Mister E
Well-known
After scratching my sensor cleaning it once I just let me local shop do it for me for 2,000 yen.
yoyo22
Well-known
I've gone through a lot of different cleaning stuff in order to get the sensor of my M9 clean.
I would recommend the sensor loupe and the Pentax O-ICK1 dry cleaning gummy-thingy. The rubber-blower is okay to remove some dust, but most of the smaller particles usual cannot be blown off.
For wet cleaning nothing beats Eclipse on PEC-pads using the 16mm SensorWand. It's also one of the cheapest solutions I've found so far.
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antiquark
Derek Ross
Yeah the only thing I ever get out of canned air is air?
I've heard that droplets can fly out somtimes. The container will cool as the air is released, possibly forming condensation inside.
I cleaned my sensor once (using a "sensor pen") but I've heard too many horror storied of botched cleanings, now I just let the dust sit there and I photoshop it out. The dust is only noticable in certain situations (clear blue sky, F5.6 or higher). Otherwise, you'll be hard pressed to see any signs of dust.
250swb
Well-known
The horror stories of botched cleanings always without fail come from people who botched the cleaning, not due to tried and tested methods, the same methods as used if you sent the camera to a shop for cleaning in a back room by a spotty trainee. I'd also suggest you've heard the same story time after time. Because in the scheme of things, when sensor cleaning is done thousands of times a day around the world, you are not getting thousands, or even a few stories of botched cleaning per day on the internet. And the internet is the place to go and vent. So cleaning can only go wrong if you are incompetant, which I doubt you are, so don't listen to the stories.
Steve
menos
Veteran
I watch my photos for dust marks during post processing from time to time.
When the dust level goes over my personal acceptance border of having to spot the dust in post processing before print or web, I wind up, blowing the sensor with a blower bulb.
After the blower bulb treatment, I check the sensor at small apertures and move on to wet cleaning, if needed.
I use Eclipse E2 sensor cleaning solution, visible dust plastic spatulas and pec pads for sensor cleaning.
I take much care, to blow the pec pads with clean air several times, after fixing them on the spatula, to not transfer fresh dust on the sensor.
The packed solutions from visible dust (or any other reputable sensor cleaning kit manufacturer) are great, but highly overpriced and their marketing is loaded with FUD.
The FUD marketing from these sensor cleaning vendors, added by prohibitive remarks from camera service and repair men + misinformed sales personnel + the multiplication factor of the internet has resulted in many, otherwise perfectly healthy adult persons being very scared of sensor cleaning.
It really is not much different from changing the engine oil in your car or cleaning your apartments windows by yourself. Just do it the right way and don't listen to the wrong people. Of course, not using Coke instead of engine oil or a brick, to enhance the clear view out of your apartment helps, as does common sense with sensor cleaning.
The other greatly exaggerated and heavily discussed photographic gear topic, that has been in existence way before digital sensors were around and persists still to this day is:
lens cleaning … ;-)
When the dust level goes over my personal acceptance border of having to spot the dust in post processing before print or web, I wind up, blowing the sensor with a blower bulb.
After the blower bulb treatment, I check the sensor at small apertures and move on to wet cleaning, if needed.
I use Eclipse E2 sensor cleaning solution, visible dust plastic spatulas and pec pads for sensor cleaning.
I take much care, to blow the pec pads with clean air several times, after fixing them on the spatula, to not transfer fresh dust on the sensor.
The packed solutions from visible dust (or any other reputable sensor cleaning kit manufacturer) are great, but highly overpriced and their marketing is loaded with FUD.
The FUD marketing from these sensor cleaning vendors, added by prohibitive remarks from camera service and repair men + misinformed sales personnel + the multiplication factor of the internet has resulted in many, otherwise perfectly healthy adult persons being very scared of sensor cleaning.
It really is not much different from changing the engine oil in your car or cleaning your apartments windows by yourself. Just do it the right way and don't listen to the wrong people. Of course, not using Coke instead of engine oil or a brick, to enhance the clear view out of your apartment helps, as does common sense with sensor cleaning.
The other greatly exaggerated and heavily discussed photographic gear topic, that has been in existence way before digital sensors were around and persists still to this day is:
lens cleaning … ;-)
popeye
Established
F16's no longer cause dust around me, I'm having issues with the FA-18's though buzzing overheard on their way out from Miramar though