New Way to Clean Your Camera Sensor

I have been cleaning my cameras sensors when they get too much dirt on him and I have too many spots to remove in post-processing.

Here is how I used to do it:

1. make sure the camera  has a full battery
2. remove the lens, use a blower, not canned air, and blow off the mirror
3. in the cameras menu follow the instructions to raise the mirror
4. utilizing the blower again blow off the sensor
5. I use a Delkin Sensor Scope to look at the sensor to see where the dirt is located
6. next I use a brush to clean the sensor
7. then I rechecked the sensor with the scope and if there is still dirt or dust remaining I utilize the Copperhill wet swabs with Eclipse to clean the sensor again
8. I recheck the sensor and use a new wet swab if needed
9. when the sensor is clean I shut the camera off to lower the mirror and reattach the lens

My new method starts out the same until after I utilized the Sensor Scope:

1. now I use the sensor gel stick to clean the sensor it usually only takes one pass to clean it.
2. I then clean the sensor gel stick on the sticky paper as directed to clean the gel stick for its next use

Here is a video on how to utilize the Gel Stick:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVMIcytrh5A&feature=player_detailpage


This item is getting very popular and more of the pros including Moose Peterson is using it. It is small and easily taken with you on a trip. More information can be found at http://photographylife.com/product/sensor-gel-stick


 How to Use the Sensor Gel Stick How to Use the Sensor Gel Stick Dec 21 2013 By Nasim Mansurov: I decided to cover a couple of important aspects of using the sensor gel stick. First, I wanted to show what the product looks like when shipped and what it comes with, then answer some of the most frequently asked questions by our readers (see below for the text version), before actually showing how to use the product on a camera sensor. DISCLAIMER: Not responsible for any potential damage of the camera due to misuse of the product! Please watch the video carefully and follow the instructions step by step. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions from our readers regarding the sensor gel stick: How long does the sensor gel stick last? It depends on the frequency of use and how many cameras you will be cleaning with a single sensor gel stick. If you are a professional photographer and you plan on using the sensor gel stick before every photo shoot, it might only last 5-6 months. For occasional use, the sensor gel stick should last 1-2 years. While the manufacturer told me that the stick can last up to 2-3 years, I don’t think it is very realistic for it to last that long. Does the sensor gel stick clean up oil? Yes, it does, as long as the oil spots are relatively new. If the oil is dated and has become hard on the sensor, you might still need to get the sensor cleaned through thorough wet cleaning. You can either attempt to do it yourself, or you can send your camera in for service, then use the sensor gel stick later to clean up regular dust / new oil spots. When will PL start selling the sticky paper? While we will soon start offering the extra sticky paper for purchase, you should not have to be concerned about that for a long time, if you use the provided sticky paper sparingly. I have cleaned sensors about 20 times using my sensor gel stick so far and I have only used about 1.5 sticky papers. Since the sensor gel stick surface is not as sticky as the paper, you should not have to worry about picking up stuff from the paper back to the sensor gel stick (as long as it is dust and not something like oil). If the sensor gel stick is too dirty, or you have cleaned up oil before, then it might be best to use untouched sticky paper. Is it OK to clean the sensor gel stick with water or some other chemical solution if one runs out of paper? No, it is definitely not OK to do that. If you use chemicals or even water to clean the sensor gel stick surface, you might damage the sticky surface of the sensor gel stick. Once the “stickiness” is gone, the sensor gel stick basically becomes trash. Because of this, my recommendation is to always use the sticky paper, even if you happen to drop the sensor gel stick on the ground. Read more: http://photographylife.com/how-to-use-the-sensor-gel-stick#ixzz2tjU7DTdM