Buy Sensor Swabs!

Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 282 Location: Relocated

In brief:

If you are going on a vacation with great photo opportunities then take some sensor cleaning swabs.

Some background:

I had always been firmly against cleaning the sensor with swabs. I advocated careful lens changing with the use of a blower when dust became problematic. I firmly believed that sensor-cleaning kits were a waste of money as they were unnecessary.

...and then something happened to make me change my mind:

I was in Carins (Queensland, Australia) when i noticed a large black mark on some photos i had taken. A particle on my sensor was to blame, and it wouldn't shift no matter how hard i used the blower. I even tried touching the particle with a q-tip (never never never do this) to see if it would transfer away from the sensor. It didn't and I was very frustrated.

As i was leaving early the next morning to go to Cape Tribulation (an area of outstanding beauty and wildlife) I decided i had to get the particle removed. There was 1 sensor-cleaning kit left in the whole of Cairns. It cost AU$185 (that is not a typo. It is equivilent to US$150) and comprised a can of compressed air (with special suction tube) and some swabs. It was the swabs that i wanted. I had no use for the compressed air as I have a blower. The swab sucessfully removed the particle.

In future i will....

On future trips i will always take swabs with me. I will make sure i will buy it online to get the cheap deal. i will also make sure it is quite a small swab as the one that came in the kit was actually bigger than the 20d sensor!

I count myself lucky that i was able to get the sensor cleaning kit. Without it i would not have black marks on the cassowary photos i recently posted and many more. I would advise anyone who is taking a photo-heavy vacaction to take sensor swabs with them. For a small investment you will have peace of mind and 'clean' photos!

Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 10:47 pm

Any suggestions on best brands or are they all pretty much the same?

Thanks in advance for any additional information.

Shuttermom17