What — I Have to Clean My Camera Gear? Really?

🧹 Your camera gear is dirty. And dirty gear is quietly affecting your photos in ways you might not even notice — a smudge on the lens that softens everything, a speck of dust on the sensor that shows up in the same spot on every single sky you shoot. In this episode I cover exactly what to clean, how to clean it safely, and — probably most importantly — what not to do. Because the damage usually comes from cleaning too aggressively, not from leaving things alone.

In this episode:

•       📷 Tip 1 — How to clean your camera sensor, including what to do when the built-in cleaning function isn't enough

•       🔍 Tip 2 — How to clean your front lens element without causing scratches — and why the blower always goes first

•       📦 Tip 3 — The camera body: a five-minute job that's worth doing every time

•       🔋 Tip 4 — Contacts, straps and filters — the bits it's easy to skip

•       👜 Tip 5 — Why your camera bag needs cleaning too, and how grit transfers straight onto your gear

•       🧹 Tip 6 — The only camera cleaning kit you actually need

📖 Full show notes and blog post: How to Clean Your Camera Gear (And What to Leave Alone)

Related episodes:

Episode 167 — How To Care For Your Photography Gear - This Is What I Do

Episode 191 — How Do I Take Care Of My Camera Lenses?

Episode 193 — How Do You Take Care Of A Camera Sensor?

💝 Next episode — the bag is sorted, the gear is clean, and somehow there's still more camera stuff than you know what to do with. That's the question coming up next: Argh. Why Is There So Much Camera Gear? Please Help Me! Publishing Friday 31 July 2026.

📺 Find me on YouTube by searching Rick McEvoy

🌐 rickmcevoyphotography.com

📚 Courses

🔧 Resources

 My brand new course Photography for Beginners: Sunrise in Mexico, will teach you exactly how to get out at sunrise and come back with photos you love  all told in plain English. it includes real footage of me photographing an actual sunrise in Mexico with an entry level camera. Find out more at rickmcevoyphotography.com/courses.

 If you want to start taking stunning sunrise photos, and why wouldn't you,  check out my Photography for Beginners: Sunrise in Mexico course at rickmcevoyphotography.com/courses.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:25

The thing quietly

The thing quietly ruining your photos might not be your settings.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

ruining your photos might not be your settings. It might just be a smudge on your lens or a bit of dust on your sensor. Camera gear gets dirty. Lenses and sensors are sensitive precision bits of kit. And dirty gear affects your photos. Not in a dramatic obvious way, well not all the time anyway. Not a smashed lens or a drop camera, just a thin smear on the front element that softens everything slightly, or a speck of dust on the sensor that shows up as the same dark mark in the same spot on every single photo. And that's especially against a bright even background like a sky. Now the good news is that cleaning your gear, it's not complicated. You don't need a lot of kit. You don't need to take anything apart, thankfully, which is good news for me. You just need to know what actually matters, what genuinely doesn't, and probably most importantly, what not to do. I've learned that from mistakes, I can tell you now. Because the damage usually comes from cleaning too aggressively, not from leaving things alone. So let's start there. Sounds good to me. Hello and

Hello and welcome to episode 237 of the Photography Explained Podcast

SPEAKER_00 1:38

welcome to episode 237, Balaime of the Photography Explain podcast. This episode is called What? I have to clean my camera gear? Really, Rig? Really?

unknown 1:50

Ha ha ha ha!

SPEAKER_00 1:51

I know where do I get these titles from? A very good morning, a very good afternoon, or indeed a very good evening to you, wherever you are in the world and whatever time of day you find yourself listening to me. I'm your host Rig. Hi and in each episode I try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes-ish without the irrelevant details. Yes, really. I'm a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my splendid podcast. And before I forget, you can text me from the podcast feed if you want to get in touch, or if you've got any questions about anything I say in this episode. Okay, let's get straight into this. So, dirty gear, ruined photos, the same dark mark turning up on every sky you shoot. Let's go through exactly what to clean, how to clean it and what to leave well alone. Tip

Tip 1 — Clean your sensor first. It's the only thing that affects every single photo.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

