Digital Home Thoughts: Out Darned Spot, Out: Sensor Brush and Sensor Clean

Spot Removal with Sensor Clean
To get rid of tough spots from liquid on the sensor Visible Dust sells a solution called Sensor Clean that comes with cleaning swabs. According to the site the Sensor Clean liquid is non-alcoholic, non-flammable, streak free, and removes static. The non-flammable part is interesting, since the generally-recommended alternative (Eclipse) is flammable and legally shouldn't be carried on airplanes.

The Sensor Clean and cleaning swabs arrived in an anti-static bag, presumably to prevent dust from getting on the swabs, even though the swabs are in their own sealed package. To use the cleaning fluid you apply a few drops to the tip of a cotton swab, rub across the sensor, and then follow up with as many dry swabs as necessary to get all the liquid off. Here was my first attempt:


Figure 3: After cleaning incorrectly with Sensor Clean

Oops. That doesn't look very good at all, does it? This was, to be fair, my fault. I didn't read the directions and assumed that, like an alcohol-based cleaning fluid, the Sensor Clean would evaporate and I didn't wipe off the residual cleaning fluid. On my second attempt I made liberal use of dry cleaning swabs to clean off the extra fluid:


Figure 4: After cleaning correctly with Sensor Clean

Better, but there's still room for improvement. I gave it one more shot to see if I could get rid of the pesky spots:


Figure 5: After cleaning correctly a second time with Sensor Clean

After this last attempt I decided to leave well enough alone. I believe the large brownish spots are actually from my LCD monitor, and the few remaining spots I can live with. A more accurate test would have been to go to work to shoot at my piece of frosted plastic again (as I did in my first shot), or against a light box, but alas time did not permit.

Conclusion
Even though I wound up with a relatively clean sensor using the brush, cleaning fluid, and cleaning swabs, I have to say that I was not impressed enough to justify the price. The cleaning swabs are nothing more than medical-grade cotton applicators. If you think you can use them up, you can order 1,000 for a mere $7.95 :) There are also several threads floating around about using a high-quality artist's brush as a substitute for the Sensor Brush, which doesn't seem like a bad idea either. About the only piece in the kit that seems unique is the cleaning fluid, since it's non-flammable, and even that is probably some generic fluid that can be obtained elsewhere.

An alternate, and cheaper, approach is to visit a site like Cleaning Digital Cameras which gives detailed instructions on how to clean your sensor using a spatula, some Pec*Pads, and Eclipse. It'd be interesting to try cleaning a sensor using the cotton swabs and Eclipse too. I'm well aware of the fear people have in scratching their sensor, but the spatula method is well-known and everything I've read says it works well. I'd say save your money, grab a spatula, and clean your sensor knowing that you've got extra money in your pocket for sushi, or perhaps a nice big enlargement of your favourite photo.