Bob, you make me feel better; I was reading Leon's email and feeling guilty... ;o)
Fernando On 3/21/06, Bob Shell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Mar 21, 2006, at 6:34 AM, Leon Altoff wrote: > > > I've just been cleaning my equipment and I began to wonder how > > everyone else out there looks after their precious Pentax equipment. > > > > I tend to use my cameras on the coast and subject them to salt > > spray so I feel cleaning is important and I tend to clean all the > > equipment I have been using at the same time and adopt a staged > > approach. > > > > First stage is cleaning the outside of everything with a warm damp > > (not wet!) cotton based paper towel followed by immediately drying > > it off with a dry cotton based paper towel. These towels leave no > > lint or dust behind and are wonderful - they used them for hand > > drying in our local Qantas club. Lenses are left fully extended to > > ensure any residual moisture evaporates. > > > > Stage 2 is to clean all the mounts - body and lens with the same > > towels. > > > > Next comes cleaning the actual exposed optics. Filters, front > > elements if they have been exposed to the open air, all rear > > elements and viewfinders. First I use canned CO2 to blow away any > > loose dust, followed by a Lens pen brush (regularly replaced) and > > then microfiber (also regularly replaced). I use Eclipse and Pec > > Pads on anything stubborn. > > > > Finally the sensors using a sensor brush. I then test for stubborn > > dust and use a sensor swipe and Eclipse if need be. As an aside > > did you know that the *istD will not let you clean the sensor if > > the batteries are not reading full? It throws up a message saying > > that the batteries do not have enough power to clean the sensor. > > > > I once accidentally dipped the corner of my AF360FGZ flash in salt > > water and pulled it apart and cleaned every part inside the head to > > make sure there was no lasting damage. > > > > So what lengths do you go to to clean your camera when you take it > > places a good camera shouldn't go? > > > I think you're overdoing it, Leon. > > Rear lens elements should hardly ever be cleaned. Same with > sensors. Most amateur photographers clean their lenses far more > often than necessary. A little dust on the front of a lens isn't > going to hurt anything, and cleaning too often always risks > scratching. I clean the front elements of my lenses maybe once a > year or so unless I notice a big glob of something stuck to one. I > wipe the outside of lenses and cameras occasionally with microfiber > cloths. That's it. As for front lens caps, I don't even know where > the front caps for most of my lenses are. I always have a proper > lens hood on every lens, though. > > Bob > >
