Preface: Although the price of digital cameras is now declining, especially in recent days, the high-end consumer machine in a variety of staged a high dive, but for every DC owners, pay the hard work to save savings to marry back to the DC is a cherished, especially the lens, is the most critical components of the DC, but also can not afford a trace of dust on it. How to take care of the lens, there are a lot of DC enthusiasts, especially the primary camera friends do not know much about it, we will summarize it as "blow, wipe, wash, protect, dry" five points:
1, blow
The dust on the lens, the best blow clean, rather than wipe. I use "frosted glass" to describe the direct wipe without blowing dust, although exaggerated, but very graphic. Because many lens surface coating is very delicate, small dust particles scattered on the surface of the lens, if we directly with the lens paper on the top of the wipe, dust between the paper and the lens film surface acts as a sandpaper on the role of sand particles on the surface of the delicate film damage is self-evident, and for the low-end consumer plastic lenses, the damage is even more serious. So the correct approach is to use a special gas blowers (see Figure 1, medical equipment stores are also available, the scientific name of the suction ball; or to the photographic equipment city to buy, look a lot, but the photographic equipment city there are a number of plastic blowers, blowing power is not very big, rubber material is good), held in the palm of the lens pinch blow can be.
2, wipe
Blow clean dust and then do wipe. Generally for watermarks, stains, as far as possible to clean up in a timely manner, like saliva or acid-containing, alkaline rain stains on the membrane has a certain slight erosion, time may damage the membrane surface. The way to clean up is to the lens ha a breath, with lens paper in the lens surface to clockwise or counterclockwise a direction to wipe, be sure not to wipe back and forth, wipe the point is: light into, slightly heavy wipe, and then light up for a process, and wipe over a process, be sure to change the part of the paper and then wipe, a piece of paper is very cheap, do not save ah. Suede is a very good lens wipe, but artificial suede quality varies, do not use good. Natural chamois if there are parts of the hard, must not be used again, easy to scratch the lens.
At present, consumer DC lenses are very small, with lens paper or chamois are not necessarily able to wipe clean, wipe the whole, recommended the use of special lens pen (see Figure 2), one end of the brush, used to whisk away a little dust; the other end of the self-lubricating chamois head, a very small area, but the use of the effect is very good, it can be used to wipe away the small lens on the stains, and the big lens stains on the lens do not need to do a large area of wiping, the only drawback is the price is expensive. The only drawback is that the price is expensive, cheap about 50 dollars, good quality to about 200 dollars.
3, wash
If the lens on the stain surface is large, or traces of the time left longer, or a little sticky, simple rub can not solve the problem, then we have to do a simple cleaning of the lens. Cleaning method is very simple, find a medical cotton swabs, that is, degreasing cotton balls, in one end of the stick must have a thicker cotton ball, in case the cotton ball is too thin, the stick scratches the surface of the lens. With a cotton ball dipped in a little pure water, and squeeze the water, that is, the wet state, in the stains in one direction for many times scrubbing, stain removal with a gas blower to blow dry, and then use lens paper to clean in the same way as 2. If only water can be wiped struggle, then do not use alcohol or other cleaning fluid.
4, protection
The above three methods are passive protection of the lens, and the most effective protection of the lens is to add a UV mirror for the DC, because a piece of UV mirror only a few dozen dollars, in the UV mirror and the surface of the lens surface of the table to form a relatively airtight environment, you can effectively isolate the dust. The UV mirror cleaning can also use the above method, even if the damage is not necessary.
5, dry
Whether it is the DC lens, or the body of the electronic components, are to be excluded from the humid environment. So after shooting in the rain, or wet cleaning of the lens, it is recommended to wipe dry and placed in a dry box. In fact, the drying box we homemade, to the supermarket to buy a good seal, the size of the plastic storage box, collect a little bit of desiccant (many electronic devices in the package, or part of the small food packages have) in the box can be.
The camera lens is the main camera optical system in the conjunction of parts, equivalent to the human eye, if the human eye out of the problem, can not see things, the camera's eyes - the lens, if out of the problem, can not be very good conjunction, and therefore the protection of the camera's lens should be as careful as to protect their eyes.
(1) anti-pollution, do not often rub
In the purchase of the camera at the same time, it is best to buy a UV mirror or skylight mirror, the use and preservation of the lens should be installed in the lens, because these two filters on the exposure of the photography of the most unaffected, no effect on the color of light, so color and black and white photography can be used. Do not speak to the lens, so as to avoid saliva splashed on the lens; remember to fingers and other dirty objects touching the surface of the lens to prevent the surface of the lens stained with beads of water and oil; shooting should be immediately after the completion of the lens cover cover, uninstalled lenses should be immediately covered with the back cover.
Usually do not often use lens paper or degreasing cotton to wipe the lens lens surface, because often wipe the lens surface, will be the lens surface of the film layer bruises, not to mention fingers, hand towels, clothing and other hard objects to wipe the surface of the lens.
(2), anti-shock, do not squeeze
The use of the lens should be gently held and placed, use finished, should be adjusted to the focus distance "∞" position; zoom lens to the shortest; aperture adjusted to the maximum, in order to improve the shock resistance of the lens.
