Lens

[Camdixon]

I was wondering how do you all clean the lens of a camera? How do you decide that it needs cleaning? I was looking through my camera the other day and noticed what looked like something either on the lens or the sensor, and didn't want to mess anything up.

[dcclark]

If you could see it through the viewfinder, then the dust/spot/etc. is on the lens, not the sensor. If you could see it on your photos but not through the viewfinder, then it's probably on the sensor.

I only clean my lenses if I can really obviously see something on them -- usually even lots of dust on a lens won't show up in your photos, because it's way too close to the sensor to be visible. But if you do need to clean, look for a Lens Pen -- it seems to be universally agreed as the best way to clean lenses.

[Mr Guy]

Originally Posted by dcclark

If you could see it through the viewfinder, then the dust/spot/etc. is on the lens, not the sensor. If you could see it on your photos but not through the viewfinder, then it's probably on the sensor.

I only clean my lenses if I can really obviously see something on them -- usually even lots of dust on a lens won't show up in your photos, because it's way too close to the sensor to be visible. But if you do need to clean, look for a Lens Pen -- it seems to be universally agreed as the best way to clean lenses.

Slight caveat: If it shows up as a blur on the picture, and can be seen through the viewfinder, it's on the lens.

If you just see it through the viewfinder and not on pictures, it's most likely on the mirror, but might be on the focus screen and can be safely ignored. Just gently shake or lightly blow (rocket blower!) onto the mirror with the lens off and hole pointed to the ground if it really bothers you.

[i speak in math]

dust on the front element won't affect the image quality much and I don't think you would be able to see the dust/hair very well through the viewfinder. It is much more likely that it is on the focusing screen.

[mattdm]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

dust on the front element won't affect the image quality much and I don't think you would be able to see the dust/hair very well through the viewfinder. It is much more likely that it is on the focusing screen.

In which case it won't affect the image. (And the easiest approach is to just learn to ignore it.)