Sensor cleaning kit

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andya700

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Andy
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I have read quite a bit of advice on here about sensor cleaning (very grateful to those who have posted links to Youtube videos and the like), and I am about to try it myself. I now have to make a decision on which items I will buy. I already have an illuminated magnifying glass on a stand, which will work in place of a "Loupe". I was going to buy a rocket blower, probably a giotto (any ideas folks?). Now for the crucial bits - sensor swabs and fluid. Everything points to wet cleaning being the best way to go for a thorough clean, so which make do I go for? Is the Eclipse fluid any good, and does anyone on here use the little "scraper like" swabs which come in a set from Warehouse Express and the like.

Cheers,


Andy
 
Hi Andy,

I bought the Visible Dust EZ Sensor Cleaning Kit - 1ml Sensor Clean and 4 Green Swabs (1.6x) from WE and at the weekend used them. I also bought the Eclipse Fluide incase I want to my my own swabs in the future.

I used all four and did manage to get rid of a lot of dust, but I may have already damaged my sensor when I used a lens pens.

I have a few pictures that I have to put online when I get chance to see if I can sort out the marks.
 
Andy, I notice your camera is a Sony. These have tin-oxide coatings on the sensor (actually it's the AA filter which sits in front of the sensor), so you should be careful to use an approved cleaning agent. What's good for other DSLRs may not be good for yours. There may be others but Eclipse 2 is fine. The original Eclipse solution is not suitable.
Nine times out of ten a blast with a bulb-type blower is sufficient so as you've already suggested, get a Giotto Rocket blower. I keep one in the camera bag as it's also handy for the lenses.
For wet cleaning I use:
Eclipse 2 - approved for tin-oxide coated sensors
Pecpads -sold by the 100 - use once then discard
Sensor wand - you can buy them but I made one out of a plastic fork with the prongs cut off.
Small tie or masking tape to hold the pecpad in place.
Then I use this method:
http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/howto.html
 
Cheers guys, lots of good advice there, and thanks Mike, because I would have bought the standard Eclipse fluid. I was looking at a description of the Pecpads somewhere and it said that they were not suitable for sensors. I wonder if this is true, or is someone just trying to get extra money off people from sales of sensor swabs?

Andy
 
I've had my DSLRs for about four years now and have always used Pecpads without problem. The important thing is that you must never use them dry as they'll scratch the sensor.
 
One thing to watch tho I put my 1000d in to a camera shop to be cleaned halve way through him doing it the shutter snapped shut breaking it ... He has sent it away to be fixed 4 weeks later still no camera ...there waiting for replacement part from cannon whom are extremely slow at sending out parts I believe
 
In my opinion there is no need to spend money on a loupe, as all can be done by simply using the camera itself.

People will debate about the use of a rocket blower, but from using one several times ( and also alot of reading ) i see no evidence that using a rocket blower makes it any the worse off if you do it right.

So my advice would be :

-Get a rocket blower.

-Hold camera facing down ( sensor down ) and blast it a couple times.

A Dry clean will only remove the non-sticky dust, anything that's stuck will need a wet clean.

I'd advise you to get Eclipse fluid, and some " digipads " ( essentialy swabs )

Put 3 drops on the end of the pads, and swipe from left to right, flip over, left to right again.

Done, nice and clean :)!

http://www.digipad.co.uk/epages/es1...3_es123460326978/Categories/"Sensor Cleaning"
 
inlineadam said:
In my opinion there is no need to spend money on a loupe, as all can be done by simply using the camera itself.
Click to expand...

I was of the same opinion until I tried one, rather than having to pop the lens back on, take a shot against a bright background, take the card back out, import the shot into the computer, zoom in to 100% and then sweep backwards and forwards looking for dust I know just have a quick shufty through the loupe and see if I've missed anything. In the scheme of things in photography the loupe isn't a big expense and IMO very well worth it.
 
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