Cleaning supplies every photographer should have
Springtime is upon us, and you know what that means: spring cleaning. This might also be a good time to consider cleaning your camera.
Whether it be a simple dust off for a point-and-shoot, or some more serious dust removal off the lens of a digital SLR, it would be wise to have a few tools always around to keep your camera clean and working well.
The simplest option is to buy a kit. But there are a lot of different cleaning supply kits out there to choose from. This is the minimum of what you should be looking for if you're serious about keeping that camera spotless:
- Blower brush
- Cotton buds
- Lens cleaning fluid
- Lens cleaning tissues
- Lens cleaning cloth
The lens cleaning cloth is (at least for me) the most essential. It's understandable if you don't want to take a cleaning kit every time you take your camera out, as that can be really cumbersome and annoying. But a lens cloth is great for those quick fixes, such as an accidental finger print on a lens or wiping the rear LCD screen when it becomes a bit greasy after awhile. It's also good to have around for pocket cameras, so if that's all you have, you can buy one separately for a low cost.
Some other newer tools out there like lens cleaning pens, such as this Nikon edition, which are compact and work for many different gadgets.
Overall, you shouldn't have to spend more than $15 on a camera cleaning tools kit. However, if you think your camera needs a serious cleaning job for whatever reason, consider bringing it to a professional for a better look before taking it apart yourself.
[Image via CNET UK]