Why bother to care for equipment ?

You may think that electronic photographic equipment have few mechanical moving parts, and thus do not require maintenance like a car or train. This is hardly true, and no doubt caused the breakdown of many photographic gears. Photographic equipment, like any other equipment, require constant maintenance. I know of many people who dump their gear into the camera bag after shooting, only to take them out again for the next shoot a few weeks later. They do not care whether the equipment has been exposed to dirt, mud or rain. The other extreme is those people who care too much about their equipment to use them. A slight drizzle, and the shooting stops. Or the equipment is wrapped up in so many layers of protection that it takes forever to get them into action. Neither of these actions are correct. Photographic equipment are not China porcelain. They are built to be used, but not abused. If you abuse your gear, you can be guaranteed that they are not going to last as long as they should. But by overprotecting them, you are not going to be able to use them to make pictures !! The correct attitude is to guard against unnecessary risk and harm, use them to the full potential, and maintain them after using.

Mismanaged equipment lets you down at critical moments, ruining your shoot and your reputation. Photographic gears are expensive to replace, and the resale value of your equipment will decrease tremendously if you fail to maintain them.

In this article, I shall cover the main aspects of cleaning and maintaining your cameras. I will begin with what you should have in your camera maintenance kit.
 

Warning: Because every camera and brand is different, I will not accept responsibility for any damage done to your equipment by following the instructions below. I have taken every precaution to ensure that the procedure is safe to most brands, but I cannot assume responsibility for failure to follow instructions or damage done following the instructions. Proceed at your own risk.

Camera maintenance kit
 
These are the minimum items you should have to clean and maintain your photographic equipment:
 
 

You can use any blower brush, but a good blower brush should have a strong jet of air when pressed, and should be moderately large so as to ensure a good amount of air. Try to avoid compressed air cans, because they contain propellants that may spill out damage your equipment if the cans are not held upright. Save the environment, use a manual hand-held blower.

You can use any small brush, but I feel that those brushes used by makeup artists are ideal for cleaning. They are soft and small enough to get rid of dust particles. They need not be camel hair, just as long as they are soft. To play it safe, avoid cheap brands of lens cleaning tissue. Kodak lens cleaning tissues are expensive, but they are quite lint free and will not scratch the glass surface. Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

The alcohol cleaning liquid is the dangerous part. I have been using those tape deck cleaning fluids from the hardware stores which comes in small transparent bottles which sells for around $1 each. Different brands have different alcohol content. So far, I have tried different brands without any damage to my optics and rubber parts of the camera. Avoid those in spray cans though, as they are dangerous. If you are not confident of the safety of the liquid cleaners, either use them on a small part to test, or don't use them at all.

The toothbrush is used to get rid of sand and mud. A old toothbrush is preferable because you don't need to buy a new one, and it has softer bristles to start with. Any microfibre lens cleaning cloth can be used. You can get them from the camera shops or the optics shop which sells spectacles. However, some brands are better than the others. The Essilor cloth is not bad, although some others are even better because they have anti-static properties to prevent dust from being attracted to the glass after cleaning.
 

Before you begin, make sure that:

• You are working in comfort. Work in a place that is well-lit and the temperature is comfortable for yourself.
• Do not eat, drink or smoke when cleaning your camera. Dust and debris could get into the camera. You should preferably quit smoking for your own good !
• Do not work in a windy or dusty environment. This is self-evident.
• You have the proper equipment with you on the table. Have spare cloth and containers so that if you ever need to remove a small part, you can place them in the containers so that they will not get lost.
• You are working in a systematic way. Do not be haphazard about cleaning and maintaining your equipment. If you are disassembling something complex, make sure you write down and label your parts so that you know how to fix it back again ! I have lost count of the times when people thought they knew how to put it back again when they couldn't reassemble something they have taken apart after that.
• Do not use grease or lubricants. These are cameras, not cars.
• Try to pad your working area with soft cushions. In that way, if you drop your camera or lens, they are less likely to suffer fatal injuries.
• Use some common sense in your cleaning procedure, and you'll be alright.

Camera body

We shall start with the cleaning the exterior of the camera body:

• First, start by using a old toothbrush to lightly scrub the external surface of the body to loosen any mud and sand particles stuck to the body. After that, use a blower to blow off any remaining particles. You can also use the camelhair brush to do that. Check that there are no dust or particles stuck between the gaps in the camera and in between the buttons and switches.

• If the body has been exposed to fine dust, sea-water or rain, use lens cleaning tissues dabbed with cleaning alcohol to swipe over the camera body's exterior. Do not use excessive cleaning alcohol as they might seep into the gaps between the buttons.

• When cleaning the interior of the camera, be very careful. There are many delicate components in the camera that should not be touched. Because the mirror is front-coated, you should never touch the mirror with anything at all. If there are dust or dirt particles, use the blower brush to blow it off. If you use your finger or any brush or tissue to wipe it off, you'll probably leave a mark on it. And do not use cleaning alcohol on the mirror. Moreover, anything on the mirror and focusing screen does not affect the final image on the film. If you can't get it off using the blower brush, leave it alone. A word of caution - do not use your breath or blow into the mirror box or onto lenses. Your air contains saliva particles which will damage the optics. The focusing screen should not be touched for the same reasons. If your camera received a hard knock recently, check that the focusing screen has not been knocked out of alignment.

• Open the film back to use a blower to blow out any dust particles. Do not touch the shutter mechanism at all. Your film chamber is sealed against dust and light, so it should be relatively clean. Blow away any dust particles which may have gotten in, and watch out for any sand which may scratch the film surface. Also, if your film DX contacts are dirty, rub them with lens cleaning tissue dabbed with cleaning alcohol. Make sure everything is dry and clean before closing the camera back.

