Photosol Sensor Swabs (Pack of 12) Type 2

Comments about Photosol Sensor Swabs (Pack of 12):

I used these swabs recently in an attempt to clean my 40D's sensor and was pretty disappointed with the entire process. The plastic is very fliexible and they bend considerably. I think the idea behind this is so that you can effectively have the pad part of the swab flat on the sensor without snapping the arm in two. The downside is that you just can't get enough pressure on the swab to remove persistent dust particles...I can see why you wouldn't want to put too much pressure on the sensor itself but it seems that the equilibrium of 'bendiness' vs being able to put enough pressure on the swab is way off. I used them with Eclipse fluid and even though I've never cleaned the sensor on my 40D before, it wasn't what I'd call really dirty and it still took 7 swabs before it was clean (and even now, it's still not prefect). A tip I found after using these is to combine your camera's manual sensor cleaning function (if available) with a batch of high speed shooting to try and dislodge especially tough dust particles. Using my 40D's cleaning function and taking 50-100 shots at high speed did the trick of seeming to dislodge most of the dust that the swabs refused to remove. All things considered, I'd have been better off spending the [$] (the swabs, plus the cleaning fluid) on having it done professionally and is certainly what I'm going to do in the future. Oh, and I found a wiry black hair on one of the swabs, stuck in the rubber band which attaches the cloth pad to the plastic end of the swab...gross! So much for them being produced in a hermitically sealed environment...I thought that was why they're so expensive? If they can't even get that bit right then it's simply daylight robbery.

Comments about Photosol Sensor Swabs (Pack of 12):

I've been using these for some time to clean the sensor on my Canon EOS 300D and, used with Eclipse Cleaning Fluid, they do the job! It can take a few goes to get it right but there are several web sites which can help to perfect your technique.