DIY Photography Hacks: keep your camera clean with this homemade brush

jmeyer | Landscape | Photography Tips | 25/10/2012 02:00am

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In the latest installment of our DIY Photography Hacks series, we show you how to keep your camera clean and spotless with a handy, homemade brush which you can carry anywhere.

You’ll never bag a great photo with dirty lenses and dusty gear, so keeping your camera and lenses clean and protected is crucial. The front line of defence against dirt and grime is constant cleaning. This isn’t easy if you have to carry around cans of compressed air, blower brushes, fluids and other bulky equipment. Professionals actually tend to use ordinary paintbrushes for camera and lens cleaning, so save yourself money and space with this guide to making a handy cleaning brush that clips onto your belt.

01 Dust trap
To help stop dust before it settles on your lens’s elements, place a double-sided sticky pad inside your front and back lens caps. This helps to trap particles, fibres and dust as they float around your gadget bag.

02 Hacked off
Get a 25mm paintbrush with white bristles, so they’re easy to spot should said bristles fall onto your equipment. Use a hacksaw to cut the bulk of the handle off, then round it off with a file.

03 You know the drill
Drill a hole through the stub of the paintbrush where you sawed off the handle. Countersink the hole on each side, using a larger drill-bit to help the split-ring to sit more comfortably when fitted.

04 Time to split
Fit the split-ring through the hole in the paintbrush and attach a small carabiner (loop) to it. Don’t leave the brush in your bag – keep it handy when out shooting and clip it somewhere you can use it constantly.

05 The brush-off
You don’t need to be embedded in Afghanistan to suffer a build-up of dust and dirt. Using your brush to regularly sweep your camera, especially when changing lenses, will pay off with cleaner images.

06 Spot the difference
It’s really worth using the brush to keep your gear clean. You’ll avoid flare and poor contrast, and stop dust getting onto your camera’s sensor – which will save you a lot of tedious cloning duties in Photoshop.

Posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 at 2:00 am under Landscape, Photography Tips.