A Practical Guide to Sensor Cleaning and Maintenance
Keeping camera sensors, lenses and equipment clean and serviced so shoots are not interrupted.
Imogen Clarke
Where most projects go wrong
The usual mistakes:
- Cleaning sensors with unsuitable materials
- Changing lenses in dusty conditions
- Ignoring recurring spots
- Single camera bodies on critical shoots
What good looks like instead
- Check for dust before important shoots
- Use appropriate cleaning tools
- Change lenses carefully in clean conditions
- Service heavily used equipment
- Keep spare bodies for critical work
Why it matters
Dust spots multiply retouching work, and equipment failures on set are expensive.
The specs that matter
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Sensor dust | shows most at small apertures |
| Cleaning methods | blowers, swabs and professional servicing |
| Lens contacts | dirty contacts cause communication errors |
| Service intervals | heavily used gear needs regular servicing |
Knowing when to hand it over
Tip: Bring in help when dust spots appear across a catalog.
Where this comes from
- Adobe Help Center — Photography basics
- Capture One — Learning resources
The figures and practices above come from the sources listed.
Working on something like this?
We take on Photography & Product Visuals work for teams who want it done once, properly. Tell us what you are building and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right studio for it. Start a project.
Where to go next
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