"Giff" wrote in message
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On 12/09/2014 14:55, PAS wrote:

When I clean a sensor, it's usually a three-step cleaining process:

1. Rocket blower. If that doesn't get it clean, go to #2

So far blowing has been enough for me. Not this time though.

2. Nylon brush. A blast of compressed air on the brush gives it a
static charge and it will lift most dust off of the sensor, If that
doesn't work, go to #3

What kind of brush to use? I guess I should not just pick a random one


A 100% nylon brush is what you want. You can buy one "made" especially
for sensor cleaining such as a VisibleDust brush but I found them to be
nothing more than high-quality brushes at a very high price. I bought a
nylon artist's brush at a craft store and use that, it cost me less than
$8.00 and it is high-quality. If you go that route, you just have to be
certain that there is no residue on the brush from the factory such as
sizing material. To verify that it's clean, take a clean lens filter
and go back-and-forth with the brush a hundred times (it really only
take seconds to do that). If you see a film on the filter, it needs to
be cleaned. Dissolve some mild detergent in water and let the brush
soak overnight. Take it out and rinse it off and then soak it overnight
in clean water. After removing it from the water, let it dry and then
do the filter test again. Repeat if necessary. The brush I bought has
an acrylic handle, not wood and was nice and clean when I got it. I've
used it on a over a hundred different sensors.

3. Wet cleaning.

I see that there are different products available, any recommendation?
(I have a cropped, nikon D7100, if that matters)

Size does matter as some materials such as brushes and wet-cleaning
swabs are made for different size sensors. You don't want to use
something that's bigger than your sensor as you might brush or swab the
area around the sensor and it may have oil or other residue on it.
Eclipse fluid is very good, it evaporates almost immediately. You can
get a really good cleaning kit from Copperhill
http://www.copperhillimages.com/

I use a sensor scope so that I can see dust on the sensor without having
to take test shots of light-colored walls at f16 or higher in order to
see if there is dust on the sensor. You may not get all the dust off on
the first try so it's easier to just use a scope to check the sensor
rather than have to put a lens back on your camera and then take a test
shot and view it on your computer.

Cleaning a sensor is not as difficult as some think, it's not dangerous
at all as long as you do it properly. The most important thing you have
to do is use a fully-charged or an AC adapter. You don't want to have a
battery failure in the middle of your cleaning process where your
shutter closes as you have a brush or swab in the body, that's not good.