Sensor Cleaning

What product is everyone using to clean their sensors now? I had the Dust Aid Platinum product, and only used two of the cleaning strips, but I'll be damned if I can find it now. I need to clean both of my sensors and thought before I purchase Dust Aid again would see what everyone thinks works best now.

After reading various reviews including EJ's, I bought the Eyelead Sensor Gel Stick and have never looked back. Wet cleaning always left streaks, but was good for getting lubricant spots. The Sensor Gel stick makes my sensor cleaning easy and short these days. It does a thorough and safe job and is even used in the Leica factory. Be sure to buy from an authorized distributor as there are Chinese knockoffs out there that have been a problem. In the USA you can get them from https://photographylife.com/product/sensor-gel-stick/ . I'm not sure who the Canadian distributor is.

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Thanks guys . . . . . . I'll see if I can find it in Canada.

Yeah I still use the Gel sticks. If you are a Sony user, note you need the one with the orange tip not the normal one with the blue tip.

EJ
Do you use it for the A7R2 or other bodies with in body stabilization? The product description on Amazon for the orange one recommends the use of a wet solution for these bodies.
Mike

Can't seem to find it anywhere in Canada, and I do not trust getting it from Amazon.ca. Guess I will have to order it from Photographylife.com. Seems odd to me that a product that is the best in its field is so hard to find and purchase??

I've had good results with Endust Vswab and Vdust Plus fluid.

Photography Life is where I brought mine. I think it is a very small company that has little give in the markup that companies like Amazon demand. So they market and sell it themselves, otherwise with an amazon markup the price would be higher then anyone wants to pay. 

Yes but the way you should do it is to first turn steady shot off and then put the camera in cleaning mode by going to the menu and performing the auto sensor clean.  That locks the sensor after it is done shaking.  Once you power the camera back on, the sensor is released and you can turn steady shot back on.  Personally I almost never use IBIS so it isn't an issue.

That is where I got them from.  There are imitations out there that can leave a residue so I wouldn't trust Amazon or eBay.

My Eyelead Sensor Cleaner arrived today from Photography Life, and I have used it on my D600 and D7200. It did an okay job on the D600, leaving only two spots. However, it did almost nothing to help my D7200. So I guess that sensor is going to need a more aggressive "wet" clean. Questions:

1) I watched the video on their website on how to use this cleaning pad, and the cleaning papers I received are backwards to the ones they show in the video. On my paper strips the "sticky" section is on the top piece that you peal off. In their video the sticky section is on the bottom piece that you peal from. Is this just a change in the paper, or am I using the wrong section to clean the pad with? One piece is sticky and the other isn't, so I am assuming you want to use the sticky piece?

2) What is a "good" product (wet or dry) to clean sensors that need a more aggressive clean that the Eyelead cannot remove?

I use the Eyelead and it does a decent job most of the time but not always. Which side of the paper to use is confusing and I always forget too. Sorry, I'm no help there.

When I need to I'll break out the Sensor Swabs from Photographic Solutions but they are really expensive. I used to use the dry ones and apply solution when I had to clean my D600 frequently but Nikon changed the shutter and I sold it. My current bodies need cleaned very infrequently with the wet so I go with the individually packaged version with the solution already applied. They come in different sizes for each sensor so be careful to get the right ones.

Hi Tim,

Yes, you use the sticky side of the paper to clean off the gel stick. When I initially used it I had to do it a few times to clean the accumulation of dust and lubricant. I also used some wet cleaning as well. After a couple of very thorough cleans like that, I now primarily just use the gel stick with two "passes" over the sensor (in opposite directions), being sure to clean the gel stick on the sticky paper a few times through the process. So now it seems like a quick and easy process. I don't worry about getting every last little speck of dust, just the majority of it and the big ones. Spot removal tools work very well to get any remaining tiny specks of dust out of the image, and save my sanity by not needing to be perfect with the cleaning.

WARNING : Whatever layer of material is on top of the sensor on my 1D X Mark II just shattered on me when pulling up on the gel stick while cleaning.

I have never heard of this happening to anyone. My sensor was quite dirty and this happened on my third consecutive attempt at cleaning with test shots taken in between to monitor the progress. I was using a lamp with a very bright (and hot) light bulb to be able to see what I was doing. Is there any chance the heat contributed to the problem?

Off to Canon for what I am guessing will be a very expensive repair?

Yes heat will make sticky things stickier. I was in the sign business for 25 years working with adhesive vinyl so am very familiar with adhesives. I would not allow the sensor to get warm/hot. If you need more light to see properly (I sure do as I get older) get an LED light - lots of light very little heat. I use a Visible Dust loupe with LED lights  
[url=//visibledust.com/products/quasar-plus-sensor-loupe-7x-magnifier-improved-focusing-system/]//visibledust.com/products/quasar-plus-sensor-loupe-7x-magnifier-improved-focusing-system/[/url]
Overpriced (but aren't most thing photographic) but works well. I brought mine years ago when it was near half the current price.

Sorry to hear about that.

In addition to the heat issue that Dick addressed, I think we would all be interested to know if you used the Eyelead gel stick from PhotographyLife or used a different product or source.

Doug Brown had exactly the same thing (filter over sensor shatter) happen when he was cleaning his 1D X Mark II. It is my understanding he was using the Photographylife produce.

Are they safe for a Nikon D810 since it doesn't have an AA Filter??