(3) Humidity
To prevent sparks, snowflakes, etc. when using the lens, storage, do not put in the lens holster, should be placed in a dryer, no dryer can be placed in a cookie tube to save, so as not to cause moldy lens due to humidity.
(4) anti-temperature, do not expose to the sun
Photographic lenses are composed of a lot of lenses glued together with tree glue lens group, high temperature and exposure are prone to cause the lens in the lens degumming. Therefore, in the process of storage and use should be avoided high temperature and longer sun exposure.
The camera is a precision device, careful maintenance can extend the life of its reliable use. Here are a few basic tips:
1. Store your camera in a cool, clean, dry place. When you drive out, don't put it in the small storage box next to the dashboard of your car; for one thing, the oven-like heat there can affect the camera, and for another, it's vulnerable to theft.
2. Always keep the lens cap on the lens except when shooting.
3. Do not attempt to repair the camera unless you have been professionally trained and have specialized tools. When it breaks down, you should take it to a professional.
4. Do not let your fingers touch the lens of the lens, the acid on your skin can damage the surface of the lens.
5. Keep the camera clean inside and out. To clean the inside, open the camera (make sure there is no film in it) and gently blow out debris and dust with a rubber earwash ball. Do not use a can of compressed air, for the camera's internal precision mechanism of other too violent.
6. Keep the camera bag clean inside and out. To clean the inside of the bag, you should empty the bag and use an ordinary household vacuum cleaner to sweep out the dust and debris.
How to clean a lens
People always want their images to be as sharp as possible. However, if the lens or filter gets dirty, the image will be blurred. Therefore, it is important to make sure that all the lenses between the subject and the film are very clean. Before each assignment, you should remove dirt and dust from the lens as follows:
First, gently remove the dust using an earwash ball or a soft camel-hair or sable-hair brush. Never blow on the surface of the lens with your mouth, as saliva will fall on the lens. Gently blow away the dust with an earwash ball, then gently remove any remaining dust with a brush.
Second, breathe on the surface of the lens. Note that you have to open your mouth and gently puff so that you don't spray saliva, not like blowing out birthday candles. We just want to create a mist on the surface of the lens.
Third, gently wipe the surface of the lens with soft, specialized lens paper. Do not use eyeglasses cloth, the impurities on it may damage the coating on the lens surface, do not use ordinary paper towels, because it may leave fiber shavings on the lens surface, also do not use handkerchiefs, which may scratch the lens, and do not use cleaners that touch the lens, which will also damage the lens coating. Always use special lens paper. If, after trying to blow and wipe, dirt still stubbornly remains on the lens, do this: wrap a piece of lens paper loosely around a cotton medicine swab and dip its head in lens cleaning solution once or twice (never drip the solution directly onto the lens), then gently wipe the lens in a circular motion starting from the center of the lens.
The key to cleaning the lens is to be light in your movements, whatever you do.
About the Skylight
Whenever you buy a lens or a camera, the salesman will probably sell a skylight that supposedly "protects the lens". Is this correct? In fact, a skylight is a very light magenta filter whose true function is to reduce ultraviolet light. For amateurs, it takes on a second role to protect the lens.
"Protect" the lens from what? From dirt? No, it doesn't. Filters can get dirty as well. From fiber shavings? Not really. Fiber shavings can remain on the filter. Avoid dust? No. Dust. Dust. It will settle on the filter. Dirt, fiber shavings, and dust all adhere to the exposed surfaces of a skylight, just as they adhere to the exposed surfaces of a lens. So what exactly does a skylight protect against? It protects against scratches on the surface of the lens.
The reasoning behind this is that if you scratch the surface of the Skylight, you can replace it for a few dollars. However, if you scratch the surface of the lens, it can cost hundreds of dollars to replace it with a new one. Therefore, this method is good for amateurs. If "pretty good" is enough for a photo, then using a sunburst lens is the right thing to do. However, if the photo is to be of a higher standard, for example a professional photo, then the method of using a sunroof as an invisible shield for the lens should be forgotten.
The point is that a filter is not invisible, it is a piece of glass with thickness, texture and two surfaces. Therefore, all filters reduce the sharpness of the image that reaches the film. By all filters, I mean, of course, skylights. If there is any defect in the filter glass itself, it will show up in the image.
Skylights also increase the chance of flare. As we recall, flare is the result of bright light reflecting off the surface of the lens cell. By adding a skylight (or any other filter) to a lens, you are adding two additional surfaces that are capable of producing flare. Who needs that!
Our advice, therefore, is not to use a skylight to protect the lens for professional-standard photos. All that is needed to avoid lens scratches is common sense in maintenance and care in use.
Summary: For sharp images
We've covered four different things you should do on every shoot that will certainly help us get the sharpest possible image every time:
1. don't use a sunroof to protect the lens;
2. make sure the lens is very clean;
3. focus carefully and precisely
4. when it is not possible to hold the camera steady and to shoot at very high shutter speeds, use a tripod or monopod whenever possible to avoid camera shake.
If we do these things every time, we will be amazed at how much sharper and more professional results we start to see directly in our photos.