Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab Ultra 17mm Type-2 Digital Imaging Sensor Cleaner Swabs for Cleaning APS-C Mirrored or Mirrorless Cameras. Sensor Dust & Oil Remover (Pack of 12)

Top positive review

Worked great for me

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2013

If your camera sensor cleaning system can't shake the dust off, or the dust can't be removed using a Rocket Blower, as was my case, these work well...as advertised. Sure they cost between $3 and $4 apiece and look as though they cost more than the sum of the parts, but remember, these swabs were put together in a clean room and are constructed from materials that are safe for cleaning camera sensors.

My experience with them, and the cleaning fluid that I purchased, was excellent. It sure beats sending your camera off to the manufacture for two weeks or more to have your sensor cleaned.

Just FYI, cleaning my sensor took all of 15 minutes from start to finish and took care of an abundance of dust bunnies and other grime stuck to my sensor UV filter...the glass filter that covers the sensor in most cameras. I did have to use 3 swabs, but my sensor was very dirty, and it was my first time. Even so, it cost less than $10 to clean the sensor, and I had the use of my camera immediately afterwards.

Was it worth it to me? Yes. Will I continue to use the swabs and cleaning fluid? Yes.

Hope this helps.

6 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Ryan

Doesn’t seem authentic.

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2023

Finally got these expensive swabs. Went to clean my sensor with my Eclipse cleaner and two swabs with about 3-5 drops on each are dangerous sharp edged. Looks as if my sensor is now scratched due to this. Previous swabs from BH Photo of this brand were not like this. Now I have a damaged sensor and swabs that can almost cut through paper after being liberally moistened with sensor cleaning fluid.

One person found this helpful

342 total ratings, 179 with reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

Amazon Customer

Worked great for me

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2013

Size: 24mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

JH in Houston

They work, just get used to the price

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2013

Size: 24mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

My image sensor (Nikon D700) got cleaned with two swabs. The most common complaint about these swabs is that they are too expensive. Well, as long as my sensor gets cleaned, they are well worth the money. Professional photography has never been known to be an inexpensive hobby. And to be fair, I imagine they probably don't cost a lot of money to manufacture in mass production, but the fact of the matter is there simply aren't that many users of the products, so they most likely have to make them in smaller batches, which cost more money and they have to make a profit beyond their business overhead to stay in the business. The resellers do not move so many of them in a month, so unless they can make enough profits on them, they probably would not want to keep them in stock. So if we don't pay enough to keep them in business, they may not be there when we need them next time, in which case we would be left with only two choices: Send the camera to the original manufacturer for cleaning or buy a new camera. Trust me, either one of these two options would make the swabs look soooo cheap!!!! And you have to do without a camera for a while if you send it back to the manufacturer. Buying a new camera won't make the problem go away either. I just purchased the new Nikon D800 less than a year ago and the spots have been appearing already after about 12,000 shots. According to some bloggers on the web, they say the manufacturers are oiling the camera bodies too much, that's why the spots are showing even in the new cameras. I don't know enough about camera construction to confirm their theory, but there seems to be no way of escaping it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Item works great and as expected.

Would recommend

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2024

Size: 24mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

100% would recommend, lens was super dirty and the wipe cleaned it perfectly. Just read the instructions before using.

Helpful

Eric Pare

Works well

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2023

Size: 24mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

Originally left one star. But was due to user error. As most things are i guess.

First streaky pic is using 2-3 drops as directed by most content creators and youtubers. Not sure how in the world they get good results. Found a comment in deep photography forums explaning to load the swab up with drops on each side and do the 1 swipe each side. This is specific to the AEROCLIPSE SOLUTION. thar being said, once the swab was wet enough it worked amazingly. See picture two...

At this stage would 100 percent reccomend.

The only reason for 4 stars is the direction to "use several drops" is not descriptive enough. Nor does the QR code that leads to a video explanation work. The video is unavailable.

Just wet the swab until its about 1/3rd wet each side (USING AEROCLIPSE SOLUTION ONLY) and do two passes and you should be good to go.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul M. Provencher

Dust Gone!

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2012

Size: 24mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

I noticed that my sensor had a lot of dust on it when I shot some images using f/22 - f/45 (long telephoto images). I spent a great amount of time on PhotoShop removing the dust images from my shots. It was actually quicker to clean the sensor than to edit the images.

I was uncomfortable to clean the sensor but after doing some reading I learned that the sensor as a protective coating and if you read the instructions for these products it's OK to clean the CMOS chip. You must read the information and do everything suggested. If you put the swab down on a table it's "dirty" and cannot be used. You should not use any other cleaner than those recommended. You must clean the mirror box and outside of the camera before working with the sensor. If you have dust in the mirror box, it's just going to get into the camera...

This swab is the right size for my Canon EOS 5D Mark II. It took a couple wipes to get all the dust off the sensor, but it left the CMOS chip perfectly clean, and solved my problem of dust on the sensor. It took a few tries to get everything. I just cleaned, made a couple exposures at f/45, checked them, re-cleaned, until it was done.

