It’s impossible to keep dust from getting inside a camera lens. A dirty lens can easily bring down the quality of a photo session as a whole.
Even worse, you will have to spend several more hours cleaning your lens afterward to get rid of stains and dirt. If there is dust inside your lens and you want to clean it, follow the steps in this guide on How to Clean the Inside of a Camera Lens.
Table of Contents
Why Should You Clean the Interior of Your Camera Lens?
Most of the time, we use a camera to keep track of memories when we’re outside. The main reason to use a camera when you’re traveling outside the house is to show your connection to the different places you visit. So, as time goes on and the camera is used outside, dust builds up on the camera and lens, and at some point, the dust gets inside the lens.
When dust gets on the inside and outside of the lens, it makes the picture quality worse and is the cause of bad picture quality. So, you won’t be able to take good pictures with your camera if you don’t clean off the dust and dirt.
How to Determine If Your Lenses Require Cleaning?
Even a tiny bit of sand on your lens will make your picture look bad. So, you should clean the lens’s surface. But many people don’t know when they should clean their lenses. To find out if your lens needs to be cleaned, you have to line it up and give it a military-grade check!
By looking at the lenses, you can keep them from getting dirty, which is a great habit to get into, especially before a big shoot or event. So, you can be sure that the quality of your pictures will be great. If you look at your photos and see spots and other flaws, it could be that your lens is dirty.
How to Clean a Camera Lens Internally:
Cleaning the inside of a lens is a hard job that most people leave to professionals. You might have a hard time finding a skilled photographer, so you might decide to clean the inner lens yourself. If you know how to clean the inside of a lens, follow these steps to clean the inside of the lens.
Step 1: Disassemble the Lens:
Now that dust is inside your lens, you need to take it apart and clean out the dust. Taking apart the lens is a simple but tricky task, and you have to be extra careful. Here are some tips on how to take apart a camera lens to clean it.
Step 2: Remove all the Dust:
Spray a flurry of compressed air onto the surface of your lens with the can’s tip. This step will get rid of any dust or lint that has built up. It might seem natural to use your breath. But you shouldn’t do this because even if you’re careful, saliva and moisture could get on the lens.
Step 3: Clean the Lens with a Lens Cleaner:
Use a lens microfiber cleaning cloth, which you can buy at most camera stores, to put a small amount of lens cleaner on. Use a slightly dampened cleaning cloth to gently massage the inside of the lens. If you want to clean your lenses, don’t put cleaning fluid directly on their surfaces. If you do, the fluid could get into the parts of the lens that are sealed and make them fog up.
Step 4: Clean the Lens:
After rubbing the lens with the cleaning solution, it’s time to wipe it. Soft tissue is a safe and inexpensive alternative for cleaning lenses. It makes sure that every time you clean, you start with a sheet that is free of dust and other dirt. A microfiber lens wiping cloth is also a good way to clean the lens surface and get rid of smudges.
Step 5: It’s time to put the lens back on:
Put the lens back on your camera and give it another try. So, use the viewfinder to test your camera by focusing on something bright, like a lamplight reflecting off a piece of white paper. If you don’t see any spots or dust, you can start taking pictures.
How Does Dust Get Inside a Camera?
In general, if we pay attention, we can see that things made of plastic, like cameras, are more likely to get dust on them. Dust acts like a magnet to cameras and lenses, which means it builds up. When you change lenses, dust can get into the camera and settle on a lot of the inside. Also, when we take the camera outside to take photos, dust from the outside can get on the lens.
Dust can also get on the lens if it isn’t kept clean or isn’t protected after use. As dust builds up, it may start to bother you, depending on how much dust has built up. Most of the dust on the sensor will show up in your photos, especially if you shoot with a small aperture.
How to Clean the Camera Lens of Dust:
To clean the inside of the lens, you must first take it off your camera. It will make it easier for you to clean your lens. So, take the lens off your camera and put a clean towel over it to keep dust and other particles out.
Most of the time, you push a release button on the camera and twist the lens halfway out of the camera body to take it off. When you hold your camera with the lens facing you, the button that lets you take a picture seems to be on the right side of the camera.
Technique #1:Using an Air Compressor or Blower:
If you want to get the dust off the lens of your camera, you should try a compressor first because it’s the least likely to make things worse. If there is dust on the lens, sometimes all you need to do to clean it is blow on it with the blower.
Technique #2: Using a Brush:
If an air compressor doesn’t do the job, the next thing on the list is a brush. Camel hairs are often used because the fine, soft strands help keep the brush from getting damaged.
Bottom Line:
If the dust in the camera shows up in your photos, just clean the outside of the lens or look through the viewfinder. If cleaning the lens doesn’t help, you should take it to a place where it can be fixed. There, you’ll learn How to Clean the Inside of a Camera Lens. After a full maintenance check, your lens will be as good as new.
FAQ’s
Can Hand Sanitizer be Used to Clean a Lens?
Hand sanitizer shouldn’t be used to clean the lens because it has ingredients like Aloe that make it gentler on your skin. It might be a good idea to use a disinfecting wipe or a little bit of alcohol on the places where you will touch the camera. I would never clean the glass on the lens.
Can Alcohol be Used to Clean the Camera Lens?
Yes, you can clean the lens of a camera with alcohol. A blend of distilled water and Isopropyl Alcohol (99%) is ideal. Some Isopropyl Rub Alcohol products may contain other compounds that leave a sticky mess on the lenses.
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