Is a Clean Camera a Happy Camera?

by | Oct 13, 2020

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

I think so…

As many of you know, I’m an automobile enthusiast. and if you like cars, please visit my car photography website/blog.

Once upon a time, one of my car enthusiast friends told me that he believed that a clean car ran better and faster than a dirty one. While on the face of it that doesn’t seem likely, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

I feel the same way about clean cameras, which is why I use LensPen products on my camera lenses, LCDs and viewfinders to clean dust and smudges that appear seemingly out of nowhere. Yes, I am well aware that Lenspen is an advertiser on this and my car photography website but your should know I’ve been using their products for more than twenty years, long before I had even my first blog.

I like to keep a LensPen in each of my camera bags. A few years ago when attending a photo walk at California’s Mission San Antonio de Padua (above photo) one of the attendees saw me using a LensPen to clean my lens and asked to borrow it. Before long almost everyone in attendance has borrowed it to clean their lenses. Good thing a LensPen can be used for more than 500 cleanings.

LensPen offers a number of kits including their OutdoorPro Kit ($24.95, as I write this.) It includes two optical cleaners: the Original LensPen for camera lenses, binoculars and scopes,and the MiniPro for smaller lenses and eyepieces.

They’re both safe, easy to use and clean with the same simple two-step process. First, slide out the natural-brush end and sweep away any loose dust. If fingerprints or grease remain, twist the cap off on the other end and use the cleaning tip that’s infused with LensPen’s molecular carbon cleaning technology to finish cleaning your optics. Every time you twist the cap back on, the carbon in the cleaning tip is recharged so it’s ready for next time. Both of these useful tools can be safely used in really hot or cold environments.

Also included in the OutdoorPro Kit is a FogKlear anti-fog cloth, MicroKlear microfiber cloth and a compact nylon carrying case. FogKlear is a safe pre-treatment that can prevent fogging on lenses, goggles, face shields and other protective equipment, and will provide more than 200 anti-fog applications. MicroKlear is a soft microfiber cloth for cleaning any non-lens surface. Everything in the OutdoorPro Kit fits in the zippered nylon carrying case.

Knockoff alert: LensPen has provided safe, environmentally friendly glass and optics cleaning products for more than 25 years.The cleaning tip that’s used on LensPen products has a unique carbon compound that’s designed to remove fingerprints and assorted schmootz from your cameras and lenses. Beware of mitations and fake copies of LensPen products that sometimes have nothing on the cleaning tip and can damage the lens and LCD surfaces that they are meant to clean.


 

Barry Staver along with myself are co-authors of Better Available Light Digital Photography with new copies available from Amazon for $21.88 or used copies for giveaway prices, starting at $4.00, as I write this.  The Kindle version is really expensive for some reason. And while the book is more than a few years old it still has plenty of real-world tips that you should find useful.