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07-13-2009, 09:17 AM   #1
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Question about Pentax Sensor Cleaning Kit O-ICK1

Has anyone had any bad experience with it? My camera's sensor has some very stubborn specs that the Giotto blower could not remove. I'm trying to prepare for using the O-ICK1. (The kit's name makes the operation sound rather painful--oick!)

07-13-2009, 12:53 PM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by causey Quote
Has anyone had any bad experience with it? My camera's sensor has some very stubborn specs that the Giotto blower could not remove. I'm trying to prepare for using the O-ICK1. (The kit's name makes the operation sound rather painful--oick!)
Not me. Worked great on a D. I did need a wet swipe of the sensor at first because it was quite dirty....
07-13-2009, 02:52 PM - 1 Like   #3
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I have 3 sensor cleaning "tools"

- a good blower, this is the first (and usually last thing I use)
- an artic butterfly static brush, which I use only occasionally with dust I can't blow off
- a packet of lens cleaning tissue, which I have only used once, to get dust off my 5 year old and never cleaned (by a shop) *istD. Take a single sheet (while wearing cotton or latex gloves (to protect the sheet from skin oil, and wrap it around a Qtip or other long stick. once in place tape the end to keep it from getting unwound, and then use the stiff "tube" of the tissue to move any stubborn dust.

the lens tissue won't hurt the sensor screen, but you need to be really careful about getting skin oil on the tissue, otherwise you get a great smudge on the sensor.

I have never had a need to use any cleaning fluids yet.
07-14-2009, 12:43 AM   #4
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Thank you for your answers, Jeff and Lowell.

07-14-2009, 01:03 AM - 1 Like   #5
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I had a few stubborn dirt specs on my sensor that I couldn't get rid of neither with dust removal nor using my blower.

So after reading about it and hearing some people rave about it, I decided to try the Pentax O-ICK1. It wasn't obvious to get it here in Belgium, though it seems the local company the distributes Pentax among other brands is using it as their preferred solution for sensor cleaning of all brands they distrubute (that includes Leica). Perhaps that's why you don't find it easily in shops, since they keep the kits for themselves?

Anyway, I managed to get one, and after one cleaning my sensor was spotless. The kit is designed in a very user friendly way and the process is very easy. Stamp the dust from the sensor, and then stamp in onto the cleaning sheet to clean the stamp, stamp dust from the sensor, and then... The size of the stamp is quite a bit smaller than the sensor so a series of stamp actions is required to clean the entire sensor, but you could only clean the part that dust alert showed dust in.

Only problem is the cleaning sheets. The packet is "limited" and cannot be purchased separately, so when you're out you need to get a new kit entirely. Also it's a bit hard to see which part of a sheet has been used and which not, so even if the sheet is much larger than what you need for a single cleaning, you end up going through them faster than you might expect. Anyway, if you're only using the kit to clean you own camera and you don't go about changing you lenses in a duststorm on a daily basis, the kit will last a long time... If you're using it in a service context cleaning other people's cameras things are different.

hth, Wim
07-14-2009, 10:02 AM   #6
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Wim, thank you for your detailed answer.
07-17-2009, 04:39 AM   #7
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In the end I opted for the DustAid Dust Wand Kit. It seemed more capable to remove welded dust, according the the reviews I read. Indeed, it (almost perfectly) cleaned my sensor: only a tiny spec left, which is visible only at f/18 and above. I wholeheartedly recommended. (It will probably remove the remaining bit of dust if I applied it again, but I'd rather not force my luck.)

07-17-2009, 06:50 AM - 1 Like   #8
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...about the O-ICK1 or the "orange lollypop".

I purchased one of these fine tools as well. Seemed like it came directly from Japan, going by the packaging. I find that my procedure has done me well.

It works out to be:
1. Blow dust out with compressed and filtered air (for moisture, particles and oil)
2. I use the O-ICK1 for 90% of the stubborn specks. One sticky tool cleaning sheet goes a long way for me.
3. Lastly I use a vaccuum with a small detail kit for electronics. This is NOT used directly on the sensor! Simply used to introduce a negative pressure in the vacinity of the sensor. Then I take a single clean bristle from a new natural fibre paintbrush and use that to loosen the stuck specks that get sucked up. This single strand is kept with my cleaning gear and is held with a hemostat for ease of handling.

Happy cleaning dudes!

Last edited by digitalphil; 07-17-2009 at 06:52 AM. Reason: more details
07-17-2009, 09:06 AM   #9
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I have been using the orange lollipop for a couple years now and don't have any negative experience with it. I will say, however, that it doesn't do too well with oils that can sometimes get on the sensor. For that you need to do the swab method. Typically a blower and the lollipop do a wonderful job.

I believe the Pentax O-ICK1 and the Dust Aid wand are the same material, the Dust Aid version is just larger and cleans in fewer "dabs".
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