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- Keith
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Before I start, I must urge caution when attempting to clean your sensor, it's not as daunting as it sounds but if not done correctly it can damage your sensor and leave you with a costly repair bill. Please read the manufacturers instructions carefully and don't blame me if it all goes horribly wrong!
Much information is around for the relative merits of different methods of sensor cleaning so I won't even begin to attempt to describe each of these two methods in any detail. I have, however, just tried both methods back to back and the results are a real eye opener to me so I felt I should share them here.
The wet method I have used is with SENSOR SWABS and Eclipse 2 fluid. This is a 'wet' method which involves wetting a swab with sensor cleaning fluid and then wiping it over the exposed sensor, once in each direction.
The dry method is the ARCTIC BUTTERFLY . This device is a battery operated soft brush which is spun at high velocity to clean the bristles and electrostatically charge them to attract dust. It is then swept gently over the sensor.
I had a couple of nasty spots on my sensor that were even showing up under quite wide apertures so I decided to give it a clean.
I have always used Sensor Swabs in the past and have a few in my camera bag so this is the method I tried first. After one try, the sensor was improved but still had one very noticeable spot on it so I opened another swab and tried again. This time it was much better and the worst of the debris was gone.
Taking an image of a white wall at minimum aperture reveals every speck of dust. As can be seen in the first image below, the wet method left a couple of larger spots and numerous tiny fibres on the sensor. These would disappear once the aperture is opened up a little but still shows the effectiveness of the wet method. Regrettably I didn't keep an image of the sensor before cleaning with this method but it was a lot worse than this.
1. Sensor after cleaning twice with Sensor Swabs (remaining dust and fibres outlined in red):
I then tried the Arctic Butterfly on the sensor and after just one gentle pass with the brush the improvement was dramatic.
2. Sensor after cleaning once with Arctic Butterfly:
As you can see, the Arctic Butterfly left perhaps just three tiny specs of dust which would completely disappear at anything less than minimum aperture... impressive stuff!
CONCLUSION:
There is no doubt in my mind that the first method of sensor cleaning I will use in future is the dry one. It is less invasive on the sensor and undoubtedly safer. It is also, in the long run, cheaper as you don't have to dispose of the brush after each use as you do with the swabs.
The dry method does not remove 'welded' dust spots though, so there will be occasions when the wet method will achieve what the dry won't. Ideally both methods should be used in conjunction with each other when appropriate but if I had to choose between the two, I'd go Arctic Butterfly every time.
Flashy
Much information is around for the relative merits of different methods of sensor cleaning so I won't even begin to attempt to describe each of these two methods in any detail. I have, however, just tried both methods back to back and the results are a real eye opener to me so I felt I should share them here.
The wet method I have used is with SENSOR SWABS and Eclipse 2 fluid. This is a 'wet' method which involves wetting a swab with sensor cleaning fluid and then wiping it over the exposed sensor, once in each direction.
The dry method is the ARCTIC BUTTERFLY . This device is a battery operated soft brush which is spun at high velocity to clean the bristles and electrostatically charge them to attract dust. It is then swept gently over the sensor.
I had a couple of nasty spots on my sensor that were even showing up under quite wide apertures so I decided to give it a clean.
I have always used Sensor Swabs in the past and have a few in my camera bag so this is the method I tried first. After one try, the sensor was improved but still had one very noticeable spot on it so I opened another swab and tried again. This time it was much better and the worst of the debris was gone.
Taking an image of a white wall at minimum aperture reveals every speck of dust. As can be seen in the first image below, the wet method left a couple of larger spots and numerous tiny fibres on the sensor. These would disappear once the aperture is opened up a little but still shows the effectiveness of the wet method. Regrettably I didn't keep an image of the sensor before cleaning with this method but it was a lot worse than this.
1. Sensor after cleaning twice with Sensor Swabs (remaining dust and fibres outlined in red):
I then tried the Arctic Butterfly on the sensor and after just one gentle pass with the brush the improvement was dramatic.
2. Sensor after cleaning once with Arctic Butterfly:
As you can see, the Arctic Butterfly left perhaps just three tiny specs of dust which would completely disappear at anything less than minimum aperture... impressive stuff!
CONCLUSION:
There is no doubt in my mind that the first method of sensor cleaning I will use in future is the dry one. It is less invasive on the sensor and undoubtedly safer. It is also, in the long run, cheaper as you don't have to dispose of the brush after each use as you do with the swabs.
The dry method does not remove 'welded' dust spots though, so there will be occasions when the wet method will achieve what the dry won't. Ideally both methods should be used in conjunction with each other when appropriate but if I had to choose between the two, I'd go Arctic Butterfly every time.
Flashy
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