Today’s Post by Joe Farace
In 1994 Mary bought me my first LensPen to use with my then brand-new Nikon N90S! As DSLRs and mirrorless cameras came along I continued to use LensPen products. And when I rediscovered film photography almost two years ago—you guess it—I use LensPen with my 35mm film cameras too.
Along the way, LensPen introduced versions of their original product specifically designed to clean LCD screens, compact camera lenses, viewfinders and filters. Since we car photographers exist in a world where we don’t let the weather or track conditions get in the way of making the best possible shot and many times these grritty realities can enhance our images, having a LensPen handy is more than a good idea.
How I Made this Shot: It can get dirty and dusty when shooting at a race track. I photographed this cluster of race cars early in the morning at an ALMS race at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel and an EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens (at 300mm.) Exposure was 1/500 sec at f/10 and ISO 200.
And the Winner was Andy Hayter. Congratulations
The Prizes
For the next few months, thanks to LensPen, I will be giving away different LensPen products to photographers to help them keep their camera gear—digital or film—clean. It’s simple to enter, and here’s the prize…
The DSLR-Pro Kit includes everything digital and film shooters too need to keep their lenses, viewfinders and filters clean. Here’s what you’ll find in the kit:
- An original LensPen. I use one of these to remove grease and fingerprints from lenses on all of my lenses not just for DSLRs but my Micro Four-thirds cameras and film cameras too!
- The FilterKlear pen has a flat, round cleaning tip that’s designed to clean (surprise) lens filters. This is something that I think is really important for film shooters, since based on my experience, other than protection filters they tend to use more, different on-camera filters than digital shooters.
- The MicroPro has a smaller cleaning tip that’s useful for cleaning eyepieces and tiny lenses like you find on smartphones.
- The kit also includes a handy microfiber carrying pouch which doubles as a cloth for other cleaning applications, such as wiping down a camera body
Both the Original LensPen and it’s various cousins clean your optical surfaces in two easy steps: First, you start by using the retractable natural brush to remove any loose dust that’s sitting on the glass. Second, if any smudges or finger marks remain, you simply twist the cap off the other end and use the LenPen’s famous carbon-impregnated cleaning tip to clean the lens. The carbon compound that’s used is similar to one that’s found in printer’s ink.
The 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 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.
Contest Rules
To enter, send me an email using the CONTACT tab in the upper right hand corner along with your name with the words “car photographer” in the subject box. The contest ends on November 1 and all entries must be received by 3:00 PM MDT. One prize will be given based on a random drawing that Mary will pick on the next day. Winners will be announced here in an update to this post soon after the drawing.
The giveaway is open to entries from the 48 contiguous states. LensPen donated the prizes but I have to pay for shipping. This site operates on a tight budget, which is which is why shipping is to 48 states only. Entrants cannot have won a previous contest from this or from my car photography site in the past. But i f you don’t win this one, you may enter next month’s contest.
*LensPen is a long-time sponsor of my sites and blogs and I would like to thank them for their continued support. They have kindly donated several prizes to be used in this contest and others during the rest of the year. Thanks to LensPen for their kind donation.