Dust Aid

[Raskill]

(Have a spare momemt, so thought I'd post this).

Well, I finally got the sh!ts with having the worlds dirtiest sensors and decided to do something about it.

I searched about a fair bit, and after being quoted outrageous prices for what is a five minute job, decided that I would do the task myself. Looking at what was available, I settle on the 'Dust Aid' product.

Why? It's essentially a dry clean, so no introducing liquids into the camera, no forced air, so no moving dirt about or further into the camera, and it looked easy enough.

The dirt aid product comes in a nifty tin, like an old band-aid box. You get 12 sensor cleaners and a white plastic applicator and some instructions.

The sensor cleaning pads are double sided, one side is for the applicator, the other for your sensor. You can't confuse the two unless you ignored the directions, warnings and common sense (in which case you shouldn't be cleaning your own sensors).

I first of all took a couple of F29 'blue sky' sample shots , which showed my sensors to be as bad I thought they were. I then cleaned each sensor as shown in the instructions (and the handy utube video). It took literally 2 minutes for each sensor. Afterwards, I took more sample shots which showed my sensors to be spotless.

Cleaning is simple. The sensor pads are rectangular and designed to clean sensor in just four presses onto the sensor. When you apply the pad, it overlaps, ensuring the sensor in cleaned well and truly.

Some people ware worried by the dustaid product, saying they wouldn't place a sticky pad on their sensors. The product is guaranteed not to leave any residue, and has been tested many times. It's interesting that often the people who would worry about using this product, will wet clean their own sensors anyway.

I recommend this product for those who want to clean their sensor themselves, but have reservations about wet cleaning. It's easy to use, reasonably priced ($65 for 12 cleans) and quick.

[bwhinnen]

Looks interesting Alan, got a linky?

I assume this one?

Cheers
Brett

[firsty]

http://www.dust-aid.com/

[fozzie]

Before purchasing/using this product, please take note of this thread from dpreview:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=25102817

fozzie

[Raskill]

Read it, don't know what the point of it is to be honest. I know this might sound odd, but it seems like a dpreview member whinging. How utterly odd. More people say the product is great. Why would you expect it to work after you left it cooking in a car, heck, you can't even leave dogs in the hot car and expect them to work afterwards.

I stand by my review/waffle, great product, well priced and easy to use.

[jdear]

I too looked at this product and will probably end up buying it.

NOTE: some canon bodies need a different version of dust-aid because they have a thinner coating covering the sensor - 5D included.

I have heard of people using sellotape on their sensors to clean them (EEK!) Id be worried about sticky residue left!

great to have some feedback about this product!

Jonathan

[jdear]

where did you pick yours up from raskill?

[Big Red]

i tried "magic tape" [not sticky tape] after testing it on some filters ... it didn't clean good enough so i ended up wet cleaning anyway but had no residue and the sensor didn't seem to attract any more dust than usual afterwards.
took a couple of passes to wet clean it to get a couple of stubborn spots off.

[marc]

I've used Dust Aid as well and found it does the job well

Cheers
Marc

[rflower]

I noticed this on the wall at the Camera Clinic in Collingwood (VIC) when there the other day for around $66. The lady in there gave me a demonstration with a "sensor" stuck on the counter there. I thought about it, but will get my sensor cleaned once under warranty in the next couple of months.

[Raskill]

I got my Dust Aid from Camera Clinic. They express posted from Collingwood to Goulburn overnight for $7 extra. I recommend them also.

[sirhc55]

Thanks for the heads up on this product Raskill