What Compressed Air Gun Do You Use For Lenses And Film?

Doesnt anyone use a 'puffer' or sable lens brush anymore?
(Just asking)

Seriously, forget the canned air. Get yourself a decent electric air blower that lets you control the power. It's safe for cleaning lenses and film as long as you're careful not to use too much force.

The question is, where are you blowing the dust?

Could draft soda beer CO2 tanks be used. They're available at Walmart pretty cheap. OF course, you have to fill them at a local gas supply company.

AERO said:

Doesnt anyone use a 'puffer' or sable lens brush anymore?
(Just asking)

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I never felt I needed anything more than my trusty Rocket blower.

One word of advise if you go an air compressor route: Be aware of the air you are pulling in. Worked with compressors for spray painting. One compressor was near an area used for occassional mold castings. Turned out the release used for the molds would get pulled into the compressor and through the assorted filters and create a day of fisheyes in paints. Have to turn off the compressor and empty it to get rid of the contamination.

Anyway, don't pull crud air into your compressor. Garbage in, garbage out is not just in computers.

Alan Edward Klein said:

Could draft soda beer CO2 tanks be used. They're available at Walmart pretty cheap. OF course, you have to fill them at a local gas supply company.

CO2 Tanks

Shop for CO2 Tanks at Walmart.com. Save money. Live better

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I don't know what kind of fittings they have, but you ideally would want to add a regulator and an air gun/nozzle.

Gosh. Just get a decent small air compressor and make life easy. The cost of all those pressurized canisters can start to add up fast.

What Dan referred to as "fisheyes" in probably either lacquer or water-based finishes is due to some kind of contamination coming through the air lines - either oil or water or something else. Proper line filtration is important. And note that many junk compressors don't even have regulators. But a good compressor is a multi-purpose device that you can use for lots of things in a darkroom or shop. The compressor itself can be in a different room, which just an air line coming into the clean area of the darkroom itself.

There should be filters at both the start and end of the air hose, since contaminants can arise within the hose itself, especially if it's a junk cheapo hose.