31. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

I finally got a chance today to do a side by side comparison of the KOH HEPA Jet filter blower to Visible Dust’s Zeeion filtered blower. Right off the bat the Zeeion is overall smaller then the HEPA Jet.  The big difference is that the HEPPA Jet has a large HEPA regulator filter attached to its bottom where the Zeeion has a small internal filter. Size does matter here as the small filter in the Zeeion greatly restricts the refill rate of the blower to the point you have to wait about 5 seconds in between each squeeze.  The HEPA filter on the other hand allows a much larger volume of air to pass through much faster due to its much large filter. The HEPA Jet can be used like a regular blower as the delay in filling is almost nonexistent.

The exit valve on the Zeeion is smaller than on the HEPA Jet which in turn give you a lower output volume of air from the Zeeion.

If I felt the need for a filtered blower I would defiantly choose the KOH HEPA Jet over the VisibleDust Zeeion not only because it is about 1/2 the price at $24.95 compared to $45.98, but because it puts out much more air and doesn’t have the long lag time in between squeezes.

VisibleDust does make claims of negative ionization with the Zeeion that we are in the middle of testing for and will report back in the next day or two on.

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31. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

 Dot Line Corp is importing the GGS Sensor Inspection Loupe and rebranding it as the SensorVu Loupe.  This is a decent Loupe at an OK price.

Dot Line Corp is also Importing the Matin M-6361 and Rebadging it as the SensorVu Cleaner II DL-AC02. This is a sticky method Similar to Canon’s. 

Dot Line is also bringing in the ADIDT AC-01 Sticky method to be rebadged as the SensorVu Cleaner DL-AC01.

Visit Dotline Corp at http://www.dotlinecorp.com/

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13. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

We have put up a cost per cleaning comparison chart up on our main site.  We will periodically update it.

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/cost.html

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12. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

I’m still quite amused about how low a company will go in their marketing hype to try to sell their product. One company out there is still using their evaporation rate as their reasoning why they are better than everyone else. So yes they found one thing that they are better at, but super fast evaporation just means you have to use more chemical which in turn makes their product the most expensive on the market to use. Ones ability to clean is a whole different talent than it’s ability to evaporate and are we not trying to clean here.

Would you ever by one brand of gasoline for your car because it evaporates faster than the other brands? I bet not, as it’s ability to evaporate is again a whole different talent than being a good fuel for your car. When a company starts stooping to these levels of marketing, it really gets my goat and I will expose them for doing so.

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10. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

Why is there only one manufacturer of sensor cleaning supplies that offers a guarantee that you won’t damage your sensor with their products?  Are all the other manufacturers not willing to stand behind their product? Or is it that they just are not willing to take the liability?

I have only ever seen 1 commercially available product that I know has damaged sensors and its manufacturer has since revised it. I venture to say that if you follow the instruction of any/all the products commercially available today for sensor cleaning that your results will vary but you will not damage your sensor. The sensors that do get damaged these days are from abuse and extreme carelessness.

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8. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

I’m still getting calls & emails from consumers who are frustrated because they bought a brush from a retailer and expected to use it exclusively to keep their sensor clean.

The brush method is a good method of sensor cleaning but it cannot be used as your exclusive method just like you could never use a broom exclusively to keep your kitchen floor clean.  When items get stuck (dust held on by moisture or pollen) or spilled (stray lubricants) onto the sensor, you MUST use a wet method.

I personally would NEVER use the brush method if I weren’t prepared to do a wet cleaning. This is because if you end up contaminating your brush by things like stray lubricants, you are going to make some nasty smears on your sensor.

So yes, the brush method is a good method but a method that is best used in between wet method cleanings.

This hold true for the Canon sticky method too (and all their clones too like eyelead, Dust-Aid, Matin, Pentax, Adidt & Erma Inc.). 

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8. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

There really wasn’t anything truly new at PMA for sensor cleaning, just new spins on existing items. Although I did get a chance to see and acquire samples of the Koh Dustless Bag System that has been on the market for a short while already. I will be putting this preventative tool through its paces and report back soon.

Erma Inc. of Tokyo has a new Sticky method kit they are looking at introducing to the US Market. Canon Japan was the originator of the sticky method, it is a dry method of sensor cleaning where you use a tacky devise on the end of a stick/applicator to remove loose dust. We do have samples of their product and will be doing some testing to compare it to the some of the others Canon Sticky Method clones currently on the market like eyelead & Dust-Aid.    

The other thing that Erma Inc. had that peaked my interest was a vacuum. Unlike the other keyboard type vacuums currently be marked to clean sensors, Erma’s has softer bristles and a device to protect the bristles from becoming contaminated when not in use. Again I have a sample and will be doing some testing and report back.

American Recorder has released their UltraPure solution for use on Tin Oxide Coated sensors. They have also been redesigning their kits that currently contain Co2 to have Nitrogen. Nitrogen is propellant free and doesn’t have any moisture in it, which makes it the only “canned air” safe for sensor cleaning.

The current push by 3 different companies is to have a blower with filters to keep dust from being sucked into the blower and blown back out onto the sensor. The other marketing spins being put on these new blowers being introduced is a soft tip to keep you from damaging your sensor. The other is a claim of a blower that is made from a silicone that reduces the static charge on the air that is being blown.

Lets start with filters, this sounds like a great idea although I haven’t been hearing of reports of blowers sucking in and spewing out dust. The reports that I have received thus far from blowers spewing out unwanted material hasn’t been dust but rubber particles of the inside of low quality blowers. I will admit that over the years I have been asked multiple times as to if this was a problem especially with the foot blowers. My response was to have the person find a cleaner environment if they were concerned with this being a problem. So if you are cleaning your camera in a high dust environment then one of these might be the answer or better yet use a Koh Dustless Bag. For the majority out there, if you already have a quality blower I see no need in replacing it with one of these with a built in filter although if you are in the market for a new blower, these give you more options.

Ok now for those soft tipped blowers. Not a bad idea but if you are getting your blower so close to the sensor that you have to worry about bumping the tip into it, you are doing it WRONG. The tip need not enter the mirror cage or get within striking distance of the sensor. If this is a concern of yours, it might be time to have a professional clean your camera as there is no guarantee that you won’t damage your sensor if you strike it even with a soft tip. 

As for the claim of less static being created by 1 blower over another, we will be doing some testing and get back to you.

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7. March 2009 by Curt Fargo.

We are moving all the Sensor Cleaning News from CleaningDigitalCameras.com site to this blog.

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