There are some dumb examples of cleaning on the web - for example there's this one guy that is in a desert, opening his camera and cleaning it from the back of his truck... That did not impress me - I'd rather be in a closed environment with no dust floating around. Another guy used the swab to scour the sensor - he literally rubbed dozens of times - that did not seem like a good idea either...

This swab must be used with some form of cleaner - I used Eclipse. This cleaner evaporates very fast and does a good job of cleaning.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Frank

if it takes two swabs like it did me it is only slightly over six ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2016

Size: 17mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

At first glance these seem very expensive, however, if it takes two swabs like it did me it is only slightly over six bucks to clean the sensor. That is a far cry from what it costs to send a camera off and have it done. I suggest looking at the video on the Photographic Solutions web site for a good review on how to clean the sensor. It may take several attempts to get the procedure down but it is actually fairly easy to do. A note of caution, the swabs look clean after one use, however, I introduce particles onto the sensor after reusing one. And yes, the instructions say discard after use! The Photographic Solutions web site is also a good source for determining the Type 1,2,3 swab that you need for your camera. They have all brands of cameras listed.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Gavin Farrington

Easy to use, better than Canon's own servicing

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2013

Size: 24mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

I've sent my camera bodies in to CPS (Canon Professional Services) for their "clean and check" service many times in the past. They do an OK job, but sometimes the cameras still come back with dust on the sensor. These seem overpriced for what they are, but so far I haven't found another option that beats it in terms of simplicity, effectiveness, efficiency (I can do it on the spot,) and doesn't require me to ship my camera somewhere.

Follow the directions closely, and it's pretty simple. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can use the same one to clean a second camera, or make multiple passes on the same camera. More often than not, it just ends up smearing the junk it picked in previous passes.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

D Harding

Worked well; easy to use. Perfect size for Lumix GH-5 sensor

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2018

Size: 17mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

They worked well with my Panasonic Lumix GH-5. It was hard to find the exact size swabs to fit that sensor, but these were perfect. It took two swabs to clean my sensor. I used them with Photographic Solutions Eclipse Optic Cleaner using three drops on the first swab which left one little streak, and then two drops drops on the second swab which, after letting it dry for a few minutes, resulted in a sensor that was streak and dust free. It was easy and I'm very happy with the results.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Matt M

Did the job!

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2024

Size: 17mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

First time ever doing a wet cleaning on any DSLR for me...I was quite scared but watched a bunch of videos and read the directions. Be sure to also buy the AEROCLIPSE Digital Sensor Cleaning Fluid (NOT the lens cleaning fluid) for use on the camera sensor.

Before/After shots attached, to see the dust set the slowest aperture your lens allows (mine was f/22), focus manually to the farthest distance, zoom to maximum, put the camera close up pointed at an even light source like an all-white page of a computer monitor. This gives you the most even lighting on the sensor (out of focus, avoiding any lens/lighting imperfections and hilighting sensor-imperfections). Then use photoshop to boost the contrast by about 70% and brightness by 10-20% and that should be a worst-case for dust spot identification.

Couple things...get a nice medium-bright flashlight to see down into the camera well. Also consider using only 1 side of several swabs, and "wet" both sides with drops until they appear to be "damp" about half way up the swab head.

I couldn't get rid of streaks doing a swipe each direction like the box says in my first two tries...but I ultimately decided to try 2 fresh swabs doing only 1 direction pass and that did result in a streak free sensor in the flashlight and got rid of my bad dust spots.

Helpful

M. Circo

Works when nothing else will.

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2019

Size: 17mm (12 pack)Verified Purchase

I had a significant spot on my sensor. Sony A6000. As this is a "mirrorless" camera, the sensor is out in the open whenever you change lenses. I got some sort of spot on the sensor. It wasn't dust and none of the touchless methods would get rid of it.
Skip to the end. These somewhat expensive swabs eventually did the trick. One important thing to watch for that caused me to waste the first swab. They seem to have "ears" of a sort on the working edge of the swab. That seemed to prevent proper contact in the center of the sensor where you needed it most. I used the inside of the sterile envelope the swab came in to press those ears outward and give a more flat look to the working edge. Finally on the third swab I got the hang of it and got rid of my spot.
Used "Eclipse" cleaning fluid on the swab. The instructions state "use a few drops". To get rid of my very persistent spot I had to use more than several. Say 10-12 drops to really get it wet. That removed the spot but left a sheen to the sensor. Used my 4th swab with only 4 or so drops and that removed the residue.
All in all it worked so I'm happy. Just watch the "ears" and watch for a residue if you use a lot of cleaner like I did.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Need customer service?

‹ See all details for Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab Ultra 17mm Type-2 Digital Imaging...

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab Ultra 17mm Type-2 Digital Imaging...

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab Ultra 17mm Type-2 Digital Imaging Sensor Cleaner Swabs for Cleaning APS-C Mirrored or Mirrorless Cameras. Sensor Dust & Oil Remover (Pack of 12)

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab Ultra 17mm Type-2 Digital Imaging... › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab Ultra 17mm Type-2 Digital Imaging Sensor Cleaner Swabs for Cleaning APS-C Mirrored or Mirrorless Cameras. Sensor Dust & Oil Remover (Pack of 12)

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab Ultra 17mm Type-2 Digital Imaging...

›

Customer reviews