Items only gather dust if you don’t use it, right? Yeah, but with camera gear, it can gather dust as you use it, so it helps to be prepared. Dust can creep into the camera in multiple ways: using dirty lenses, working in a dusty environment, and not putting caps on the camera and the lens. The best way to keep your gear clean is to limit the amount of dust that you get inside of it.

Lens

When changing lenses, attempt to do so inside or your house, car or another clean environment. I’m not saying that you have to change your lenses in a hermetically sealed clean room, that’s taking measures to the extreme. Changing your lens outside increases the probability that dust will get inside and get on the sensor. Getting dust off of you sensor is not an easy task, and if you’re worried that you might mess up your camera, then it might be a task you’ll have to pay for.

Now changing lenses outside is an inevitable task, perhaps the lens you had on you camera wasn’t the right one for the job. Before you swap your lens out, put a body cap on your camera and quickly examine your lens. Do you see dust? If you do then you might want to use a hand held blower, something like a Rocket blower or even a blue rubber ball syringe that is typically used to remove ear wax. You shouldn’t use compressed air cans, if not held right you risk getting a moisture buildup that can cause even more problems. Compressed air also runs the risk of physically damaging the sensor due to the force of the air as it leaves the can. You can use a cloth meant for cleaning lenses, but there is the possibility that you can scratch the lens.

Want to minimize the amount of dust on your lenses? Keep the caps on when you are not using them. Seems like a simple and redundant tip, but it is also one of the most effective tips. Be sure that your caps are attached correctly, many times I thought my lens and body caps were on correctly only to have them fall off of the camera or the lens with a gentle nudge. Also be sure to store your gear away form the elements, dust and dirt can seep in through cracks and crevices in a lens. If your lens came with a carrying case, keep it stored in the case, if not then you might want to look into getting a case or a bag to keep your lens in.

Sensor

Besides keeping your lenses clean, you need to make sure to keep the body and sensor clean as well. Keeping the sensor clean shares a few steps with keep your lenses clean, such as not swapping lenses in a dust filled environment and keeping the body caps on your cameras when they are not in use or if you are in the middle of a lens swap.

Just like your lens, you can blow the air out of your camera body by using a hand held blower. When blowing the air out, you should hold the camera so the sensor faces the floor. Stick the hand held blower near the opening in the body and squeeze. By holding the camera that way, you let gravity pull the dust out of the camera after you loosen it with the hand held blower.

There are more costly products such as the Sensor Scope and other sensor cleaning brushes. I haven’t used any of these products, but I have seen how they work. Some use a small vacuum to suck the dust off the sensor while the bushes require you to wipe the dust off the sensor. If you’re confident about cleaning your camera in such a manner, then go for it. I find my hands to be slightly shaky, leading me to use a small hand-held blower. I will tend to avoid anything that uses a liquid to clean the sensor, but once again I’ll chalk that caution up to my shaky handd. To be on the safe side, read the directions of these products a few time before using them.

I hope these tips help you to keep your camera clean and encourage you to clean your camera and lenses if they are dirty. If you feel that any of the information is beyond anything that you can handle, look for a local camera shop and see if they offer a cleaning service. Most shops that offer camera and lens cleaning will offer a warranty or a type of insurance against damage, that way if something goes wrong they will be responsible for repairing your equipment.