Don’t forget your lens pen.

No decent camera person should be caught out with a dirty lens. You won’t notice it when you’re filming but it only takes one speck of dust on the lens to ruin all your footage. Dust usually shows up most when you’re filming outside with the sun towards the front of the camera. Whatever the environment, don’t take any chances – get into the habit of cleaning the lens before every video production. Always carry a lens pen in your pocket and keep checking the lens throughout the shoot.

As well as a lens pen, I recommend the Giottos air blower and a Spudz micro fibre lens cloth. Use the air blower first to knock off any dust, then use the lens pen for fingerprints etc. The micro fibre cloth is great for other situations – like a steamed up lens for example (it does happen). All these tools are very cheap and completely essential to any videocamera operator or video production.