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Lens-Pen: Nikon Lens Cleaning System

Nikon Lens Pen - Lens Cleaner

My photography got a lot better this year, in part because I got a better camera, a Panasonic Lumix LX3 with a Leica Lens and because I really started to pay more attention to composition. But with more sophisticated equipment, I paid a lot more attention to keeping my lens and filter attachments spotless. It made a big difference, especially at the higher resolution I get with a better digital camera.

But keeping your camera lenses clean in the backcountry is not without challenges. Which is why I want to tell you about the Lens Pen from Nikon, a great lens cleaner, that I’ve been using for the past year and that I bring on all of my hiking and backpacking trips.

The size of a thick pen, the Lens Pen has two cleaning attachments: a soft brush to flick dust off your lenses that retracts up into the pen body when not in use, and a unique cleaning tip that removes fingerprints, smudges, and grease marks off the lenses. To use the cleaning tip, you remove its protective cap and wipe the lens with a smooth circular motions . I use it on my camera, but it should also work with binoculars, scopes, and video cameras.

I can’t find any documentation about what the cleaning agent used on cleaning tip is – sorry, but I haven’t not noticed any impact on my filter coatings, so I figure it’s pretty benign. The cleaning agent is self-replenishing when you put the cap back over the tip and give it a half turn.

In my experience this is a great product and for under $10. Weight on the sectionhiker digital scale: 16 grams. Impact on photo quality: priceless.

Disclosure: The author owns this products.

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5 comments

  1. I highly recommend. Recently bought one (not Nikon branded though) for field cleaning my DSLR and lenses. Works like a charm.

  2. Perfect timing!! Was just researching that … Thanks for the recommendation!

  3. I need one of those. Good recommendation.

  4. Do you really see a differenz? Can you provide photos to compare a dirty lense with a clean lense?

  5. I definitely see a difference, but I'm not going to put a thumbprint on my lens to prove it to you, in before and after photos. The main difference is that I don't have to digital photo retouching anymore to remove black shadows on my photos where there was a grease mark on the lens. That grease mark ruined many fantastic photos I took and I couldn't get it off any other way.

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