Lens Care 101: Everything you need to know to diagnose and clean your precious optics

 

 

Snap question: When is the last time you cleaned your lens? If you had to stop to think about the answer, chances are that it has been a while, and although that's probably not having much of an effect on your photos yet, it could still be subtly degrading image quality and shortening the life of your lens.

If there's a definitive authority on the subject of lens cleaning -- other than the manufacturers themselves, obviously -- it has to be the good folks over at LensRentals. As company founder Roger Cicala notes in the comments of a recent blog post on the topic, they ship out literally hundreds of lenses to their customers every week, and every single one is carefully checked and cleaned before it heads out the door.

 

 

Drawing on the expertise of Roger and his technicians, LensRentals' Editor in Chief Zach Sutton put together a very handy post giving you the rundown on how best to clean your lens. And not just that, there are also tips on how to recognize common lens-related problems.

If you've been worried about how best to clean your precious glass -- or you've just never given it thought before -- then now might be a good time to hop on over and learn from the experts!

(Images courtesy of LensRentals)