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Cameras Need Lovin' Too: Camera Maintenance and Cleaning

As a videographer or photographer, you might have multiple lenses and filters that you lug around wherever you go and change whenever the shot requires their use. Over time and even with proper storage and care, your gear begins to wear out from use. It is always good to maintain your equipment well, by properly cleaning and storing it before and after you use it.

The first part to address in caring for your camera is the largest part of your camera, the body. While the body collects the majority of dust and debris particles from the air, it is a fairly simple process to keep clean. One way is to use compressed air to blow debris from your camera's body. But be careful using this technique, because you can blow debris deeper into areas you are trying to clean.

Another is to use a microfiber cloth or a natural-fiber cloth of some kind to wipe off the excess debris from your camera body. Being cautious, you can continue by very lightly dampening a cleaning cloth and swabbing your camera body surface, but be very careful around your camera's dials, buttons, lenses, viewfinder and controls. Next, immediately dry all surfaces of your camera with a clean and dry microfiber or natural cloth.

Never leave your lens cap off for longer than required or your lens hood open after shooting - ever! This is extremely important, because the lens is the "precious" piece of equipment that also is the most difficult to properly maintain and care for in the long term. It can easily be the first thing to go. That is why the use of lens filters really safeguards your actual lens from the elements.

Keeping a filter or skylight over your lens is a great way to insure added protection and enhance your images. With a fixed lens camera, however, cleaning your lens can make you nervous, especially if the lens has fingerprints on it, which can happen from time to time and potentially can damage your lens. The oily residue from fingers can spot the touched area to a degree that could lead to permanent fogging. If you never use interchangeable filters, we still recommend at least keeping a fixed clear filter on the lens, it's cheaper to replace than the lens itself.

If your camcorder doesn' have the threads to attach a standard filter to it, we discovered a new device you might want to check out magnetic filter holders by Cokin. You have to first attach a lens frame to your camcorder using a special adhesive that comes with the kit. This is permanent, and you never remove it. Then the magnetic adapter attaches to the framet and you slide the filter up and down within the magnetic lens holder. Check the web site for your camera's compatibility.

Be forewarned, though, with using any filter, some camcorders have detachable lens hoods, and you might not be able to reattach them over the lens that is sporting a few filters.

In the past, lens cleaners have contained various harsh and abrasive chemicals that can strip away the protective coating on lenses of all types. Such chemicals include alcohol, ammonia, acetone, silicone, glycerine and chlorine. These are coincidentally bad for your health and are generally things you don't want to come in contact with, especially not on your lenses and camera gear. In our modern era of seemingly unlimited information, high technology and, more recently, sustainability, it seems fitting that, if you spend the money to purchase an HD camera, you should be able to preserve its ability to capture images clearly.

When applying a lens cleaning solution to a lens surface, the first thing to do is to blow off excess dust and debris from the lens surface. A hand-pumped blower made specifically for camera comes with a small brush attached and is a perfect device to add to your camera care kit. The bristles on this special brush are soft enough not to scratch your lens, and the hand-pump blows air softly to blow off most surface dust. micro-tools.com and magicmicrocloth.com

Like the camera body care we mentioned, you can use canned air, but be very careful with it, as you can't control the direction you blow, and it's quite powerful. In the worst case scenario, you can blow the debris off with your mouth, but don't get closer than about four inches, or you will get condensation on your lens, and don't blow so hard that you start spraying your lens. Just use short gusty breaths like you would use to gently help a fire get started without putting it out.