1. Clean your sensor. It's the only thing that can affect every single photo. And what I mean by that is no matter what lens you're using, that speck of dust will still be there, spoiling every photo. So your sensor sits behind the lens mount, it's the thing that captures the image. A speck of dust on it shows up as a dark mark in the same spot on every photo until you deal with it. So how do we get dust on sensors? Well, most sensor dust gets in when you change lenses. So change lenses quickly. Point the camera body down when you do it, protect the camera with your body, and do it somewhere sheltered, not in a gale on a cliff top, and not in a dusty room if you can avoid it. But if you do get dust in there, check your camera menu first because most modern cameras have got a built-in sensor cleaning function, which is surprisingly good. Take a photo, look at the photo on your computer. Has the spot gone? It might well be the case. Now you might need to do this a couple of times and it might be successful. And then job done, happy days move on. If not, we move on to the next thing, which is what's called a hurricane blower. A hurricane blower blows a fine jet of air, which you can use to well not blast, but to blow the dust off your sensor. So what you do, turn the camera upside down, take the lens off, get the hurricane blower, and do loads of squirts of air onto the camera sensor. Put the lens back on, take a photo. When I say take a photo, take a photo of a piece of white paper because that'll show the dust nicely. So you've done the squirty air thing, take the photo, check it on your computer, the dust might have gone. If it hasn't, repeat this a couple of times before going on to the next phase. And for me, this works most of the time. I don't often have to go to the next stage because I don't want to. And the next stage is this. If you've still, after those two things, got stuff on your sensor, you might want to use a proper sensor cleaning kit, which consists of a blower, some swabs, and some solutions and stuff. Now, I need to say this: if you're not confident doing this, don't do it. Get it cleaned professionally. Yes, I know you have to pay money for it, but you don't want to ruin your sensor, do you? Your sensor is the one part of your camera where a clumsy DIY attempt can cause real expensive damage. So if you've got any doubts at all, do not do it. Pay somebody to do it properly. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do this with time, care, the right products and the right research. It's not difficult to do, and it's not difficult to do safely. You've just got to be careful, take time over it, don't rush into it. But I'm happy to repeat myself, if you're not confident doing this, if you're worried about doing it, if you're scared of doing it, it's absolutely fine, don't do it. Right, tip

Tip 2 — Your front lens element — treat it like the precision glass it is.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

two your front lens element. Treat it like the precision glass it is. The front lens element is the bit of glass facing the world. It picks up fingerprints, rain spots, general grime, dust, atmospheric stuff. And it's also the one people are most likely to wipe with whatever's nearest a sleeve, a tissue, whatever's to hand. Never do this. You'll create tiny scratches over time. Now they won't destroy your photos overnight, but they can accumulate, and there will come a point when you can't use the lens. And if you wanted to sell a lens with a scratched front lens element, you're not going to get anything for it. So use that blower again to shift any loose grit and stuff, fine hairs, dust, anything. And then use a proper lens cloth and a few drops of a proper lens cleaning fluid. Be gentle, always be gentle, and always do the blower first. Wiping grit across glass is what can cause scratches. So you don't want to scratch your camera lens when you're cleaning it. So blow the bits off, get the lens cleaning solution, put it on the cloth, and then gently wipe the lens until it's clean. And you have to look at it in the light to see if you've got everything off there. And there's a lens coating which you've got to be careful about not damaging. It's very important, this. Right, those are the two serious bits. The rest of it's much minor stuff. So tip

Tip 3 — The camera body — a five-minute job that's worth doing.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

three, the camera body. A five-minute job that's worth doing. It doesn't take me five minutes to clean my camera, to be honest with you. So I'm talking here about the buttons, the dials, the grip, the LCD screen. Now, these all collect dust and grime, especially when you're taking photographs outdoors, and especially if you're taking photos in dusty environments. So a soft brush and a dry microfiber cloth handle most of this stuff. You need to pay attention to the moving parts, the battery door, the memory card slot, and also to any port covers and the lens mount. Grit gets into the gaps around these and can cause problems over time. So give them a brush out. Takes minutes, five minutes, tops. Tip four

Tip 4 — Contacts, straps and filters — the ones it's easy to skip.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

contacts, straps and filters. These are the easy ones to forget. And yes, I'm looking at myself in that forgetting thing. Memory card contacts and battery contacts, they can pick up a thin film over time, so a gentle wipe with a dry cloth keeps them working properly. And camera straps can get genuinely filthy. Now I know it won't affect your photos, but give it a wipe every now and then. And then there's filters. If you use them, they need exactly the same care as your front lens element. That's both sides of the filter. Blower first, proper cloth, no tissues, no sleeves. Not on the script, one that I've completely forgotten, the rear lens element. If you're changing lenses often, you need to make sure that the rear lens element's clean as well. And also the lens mount, you just give that a white round with a cloth. Or you can use the disposable wipe that you use to clean the front lens element for the camera mount. Just give it a white round, keep it clean. And then do the rear lens cap as well, which is a very important. Blimey, I'm surprised I forgot then.

