How often you clean your camera and lens?

[Soto]

Hello Guys...

Well, the title states the main purpose of this thread... How often you clean your equipment and what do you use to clean it?

I don't clean mine very often... not good!!!

[DeaconG]

Haven't cleaned my 50D since I bought it four months ago. Then again, my 17-55 hasn't been taken off thee body since I bought it...so there you go.

[FlyingPhotog]

I'll occasionally take some canned air to the outside of my bodies but I usually give my lenses a Rocket Blower shot and a swipe with a Lens Pen before loading up the bag. Only if I find a really nasty smudge (very rare) will I do a wet cleaning on a lens.

I keep the Rocket Blower and the Lens Pen with me while I'm out shooting.

[renegade]

I dont clean it (1d3), the interior doesn't seem to attract any dust. I ran it under a tap a while back to wash the Steinlager I'd spilled all over it at a Summerfest shoot I went to.

[DennisW1]

Hello Guys...

Well, the title states the main purpose of this thread... How often you clean your equipment and what do you use to clean it?

I don't clean mine very often... not good!!!


Everything in the dishwasher, once a week or so. :lol:

[Soto]

Good... I'm not the only one!!!

[tdodd]

Lenses get a blast of air with a Rocket puffer to dislodge any loose but possibly abrasive particles and then a going over with a Lenspen, but only when there are obvious signs that a cleaning is in order.

As for camera bodies, since getting my 30D in June 2006, 40D in September 2007, 50D in October 2008 and 1D3 in December 2008 I have never performed any exterior cleaning to a camera body other than to wipe the LCD with my shirt when nose grease and sunlight cause a problem. As for the sensor, my 30D has only had one wet clean, and that was only after more than a year of use. Otherwise it's been the Rocket blower for the 30D and 40D and I have not cleaned the 50D and 1D3 at all, ever.

[roentarre]

I clean it every month

[dustyporch]

I use my camera a couple of times a weekend, plus maybe one other day a week.

Lens: Whenever I see a smudge or tons of dust on the front element... Maybe once every 3 months, or maybe longer. I don't really CLEAN it as much as just wipe it off with a microfibre cloth.

Viewfinder: Maybe 6 months... whenever the crud is too much.

Camera body: Never... well, at least not yet.

Sensor: 6 months maybe? I've done it 3 times in the past 2 years... Usually only after I notice a shot with a dust bunny in it. And I noticed some from some Niagara Falls shots a few weeks ago, so I guess its time.

[spkerer]

I'll have my rocket blower blow a lens anytime I notice dust on the front of the lens. I only do more than that when it needs it. If I get water spray, rain, etc. on the front of the lens, then I'll clean the glass.

I don't usually clean the body. I did have a bird poop right on the buttons on top of the camera. That prompted me to clean the body - at least that section of it.

[Harm]

I'll occasionally take some canned air to the outside of my bodies but I usually give my lenses a Rocket Blower shot and a swipe with a Lens Pen before loading up the bag. Only if I find a really nasty smudge (very rare) will I do a wet cleaning on a lens.

I keep the Rocket Blower and the Lens Pen with me while I'm out shooting.

Is the lens pen any good? I bought that copperhill stuff last year, and it did a decent job.

I clean my lenses about once a month, and I've had to do a couple of wet cleans on the inside of the 40D, after rocket blowing. But other than that you can't go wrong with a rocket blower once a while.

[rdenney]

I have owned some lenses since the early 70's, and many of my lenses for a decade or two. I doubt that I have cleaned any one of them, other than blowing off dust with a bulb blower, more than 8 or 10 times.

You will never leave polish marks on a lens if you don't ever rub it.

The only time I clean lenses is when I get a smudge on them. Then, I carefully blow off dust, wet a lens paper with Residual Oil Remover, make one pass with the wet paper to clean off the smudge, and them make a second pass with a dry paper to dry the lens. I never pass the same cleaning surface over the lens twice.

Rick "prevention is better than the cure" Denney

[Persephone]

I get my 20D's sensor clean whenever I notice dirt and when I'm not too lazy to spend a couple of hours down in Irvine. I've only done it once so far.

[Soto]

When I take photos in the beach is mandatory to clean the camera when I get home... it's very salty sometimes

[JWright]

I'm the heretic here in that I use canned air on my sensor. I've been using the stuff to clean my cameras ever since it first appeared on the market and have never had any problems with it.

It's possible to be obsessive about camera cleanliness, especially when it comes to sensor dust, but face it, no matter what you do, the sensor is going to get dirty. Last weekend, I cleaned my sensor right before the airshow at Luke Air Force Base. It was immaculate. On Sunday, the wind kicked up and by the end of the day I had big blotches in my pictures, even though I hadn't removed the lens from the camera for two days!!!

[birdfromboat]

I started puting a sticker on the body with the date of the last cleaning of the sensor on it, kind of an oil can henries oil change obsesive compulsive deal to keep me from doing it too often for crud that was too small to matter except at extremely small aperture settings. I thought it would serve to remind me that 1) you just did this last month, and B) get out there and take some pictures instead of sitting in the office fondling gear.
What I have found is that it in reality is a reminder that I havent cleaned a sensor in like 9 months now, and that I probably ought too. Dust hasn't really been a problem shooting indoor sports all winter with the hole set for extra wide.
The ugliest, dirtiest, must dust laden lens I have ever been handed came from a world travelled pro, probably the most published photog I have ever had a first name basis with, and her stuff was always sharp and clear. She was also a master photoshopper, and probably had all her gear ran through the dishwasher by her editors. She probably didn't own a stitch of microfiber and did just fine.

[birdfromboat]

sub question: Who else here thinks that having an adhesive patch to catch dust that the sensor shakes off itself is really just a way to apply adhesive to the dust inside the body so that it really sticks to the sensor when it eventually finds its way back there.