Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“A clean camera is a happy camera”—Joe Farace
I’ve been using LensPen products for a long time, for almost the entire time they’ve been in production going back to a time when I, and everybody else, shoot with film cameras, Today, I keep one of the Original Lenspens in each of my camera bags. In fact, I just put one into the Lowepro bag holding my Contax 167MT film camera. During all this time, LensPens have been helping me and other photographers keep their cameras, binoculars and lenses clean.
How I Made this Shot: It can get dirty and dusty when shooting at a race track. I photographed this little off-track excursion near the start of an ALMS race at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel and an 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens (at 150mm.) Exposure was 1/125th sec at f/20 and ISO 200.
Mary bought \ my first LensPen in 1994 to use with my then brand-new Nikon N90S film camera. As DSLRs and mirrorless cameras came along I continued to use LensPen products. When I rediscovered film photography a few years ago—you guessed it—I used LensPens with my new/old 35mm film cameras too. Along the way, LensPen introduced different versions of their products that were specifically designed to clean LCD screens, compact camera lenses, viewfinders and filters.
Since photographers exist in a world where we don’t let the weather get in the way of making the best possible images and sometimes these realities enhance our images. That’s when having a LensPen handy is more than a good idea.
Which LensPen to Use?
Why not start with the DSLR-Pro Kit ($28.95) that includes everything digital and film shooters need to keep their lenses, viewfinders and filters clean. Here’s what’s in the kit:
- An original LensPen. This is a full size LensPen that has a concave cleaning tip to match the slightly convex shape of a camera lens. I use one of these to remove grease and fingerprints from lenses not just for my DSLRs but my Micro Four-thirds and film cameras too!
- The FilterKlear pen has a flat, round cleaning tip designed to clean lens filters. This is something that’s really important for film shooters, since in addition to protection filters they tend to use more, different kinds of on-camera filters than digital shooters.
- The MicroPro is the smallest LenPen and is designed to clean any viewfinder or other small optical surfaces. It has a smaller cleaning tip that’s useful for cleaning eyepieces and tiny lenses, like the one on my famous Keks Oreo lens that I wrote about.
- The kit also includes a microfiber carrying pouch which doubles as a cloth for other kinds of cleaning applications, such as wiping down a camera body
Both the Original LensPen and it’s various cousins will clean your optical surfaces in two easy steps:
- First, Start by using the retractable, natural brush to remove any loose dust that’s sitting on the glass surface.
- Second, if any finger marks remain, you simply twist the cap off the other end and use LenPen’s famous carbon-impregnated tip to clean the lens.
LensPen’s twist-action cap is important because it re-charges the carbon compound on the cleaning tip and it ensures that the cap won’t pop off in your pocket or camera bag, like my lens caps and camera eye cups tend to do. LensPen products are environmentally friendly and safe to use. There’s no expiration date and they perform well in arctic cold and desert heat.
LensPen is a long-time sponsor of my sites and blogs but I was using their products long before I even had a blog. My wife bought my first LensPen in 1994 right after I acquired a Nikon N90s film-based SLR! I would like to thank LensPen for their continued support.