is this blower good enough to clean my sensor?

[rasheemo]

http://www.adorama.com/CPBBS.html

 

[deudeu]

depending on what you mean by "clean my sensor"...
Any blower can get some dust off your sensor. But for the smaller particles that are really stuck there, you will have to get it done professionnaly or get a cleaning kit: something like that: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/504345-REG/Lenspen_LENSKK1_SensorKlear_Digital_SLR_Sensor.html
Though most of the time, just a blower will get the visible dust off. What is left will probably only show from f16 or f22.

 

[tirediron]

NO! Stay away from blower bulbs with built-in brushes. The brushes trap dirt and dust (that's their job) and when you're using the blower, it blows it off the brush and back into all the places in your camera that you're trying to get dust out of. For blower bulbs, you can't beat the Giottos Rocket: http://www.adorama.com/GTRABS.html?searchinfo=rocket&item_no=1 , yes, it's a few dollars more; no one ever said this was a cheap hobby.

As far as sensor cleaning goes, that kit that deudeu mentioned is a little short on detail, but it seems to be a wet-cleaning kit. This is a last resort, ALWAYS try to dry-clean your sensor first. I've always had good luck with the Arctic Butterfly ( http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=3 ) Using this, I've never had to wet-clean a sensor on any of my cameras. Again, pricey, but worth it.

 

[dhilberg]

I have the Giottos Rocket Air Blower tirediron mentioned, except mine is the large one:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/259157-REG/Giottos_AA1900_Rocket_Air_Blower_.html

It works great and it's pretty darn powerful.

Personally I would avoid physically touching the sensor to clean it. If it's really that dirty then have it cleaned by the manufacturer. That way if they screw it up you get a replacement.

 

[epp_b]

I use an air blower that was actually part of a soldering kit to remove solder. It actually works better for cleaning out my camera than it does removing solder!

 

[tirediron]

Personally I would avoid physically touching the sensor to clean it. If it's really that dirty then have it cleaned by the manufacturer. That way if they screw it up you get a replacement.

Okay, first thing, you don't actually clean the sensor, you clean the high-pass filter which is immediatley in front of the sensor. This filter is generally made of a mineral-glass type composite and is actually very durable and difficult to damage. The whole 'You'll damage your sensor' myth is something that's been hyped by camera makers in North America. If you buy a Nikon in Japan, it will come with sensor-cleaning instructions.

The danger in cleaning your sensor comes from mainly from wet-cleaning, and is simply that if it's not done carefully, you may leave streaks on the sensor which will be VERY difficult to remove, they're not damaging however. Likewise, if you get a bit of oil or grease on your sensor-cleaning brush, this can happen. Just be careful and make sure that you only use your sensor-cleaning brush for cleaning your sensor, and never let it touch anything else. You'll be fine.

Sensor cleaning really is basic camera maintenance, and if you're a DSLR owner who changes lenses with any frequency, you're going to have to clean your sensor fairly often. It doesn't make sense to ship it off to a repair centre and pay $50 - 75 each time this needs to be done (as well as the inconvenience of not having a camera for several days) when a small investment in equipment, and a bit of care will get you the same results.

 

[sburatorul]

tirediron that was exactly what i was hoping to read

 

[ksmattfish]

Here's the blower I've been using on my DSLRs for the last 4 years. I keep it in a sealed plastic bag, and only bring it out to blow of sensors (I don't use it to inflate rafts, tires, etc...)

https://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=304T

Micro-tools.com carries a lot of other DSLR cleaning tools and products.