Reviews
very comprehensive camera cleaning kit
I was kindly provided with a reviewer's sample of this kit for honest reviewing purposes.This is a very comprehensive kit and contains pretty much everything you should need to clean your camera. The only thing it doesn't contain is lens cleaning fluid - though it does provide an empty spray bottle for you to fill yourself.In order to test the components of this kit I did a little research about how to use all the bits before using them. In case it's helpful to anyone out there, here's what I found.- - -Procedure of cleaning lens:The first step is to shine a light on the lens with a flashlight to assess what cleaning option you'll need. Can you see dust or smears? Each has a slightly different approach to cleaning:- - -CLEANING OFF DUST: "dry clean"* Dry clean Option 1: the air blower (aka "rocket blower" in some tutorials.)Blow off the dust with the air blower. It's best to do this with the lens pointing downwards so that the dust flies down away from the lens.* Dry clean Option 2: cotton budUse a cotton bud to tap light on any remaining large particles - by tapping the particles, you'll hopefully pick them up onto the cotton bud without smearing them around where you risk them scratchign the lens.* Dry clean Option 3: brushAnother way to clean off dust and small particles is using the brush. There are two in this kit - one that's a stand-alone brush and one that's part of the "cleaning pen". Before using the brush on the lens, you may want to use the air blower on the brush to make sure it's super clean. Never put your fingers on the brush since that may get grease onto it which can smear onto the lens. Using the brush, get in all the nooks and crannies of the lens to get any trapped particles out.- --CLEANING OFF SMEARS: "wet clean"Before doing a wet clean, first do a dry clean to remove any dust particles that may damage the lens if rubbed around onto the lens during the wet clean. Only once you've removed any particles, then go onto the wet cleaning stage.* Wet clean Option 1: Lens tissues (& cleaning fluid)Lens tissues are fine tissue paper pieces that should be used together with the spray bottle after you've filled it with some lens cleaning fluid (or isopropyl alcohol which can also be used for lens cleaning). If you use lens cleaning fluid, be careful what cleaning fluid you use so that it doesn't take off any special coatings that may be on your lens.To clean using the lens tissues, put a small amount of cleaning fluid on part of your tissue paper (do NOT spray on the lens directly because the fluid can seep in and mess things up inside there). Then use the lightly damp tissue paper to gently clean the lens and wipe the rest away with the dry part of the tissue. The paper feels rough but it's purpose-made for lenses so should work well - but do it super gently and lightly to best-preserve lens.If you're left with some smudging after using the lens tissue, you can fine-tune the clean with the cleaning pen.* Wet clean Option 2: The wet wipe* Wet clean option 3: Cleaning penThis pen has 2 ends. On one end is a brush (for a dry clean, brushing away dust and particles), and on the other end is a little sponge-like pad. In the original "lenspen" this has a patented carbon compound on it to clean oils, grease etc. (There was no text on this pen to confirm what was on this pad so I don't know if this one has carbon compound on it too or whether it uses another cleaning mechanism.) To use the pad, you can breathe out on it to get some condensation on there to help it work better (that's why it's a "wet clean" step), and then using circular motions, use the pad to clean the lens.- - -CLEANING THE REST OF THE CAMERAMicrofiber cloth:Some people recommend only to use reusable the microfiber cloth on the outside of the lens or camera, and not on the lens glass itself because if you use it once, it collects some dust and other particles which risk scratching the lens, or it can collect grease (eg from your fingers when you use it) which risks creating new smears on your lens instead of cleaning them.- - -Alternative uses for this kit:I also used the air blower to help clean my laptop computer keyboard and that worked really well.- - -(PS apologies for the repeat posting of this review - I'm not sure why that happened!)
06/06/2015