• If the battery compartment has not been cleaned for a few months, clean the contacts with a pencil eraser to ensure that there is no build-up of debris which may affect the proper electric contacts.

Lenses and filters

1. Cleaning the lens is a simple operation if you do it the right way. First, make sure you are working in a well-lit environment. You should start with the exterior of the lens. Make sure both the front and rear caps are in place. Then use the soft brush to brush away any sand particles. Make sure you do a thorough job, and listen for grinding sounds as you turn the focusing and zooming rings. If there are, it is time to send your lens to the repairman. If left untreated, sand particles will grind away the interior of the lens.

 

2. Next you can clean the filter or the front element. If your front element is protected by the filter, clean the filter. Otherwise, clean the front element. I advocate using a good quality filter rather than no filter. Continual cleaning of any coated surface wears away the multi-coating. Using a high-quality coated filter protects the lens from any direct impact and from repeated cleaning. That said, you should probably avoid cleaning the lens if there is only dust on it. You can get rid of the dust by blowing, and there is no need to clean the lens. Save your lens' coating and a lot of trouble too.

 

3. First, blow away any visible dust and sand particles with the blower. Then use the soft brush to brush away any particles that might be stuck at the edges. To clean the lens or filter, prepare 2 pieces of lens cleaning tissue. Fold them 4 times until they are a small rectangle. Wet one of the pieces with about 4 drops of cleaning alcohol and wipe the lens or filter LIGHTLY. Do not use your brute strength, or you may crack the glass or scratch it. Some people advocate wiping in circular motion, some people advocate wiping from the center outwards. The second method is used for CDs and LDs because data is recorded in a circular fashion. Anyway, filters like 52mm are so small, it seems spastic to wipe from center outwards. So use a circular motion.

 

4. Next, as the alcohol begins to evaporate from the glass surface, use the second piece of tissue (which is dry) in a similar fashion. Wipe away the alcohol before it has the chance to dry completely, because when it dries completely, it will leave a drying stain on coated surface (Don't worry if that happens, use the wet tissue to clean it again). Thus, use the dry tissue to wipe off the alcohol. When you have done that, use the microfibre cleaning cloth to wipe off the remaining drying stains of the alcohol. As said previously, wipe lightly. Then use a blower brush to blow off any lint. Your lens and filter should be as good as new.

 

5. Cleaning the back element is essentially the same. Just be careful not to use excessive cleaning alcohol as it may seep into the lens. Because the back element is seldom exposed, it should be much cleaner and will not require much cleaning. Clean only when necessary. If you are using a AF lens, check the lens contacts to make sure they are clean. If they are not, or if you face problems when using the lens, use a pencil eraser to clean the contacts.

 

6. Next, check the aperture stop down lever (this does not apply for Canon EF lens users since they do not have stop-down levers). This is a lever located at the back of the lens. When you stop down the lens to the smallest aperture, the aperture opening closes. Toggle the lever in a rapid manner to check if the aperture opens and closes smoothly. Sometimes, when there is a lack of lubricants in the aperture blades, or when the lubricants becomes sticky, the lens aperture does not operates smoothly, leading to overexposure. So if your lens aperture does not operate smoothly, send it off for a re-lubrication.

 

7. Finally, after your lens is squeaky clean, lift it up to a bright source of light and carefully check for fungus and dirt. If you spot fungus growth, send it off for cleaning immediately. Fungus thrive in warm and humid areas, and Singapore can virtually export fungus for a living if they are as valuable as mushrooms !! A cleaning costs around $80, but be aware that the lens performance may not be as good after being disassembled. That is a small price to pay, compared to a fungus invasion of your lens. Small specks of dirt will usually not degrade your lens performance. Try to avoid sending lenses for servicing for minor faults, as they might not be assembled to the tight tolerance levels that the original factory set them.

 

8. To keep your lenses safe and free from fungus, store them in a cool and dry environment. You can either use silica gel in a air-tight container, or use an electric dehumidifying cabinet.

Tripods and head
  

1. Tripods and heads usually require very little maintenance and cleaning. Unless you used them in extreme conditions such as mud, in the rain or in salt water, you need not take special care of them at all.

 

2. If your tripod has been exposed to mud or salt water, wash it (not dunk it) with fresh water. Wipe off the water with a clean cloth and allow it to dry. If there are any iron parts which may rust, you can use small amounts of grease or Singer machine oil to lubricate it. If your tripod is plastic, aluminum or graphite, you need not do that. However, make sure that you are careful with your lubrication job, otherwise you will find oil all over your cameras and lenses. Do not use the popular WD-40 lubricant. It is a extremely light oil and will you will find yourself all covered with it when you try to use the tripod the next time round.

 
3. In cases where the situation is really bad (e.g. mud has gotten into the tripod, or the tripod fell into the sea), and you can disassemble the tripod to do the cleaning, by all means do so.

Electronic Flash
  

1. Like tripods, flash require little cleaning and maintenance. Begin by checking contacts for hotshoe to make sure that they are not dirty. Clean with pencil erasers if needed. Swivel the flash head (if you can) to clean dust underneath. Next, make sure flash sensor window and AF windows are kept clean. A dirty flash sensor window may mean inaccurate flash output, leading to over-exposure.

 

 

2. Check buttons and switches to ensure that everything is working properly. Next, switch on flash and check main functions (eg. zooming functions and different modes) are working properly. Then check batteries and battery compartment to ensure there is no battery leakage and contacts are clean.

 

 

3. Finally, charge and fire flash at full capacity a few times every few months to keep the flash capacitor working at optimal capacity.

That is about all for cleaning and maintaining your photographic equipment. It may seem like a hassle to clean your gear, but the effort will pay for itself as you are sure that your equipment will work at their optimal levels for the longest period of time. Be safe, not sorry !!