This essential Apertura Cleaning Kit pairs perfectly with a new purchase of eyepieces, camera lenses, and telescopes! Let’s go through a general unboxing of this kit and explain what each piece of the kit is and how each of these components can be used!
Air Pump
The first item included in this kit is an air pump! These are fantastic for removing light dust and dirt off of filters, optics like lenses and mirrors, as well as camera sensors! If you're going to use this on a camera sensor, blow off the exterior portion of your camera first and then face it downwards when you use the air pump. This is much better than simply blowing on the optics or sensors as moisture droplets can build up, creating even more residue build up.
Lens Pen
Next, we have the lens pen! After using the air pump to remove as much dust from your lenses as possible, you can use the camel hair side of the brush to remove any leftover dust. If there are stubborn fingerprints or oil smudges, you can use the other side of the lens pen to take care of those. You can also spray the cloth side of the the lens pen and use it to remove the oil and fingerprint smudges.
Lens Cleaner
In the larger bottle, we have lens cleaner, which you can use with one of the included lint-free microfiber cloths to clean the lenses of any of your equipment - from telescope to camera lenses. Just take one of the dampened cloths and wrap it around your finger and give your lenses a quick wipe in a circular motion. We also recommended using these on your eyepieces and diagonals as well. A clean eyepiece and diagonal will produce arguably better results than a dirty one.
Sensor Cleaner
Next, we have a sensor cleaner! We recommend that this is only used on your camera sensors when paired with the APS-c sized sensor brushes. You want to try and wipe the sensor clean of any light dust and dirt. If there are stubborn dust or dirt specks that remain, put a drop or two of sensor cleaner directly onto the brush and swipe from right to left at a 60 degree angle.
Cleaning Wipes
Within the cleaning kit, there are an additional 4 cleaning wipes! These are best used for cleaning the exterior of your eyepieces, camera bodies, scopes, cable wipes, and other exterior surfaces. After constant use, your scopes and cameras can get rather dirty and grimy. It’s also good to have your equipment looking nice and clean for the occasional photo op. In addition, the cleaning kit also comes with lens paper and a separately packaged cloth which can all be used for cleaning lenses etc. It does come with a basic instruction manual as well, which heavily discusses how to use the sensor cleaners and swabs on a DSLR. There are some important internal settings that need to be adjusted to be sure the shutter remains open while cleaning the sensor or mirror. We don't recommend cleaning your camera sensor unless necessary, as this is one of the most delicate pieces of the camera itself. You can tell that you have dust on your sensor as the specs of dirt in your photos won’t be out of focus blobs, but rather in focus black dots or specks.
Microfiber Cleaning Cloths / Lens Paper
Also included in the Apertura Cleaning kit are several microfiber cleaning cloths and lens papers! These can be used with or without our Lens Cleaner. For best results, we recommend that you spray your lens cloth with 2-4 pumps and wipe your lens/optics in a circular motion, starting in the middle and moving towards the edges. These are perfect for camera lenses, SCTs, and refractor optics.
Sensor Cleaning Swabs
Our sensor cleaning swabs are to be used for APS-C sized sensors and smaller. These are to be paired with ONLY our sensor cleaner. Add 2-3 drops of our sensor cleaner directly onto our sensor swabs and wipe your camera sensor from left to right with the swab at a 60-degree angle. These are perfect for getting those stubborn dust specks and dirt off your sensor that your air pump can’t reach.
Carry Case
The entire contents of our cleaning kit are included with a small yet sturdy hard case! Included inside are several pockets and straps that allow you to securely hold and protect all of your Apertura cleaning products. We highly recommend that you keep all wipes, brushes, and cleaners inside until use for safe storage!
As a side note, please be sure to avoid the the following common mistakes when cleaning your equipment:
- Avoid blowing on your optics or lenses or sensors and sensor windows.
- Don't get these components wet, as it can accumulate residue and dirty up your lens pens or cloths over time.
- Do not use canned compressed air either, as this can leave even more moisture on your optics.
- Don't spray the sensor or lens cleaner directly on the optics or sensors themselves. You want to be sure that you are using a little bit at a time and it’s evenly dispersed. The best way to do this is to spray your sensor cleaner and lens cleaner directly onto the cloths and swabs themselves.
Questions? Contact Us!
So these are the components of the Apertura Cleaning Kit! We hope that you now have a better understanding on how these all work. If you have any additional questions about things that were not addressed in this article, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We’re always happy to help provide insight on proper cleaning solutions!
This Article was Last Updated on 08/17/2023
