How to disinfect your camera, lenses and other equipment

How to disinfect your camera, smartphone and other equipment

(Image credit: Roger Cicala)

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow more serious, it's natural to want to take steps to protect yourself. Whether this means working from home, or taking measures to disinfect your kit, every little helps. However, with so much pseudo-information floating around, it can be difficult to know which sources to trust when it comes to getting the right information.

Luckily, Roger Cicala, the founder of Lensrentals and a physician in a past life, is uniquely qualified to give accurate, reliable information. However, as Roger acknowledges himself in his blogpost, official government advice is changing quickly, so if he's recommended something and "the CDC says something else next Thursday, go with the CDC."

However, if you're struggling to find cleaning supplies, then check out Roger's blogpost for ideas on how to disinfect your camera equipment and other surfaces. "I think it's pretty easy and pretty safe to disinfect all of your equipment and studio space or office effectively except for your camera. Let's face it, you got your face all up in there, so it's the most likely place to have received a big viral load.

"I'd recommend just not sharing cameras on a shoot right now. If you do share, disinfect it carefully with a minimal solution and set it aside for 24 hours; 48 hours if you are paranoid. Virus particles don't make spores and are not going to last on a surface for a long time. I, personally, am comfortable that 24 hours is long enough, but there is some evidence that it takes 72 hours to be absolutely safe."

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.

Get the Digital Camera World Newsletter

Related articles