out on ground, and roll under the middle of your car where you will get burned by the car’s exhaust system when you try to reach for it.

My camera lens has been damaged by fine sea spray. I tried smoothing it off with sand paper but that didn’t really help. But, seriously, any suggestions on how to clean it safely?

Sea spray is mostly water. When the water evaporates, solids are left behind – but they are mostly water soluble and can be removed by a soft wet cloth.

In the case of the lens barrel, the deposits are probably harmless once dried. Just wait until you are in a protected place and then wipe them with a wet cloth. Warm water will work faster than cold water. Note that there may be some grit in the deposits, so to minimize damage to the finish, don’t rub the cloth vigorously on the lens, just let the liquid dissolve the salts and then gently wipe away whatever is left.

Spray on the glass is a bigger problem. It’s best to remove it quickly while still wet. If it dries, use damp lens cleaning tissues. They should be damp, not wet, because you don’t want water to be pulled into the lens mounting areas. And don’t rub because you don’t want any grit scratching the lens more than necessary.

If there are just a few spots on the lens, it may be worth trying a damp Q-tip. The Q-tip can be rotated in place, so it will tend to pick up any grit as soon as it is unstuck, rather than scraping it around the lens surface.

BTW, it’s a good idea to use a UV or “lens protector” filter under conditions like this. It’s easier to clean a flat filter surface than a curved lens surface in the first place. If the filter is hopelessly dirty, you can unscrew it and wash it under running water. And if it gets scratched in the process, you can throw it away and buy a new one.

How do I clean my camera lens UV filters?

100% cotton qtips, distilled water and a clean towel. Dip qtip in distilled water then roll wet qtip end on clean towel. Clean lens using wet end of qtip using circular motion, then use the dry end of qtip same circular motion, repeat until lens is clean. Do not touch your fingers to qtip ends. Never use your breath to clean lens, never blow on your lens. Think about it, what’s in your breath, it’s acidic not good for the coating on lenses