Cleaning Camera Gear : 4 Essential Ways I Keep My Gear Clean

quite often lately, i have been asked about camera gear care and what i personally do to keep my own gear clean.  being a thoroughly clean person naturally, it’s natural that it carries over into my care for my photography gear and ensuring that my camera gear stays in the best condition possible is always my biggest concern.  to be honest, it is not what i do to clean my gear, but what i do all the time to ensure that my camera remains clean.  i developed some very good habits early on in my journey with photography that have ensured that my gear remains in impeccable shape.  when it comes to cleaning camera gear, here are 4 ways that i keep my gear clean.

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Cleaning Camera Gear : 4 Essential Ways I Keep My Gear Clean

1.  Keep Camera Body Pointed Down During Lens Removal

similar to what it pictured above, i always point my camera body down when removing my lenses.  this means the back of the camera with the LCD screen is facing towards the ceiling and the front of the camera faces the floor.  this ensures that the body of my camera isn’t facing up and exposed once the lens is off, helping to make sure that dust does not fall into the body. i learned this before i even took my first dslr out of it’s box and it has been a really integral part of keeping my camera body really clean.

2.  Keep Lenses On

i can probably count on one hand how many times i remove my lenses from my camera bodies each year.  it is basically never.  i keep my lenses on my camera body always.  by keeping my lenses attached to my camera bodies, i am narrowing any chance of dust getting inside of my camera body or in the lenses itself.  i keep my wide angle lens on my nikon d750 an my portrait lens on my nikon d610, always.  in addition to that, i always store my gear with my lenses on and lens caps on.

did you know i sold all of my camera gear, only keeping two lenses?  read more about what lenses i kept.

3.  Microfiber Cloths

while i have used lens pens in the past for quick touch ups, i have converted to only using microfiber cloths.  i felt like the lens pens were in constant need of replacement and the cleaning pads on them didn’t stay in tact very well.  i like how thorough the cleaning cloths are and use them to clean the front of my lenses.

4.  Send In Camera Body For Cleaning

this is something i am super horrible about doing because i always forget to do it, but sending in my camera body to nikon for an annual cleaning is always a great idea.  i find it hard to do this because i have to wait for my “off season” with photography clients (which rarely happens) and then, honestly, it slips my mind.  but, when my husband reminds me, i try my best to do this when i can, even if it isn’t annually as recommended.

cleaning camera gear is really easy if you just develop the necessary habits.  remember it is not what you do during cleaning, but what you do during use that really helps your camera to remain as clean as possible.  do you have any tips for keeping camera gear clean?  be sure to share your cleaning tips with us in the comment section below!

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