Cheap sensor swabs

I am wondering if anyone on the forum here has experience with the cheap sensor swabs that are sold on eBay. I know arguments against using them, but I am interested in hearing from those who actually have given them a try and what the real world results were. Did they get the sensor clean? Or, did they make matters worse? If worse, what did you notice?
Thanks

Hi,

I have used them on my K10D and K7 to great effect. My K10D was literally dirty with too many spots and what not. I used about 4 swabs on the sensor, gently wiping them, with only one wipe per side of the swab. Now it is absolutely clean. Try not to stop in the middle of the sensor as it tends to leave some mark, which can of course be wiped with a new swab. Results are perfect.

Regards,

Jeeess

Hi jeeess1967 - thanks for the response! Were these the cheap ones from China that you get on eBay? And, we're they the type were the swab is already wet with cleaning solution and individually packed to keep wet? Or were they dry and then you applied solution?

Thanks

Steve

You've invested a considerable amount of money in a very fine camera and now you want to wreck it in order to save a few pennies. Beyond bizarre IMHO.

Hi,

I don't know which cheap ones you are referring to. The one I bought was something like this (please see link)....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sensor-Swab-Type-1-Digital-Camera-DSLR-Sensor-Cleaning...

Maybe not the exact make, but something similar. I think it cost about 17 quids. The swabs were dry and I had to put two to three drops of the solution before cleaning.

I see some swabs from hongkong for 1.99 quid. They seem narrow to the one I bought. They were very nice and worked really well for me. I agree with the other guys....no point in saving a few quids when you have invested hundreds on the camera. If what I have used was also a bad option, I would say I was lucky.

Regards,

Jeeess

I don't feel I want to use something on my sensor that I need to be lucky or not so lucky with - it's too essential in the quality chain. I totally agree with Ken.

so everyone here handwashes their cars too?

I've only used the expensive kind as I am very reluctant to experiment on any of my cameras. However, I see these inexpensive ones all the time on eBay and was wondering if anyone here had actually given them a try and what the results were.

For example, a particularly inexpensive one:
https://touch.ebay.com/tablet/item?itemId=190886497624&rd=vi
(I hope this didn't cause too many gasps here :lol

There are others too, some a bit pricier. For example:
https://touch.ebay.com/tablet/item?itemId=310697277875&rd=vi

As I've said, I'm reluctant to experiment. But I am curious to see if any one else has.

Thanks

Hardly the same thing and hardly as critical.

As for sensors, I have never laid anything on my sensors and have only ever used the camera's own sensor cleaning, plus rarely a carefully used rocket blower.

I have cleaned the sensors on my cameras since moving to DSLRs in 2008. I use a decent quality cotton bud with a lint free cloth wrapped securely over the bud. I then apply a small amount of IsoPropyl Alcohol(IPA) on the cloth and wipe the sensor gently. I then leave the camera without the lens for a period of time to ensure that if any excess IPA is left on the sensor it evaporates off. The use of the bud gives a cushion to the wipe. I've never had any problems with this method.

But how do you know that iso-propyl alcohol doesn't damage the sensor coatings?

John,
IPA is used in the electronics industry as a solvent and cleaner during production. There is every possibility the sensor/circuit board of your camera has been dipped in IPA before being put together in a camera body. Most of the cleaners you would buy commercially for sensor cleaning contain either IPA or Methanol. Methanol evaporates faster than IPA which may be an advantage to some but IPA has never caused me a problem.
I trained as an electronics engineer many moons ago so don't have a problem cleaning the sensor of my camera. The steps I take I'm sure are similar/the same as those of say a camera lab technician that you'll pay to do it for you.

I'm sure you're right and I use it to clean my record stylus. A bottle has lasted me over 30 years for that purpose.

However, alcohols denature plastics and react in other ways also. What we don't know is what the special coatings are on the sensor, well strictly on the filter in front of the sensor. So I for one will be taking no chances with it.

Others will do as they see fit. I see this though as a potential pitfall in buying second hand DSLRs. We just don't know what the previous owner has been doing and it could be much worse than what we're talking about here. I'd rather hear "I've never cleaned the sensor" than "I've kept the sensor nice and clean" in this particular context.