[jamesm007]

IMHO

Don't use a blower or any dry wipe method, do a wet clean. Many manufactors make wet swabs; including low cost kits (Visible Dust). These are safe and very effective for dust as you have. With one wet swab I could clean all of that in 20 seconds, its not bad or damaged from what I can see.

I do use and recommend a brand I use. I have no connection with them. I was going to tell you to just Google wet swabs but too much info came up and not enough products. Go to your local camera store and buy any brand of wet swabs they suggest or order something like this VDust Plus sensor cleaning kit ? removing water, oil stain. . This is what I use as part of my dSLR cleaning kit and has worked for years now. Other well respected brands are out there to.

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Last edited by jamesm007; 01-16-2012 at 07:30 PM.

[Basie]

I tried the artist brush and blower method and on dust alert there is now no sign of dust, but I still think condensation had a role to play since photos taken the day before with the same small f stop did not have it and photos later on did not show dust, but there the f stop was much larger.

I will obtain a wet kit as well, but am still wondering how regular to do a clean. It was not difficult at all with the brush and blow, but obviously a wet is more involved. Is the dust alert alone useful

[Philoslothical]

The way I usually test is to open a new browser tab, hit F11 to full screen it, so the screen is entirely white, and then snap a pic of it at f./32 or so. I don't have a set schedule, just whenever it occurs to me, or something shows up in a photo.

[Canada_Rockies]

My sensor cleaning consists mainly of using the Rocket Blower with the mount pointed down supplemented by having the sensor shake on camera start up and periodically doing a sensor cleaning shake or three with the open mount pointed down. I have and use five lenses regularly, so I do change them outdoors. Lens change procedure is to hold the camera mount down on the (possibly crazy) theory that dust falls down, not up. I do have a liquid and swab sensor cleaning kit that I have used once in three years. I've never had a professional cleaning per se, although the camera was repaired by Mr. Pentax after I cracked the top plate (and me) on icy rocks, so it was possibly cleaned then. When shooting under waterfalls (K10D + 16-50) I don't change lenses until I get back to the pickup and wipe down the outside of the camera.

I am also a nut about cleaning lenses. My family is kind of used to seeing me at the table with the gear and the blower and the lens tissue and liquid at least every other night when on a trip. This has nothing to do with digital cameras and everything to do with having clean lenses that have clean glass. In the digital world, it's entirely possible as mentioned above that dirt on the back of the lens can fall onto the sensor.