Pixiq

Sooner or later, all lenses will start to get dust, smudges, and other funk on them. Dust can increase flare, softening the image contrast inappropriately, and can be seen as little, white, out-of-focus dots when using a wide-angle lens shooting toward the sun. And, any foreign matter on your lens can reduce its sharpness.

Cleaning a lens is easy and important, but you do have to be careful that you do not scratch the lens surface. Always blow or brush off the surface of a lens first before wiping it with any kind of cloth, because dust or dirt on the lens element can scratch the glass when it’s pressed against it. Canon does, however, add some very tough coatings to the surfaces of their lenses that help protect them and make them easier to clean.

For dust, use a strong blower, such as Giottos Rocket Blower. Use it to blow off the dust from the front of your lens. Sometimes this is all you need to do. Another thing that can be used to clean off a lens is a clean camel-hair brush. You can get this type of brush from an art supply store or a camera store. It must be kept clean, and never brush the bristles of it against your skin, where it will pick up oil.

If there is still some dust or grunge on your lens, use a special microfiber cloth made for lens cleaning. You can get these from a local camera store. These are very soft cloths that clean a lens without damaging it, but you do need to keep these cloths clean, so that they do not get debris in them. Breath softly on your lens to put a little bit of moisture on it, then wipe the cloth gently over the lens surface. It helps to keep the cloth folded, so that you can apply pressure to the fabric without it pressing too strongly against the lens.

If you still have gunk on your lens, then you will need to use some lens cleaning fluid. Use special fluid that is designed for camera lenses. Never drip the liquid directly on the lens, as it can get inside and cause damage to internal parts. Drip the liquid onto the microfiber cloth or onto a lens cleaning tissue, then wipe gently. In a pinch, you can use a clean piece of cotton cloth to clean a lens. Cotton is soft enough that it shouldn’t hurt your lens.