Tip 5 — Your camera bag. The cleaning job that protects everything else.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Tip 5, your camera bag, the cleaning job that protects everything else. After everything I've covered in episode 236 about choosing the right bag, here's the thing. The bag itself gets dirty. Grit and sand work their way into the bottom and the seams, and every time you pack your gear away, that grit can transfer onto your kit. Empty your bag out completely every now and then. Brush out the debris, wipe the lining. It's the one cleaning job that protects everything else that you own, so why wouldn't you do it? I even hoover the inside of my bag to make sure I get rid of the bits, especially I've been in a dusty environment, like a construction site, or on a beach or somewhere dry and dusty, which is more so now than ever. It's not rained here for weeks and weeks. Tip

Tip 6 — The only cleaning kit you actually need.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

6. The only cleaning kit you actually need. Now you don't need a cupboard full of cleaning products. A blower, a soft brush, a proper microfiber cloth, disposable lens cleaning wipes, and a sensor cleaning kit if you're feeling brave. That's all you need. It's the habit that matters more than the kit. A quick check after every outdoor shoot. Lens element, sensor if you've been changing lenses, rear lens element. It takes minutes and it catches problems before they ruin a hundred photos, which we don't want doing. Okay, that's it. Nice and easy, wasn't it?

Quick Recap

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Quick recap. Tip one, clean your sensor first. It can affect every photo. Change lenses carefully. Use your camera's built-in sensor cleaning function and get professional help if you're not sure about cleaning your sensor yourself. Tip two, your front lens element needs gentle treatment. Don't use a tissue, never use a tissue, never use a sleeve. Tip three, give the camera body a quick once over. Buttons, dials, doors and ports all collect grit. Tip four, don't skip contact straps and filters. Small jobs they are, but they're easy to forget, aren't they? Tip five, clean your camera bag itself. A dirty bag can transfer grit straight onto everything inside it, of course it can. Tip six a simple kit, regular habit is all you need. Blower brush, lens cloths, sensor kit. Check after every outdoor shoot, clean everything, then you know you're good to go next time. Okay, what

What if I use a phone to take photos?

SPEAKER_00 11:42

if I use a phone to take my photos? Well, phone photographers, you're not off the hook, are you? No you're not. Your lens is tiny and it lives in your pocket probably or in a bag, up against keys and in your hands. So a smudged phone lens is probably one of the biggest causes of soft, hazy photos. And most people never check this, do they? I reckon that phone lenses get dirty much more quickly and much more often than lenses on cameras, just because of the nature of phones and how we use them. Of course they do. So it's more important to clean the lenses on your phone than it is on your camera. It really is. And again, a proper microfiber cloth, use that to get rid of all the debris, and proper lens cleaning solution and cloths, exactly the same stuff, used in the same way on the lenses on your phone, including that front-facing one, you know, the selfie lens that's built into your screen somewhere. These things need a clean. Right,

What Do I Do?

