Camera Sensor Cleaning

[RLJSlick]

Hiya guys, I found this interesting topic at DPReview today, and wonder what you guys use to clean your sensor? I use air bulb and canned air.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=22557430

[Wulff]

Another subject thats been on my mind as well.
To date all I've used a rocket blower. It seems to do an ok job but theres the whole debate about how much blowers simply blow the dust around.

Ive looked loosely at some of the solution metedsd ( pec pads, copper hill) but frankly mucking about with my sensor while having less than zero experience with it gives me the willies.

[Ron Lacey]

I use a bulb and a Copperhill kit though I've just been informed that the Eclipse fluid used can harm Canon sensors so that will have to be replaced. It's my understanding that it's not advisable to use canned air because the propellant can harm the sensor,

Ron

[RLJSlick]

I haven't tried the Copperhill kit, but I have used and own a rocket blower and it seem to work OK, but canned air seem to work fine too, and been using it for years, I haven't done any damage so far as I know.

[Ron Lacey]

I haven't tried the Copperhill kit, but I have used and own a rocket blower and it seem to work OK, but canned air seem to work fine too, and been using it for years, I haven't done any damage so far as I know.

I've found the occasional bit of stuff can't be removed by the rocket blower but the Copperhill kit takes care of it (it's amazing the amount of gunk you can see on the sensor when you stop down to F32 and shoot a white sheet). I'm also thinking of getting one of those new statically charged sensor brushes,forget what they're called but I've heard good things about them.

The manuals for all my Canon digital bodies warn against using canned air on the sensors because "the blowing force can damage the sensor or the spray gas can freeze on the sensor".

Ron

[paul weston]

A sensor swab and a little solution,works great. Ive never had much luck with blowers.

paul.

[Jeff JTPhoto]

Just tried the Arctic Butterfly sensor brush... It works pretty good ,but there are times when you may need to use the wet method.

[Desert Rat]

I use a Visible dust it, but I need to get a Artic Butterfly...

[Paul S]

Eclipse and Swabs.

Note that the Eclipse problem is only for certain Canon bodies (MkIII, 5D, XTi) and some other companies' bodies as well--there's a full list on the manufacturer's website. Most bodies are just fine with the old Eclipse fluid.

-Paul

[Harv]

Several months ago I purchased the Arctic Butterfly from Visible Dust. I have used it on my 20D, 30D and for the first time yesterday on my 1D.

I have also used a bulb blower as per the Canon instructions.

The bulb blower works 'OK', but in my opinion, the Arctic Butterfly works wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better. At most, I have had to give the sensor a second swipe with it. When using the Arctic Brush, you just have to be careful not to touch the sides of the mirror box. I don't hesitate to recommend this product based on my personal experience with it. With my 1D, I used the blower a couple of times but it didn't get everything. One pass with the Arctic Butterfly and the sensor was clear of all dust.

[SureShot]

Has anyone tried a fairly new product called Dust Aid. http://www.dust-aid.com/the_product.html Looks like it might be an alternative to dry brushing or wet cleaning your sensor. It's essentially a sponge with very low tack adhesive like material applied to it. The sponge is then placed one corner of the sensor lifted, moved to the next corner, lifted, you get the idea. Apparently it produces good results with dust but won't clean a smeared sensor, and leaves no residue on your sensor. If I get up the nerve to try it :unsure: I'll report back with my findings.

[Kevin]

I've been watching the reports on the Dust-Aid gizmo. EJ Peiker at Naturescapes got it and wrote up a little report on it. I've got to do something as my 1d is terribly dirty. The 5D is still nice and crystal clear.

[EV Wonder]

As an Olympus user (time to get my dig in :biggrin: ) I have to say that in 3 1/2 years of active use I have never cleaned my sensor ONCE!! The Supersonic Wave Filter, the first of it's kind, has yet to be rivaled by anyone...or so say the test reports. I can only say that it works for me. :)

Below is a Korean advertisement of a man changing lenses on the Olympus E-1 in a desert dust storm without any ill effect. Some people have even been known to be rinse their camera under a running tap. :biggrin: Try that with most cameras. That's how good the weather seals are.

A few links below:

http://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=olympus_e10_forum&no=27279 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkUyOAsYKm8)

http://www.phototalk24.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=19633576

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=19906407

[JimiV]

For 5D there is a new Eclipse fluid E2. Specifically for the CMOS material of the Full Frame Canon. I have one spot of dust that blowing doesn't want to get remove. So I'm going to try the wet method next week. I have a couple of shoots scheduled for the weekend. If I muck up, I don't want to do it before then! LOL

http://tinyurl.com/3xswfm

[Jerry Scheenaard]

Use the ButterFly as well works great. Still leary about using fluids.

[Keith]

I too refuse to put liquid on my sensor, but thats just me. I use rocket bulb blower 95% of the time and a sensor brush when need be. I really pay attn as to where I change my lenses, camera body down when changing yada yada and it does help. The sensor brush is slick and highly recommend it. Just so happens they make them here :D