SPEAKER_00 12:41

what do I do? Well, I rarely change lenses, which means I rarely get sensor dust problems. I'm I'm not saying that's a solution to this problem. Uh don't ever change lenses. We need to be able to change lenses, of course we do, because that's part of the joy of photography, isn't it? And one of the many benefits of using an actual camera. But for me, I've rarely changed lenses, so this isn't often a problem for me. And I clean my front lens elements and camera body when I get home from every shoot, every time I've been out taking photos. I always do this, I genuinely do. So I always know that my gear is good to go. I always use a lens hood which protects that precious front lens element, it protects it from me swiping my fingers on it or knocking it, and it's just a good thing to do, and it stops stray light getting in, which doesn't help with photos. So always use a lens hood, is my very strong recommendation. And I always keep the lens cap on my lens until I'm ready to take a photo. And once I've taken a photo, I put the lens cap back on. See, I don't take a lot of photos, I'm not photographing anything and everything in front of me. What I do is I walk around and I look with my eyes first to find interesting things to photograph before I think about taking a photo. So lens cap stays on until I'm ready to take a photo and then it goes back on when I'm done. And if I'm in a dusty environment and need to change a lens, which does happen on construction sites and when I'm doing the landscape stuff in dry and dusty places, I might use a coat to protect the sensor from dust, or I'll change the lens with my camera and both lenses inside my camera bag. Yes, really, put both inside your camera bag. With practice, it becomes quite easy to do. You just gotta press a button, rotate the lens, swap the lenses over, and put the rear lens cap on the lens that you've just taken off your camera. Always use the front and rear lens caps. Always. I always use disposable lens cloths, and I clean the front lens element first, and then I might use the cloth to clean the viewfinder, the LCD screen, other bits of the camera, but I will only clean the front lens element once with a disposable cloth and before I clean anything else. And if I've changed lenses, I will clean the rear lens elements as well, make sure there's nothing on there. And I always keep my gear in proper padded camera bags, which are stored in a cupboard in my home office, not in the boot of my car. I did that once one winter, many years ago. It was a bit of an old car, and um I was absolutely mortified to take my camera bag out one day to find that the padding had become saturated. All my gear was damp, it was horrendous. I mean, everything recovered. I had to let it dry naturally in a warmish place for a matter of days. But yeah, my camera bag became virtually saturated and it was awful. So do not do that. There's obviously a risk of your gear being nicked if you store it in a car and not being insured. So keep your stuff safe somewhere in your house if you can. Other things that I do, I clean the feet on my tripod before I put it back in its protective bag. Yes, my tripod has its own bag. Why do I do that? Well, if I'm photographing a building and I'm photographing inside someone's house, I don't want to get the carpet dirty, do I? And I do it as a matter of respect. And when I'm out doing a real estate shoot, if I photograph the outside first, I will clean the feet of the tripod before I take photos inside, which clients have commented very favourably on. They've loved that care and attention to detail. So it's one thing to bear in mind, which I can't remember hearing anybody else do. I'm sure people do, I'm sure I'm not the only one. Do I sound paranoid? Well maybe I do, but my gear's fine, so I can live with that and fine. So look after your gear and it will serve you for many, many years. And that's what I do. Okay,

Here's Something for You to Do, Dear Listener

SPEAKER_00 16:46

here's something for you to do, dear listener. Before your next shoot, check your front lens element properly, not a quick glance, hold it at an angle in good light and really look. And give it a clean if it needs one. Then text me from the podcast feed and tell me what you found on there. I've got a feeling it might be more than you're expecting. And another thing that you can do, take a photograph of a piece of plain paper, and then look at the photo on a monitor or a big screen or your tablet or on your phone if that's all that you've got or your LCD screen, and see if you can see any dust spots on there. Now, photo editing software is really good at getting rid of these, but you need to know where they are, don't you? So try that and let me know how you get on. Have you got a sensor full of dust? Okay,

Related Episodes

SPEAKER_00 17:35

related episodes. Episode 167, blind me, that's some time ago. How to care for your photography gear, this is what I do. Episode 191, how do I take care of my camera lenses? And episode 193, how do you take care of a camera sensor? Okay, next

Next Episode 🚀

SPEAKER_00 17:55

episode, dear listener. The bag sorted, the gears clean, and somewhere there's still more camera stuff than you know what to do with. That's the question coming up again. Which is this? Ah, Aug. A R G H. Ah, why is there so much camera gear? Please help me.

unknown 18:14

Haha.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Okay, I'm done. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Photography Explain podcast. I do hope you've enjoyed it and found it useful. If you've got any questions or suggestions for a future episode, please let me know.

Send me your questions

SPEAKER_00 18:31

And if you did love this episode, why not subscribe so you get every new episode straight to your listening device of choice? And if you could tell one person all about my splendid podcast, that would be greatly appreciated. And for everything else, courses, resources, my weekly email and lots of other good stuff, check out RickMakAvoy Photography.com. And you can find me on YouTube by searching Rick McAvoy. And you can text me from the podcast feed out Utterly Splendid. This episode was

Brought to you by a cheese and pickle sandwich 🥪

SPEAKER_00 19:03

brought to you by a cheese and pickle sandwich consumed before settling into my homemade acoustically cushioned recording emporium. I've been Rick McAvoy, thanks again for listening to my small but perfectly

Thanks for listening 👋

SPEAKER_00 19:16

formed podcast, and for giving me 27 ish minutes of your valuable time. Cheers from me, Rig.