I just went through the nerve racking expierence of having to clean the sensor in my new DSLR for the first time. If you are a DSLR user, and you changes lenses, you may want to check this out.

This is a common problem for DSLR users who change their lens’. Dust can easily become trapped inside the camera; when you take a picture, opening the shutter and exposing the sensor, its is likely the dust will cling to the sensor. Usually a Rocket Blaster is enough to get this dust out, and should be used on every lens change. But what happens if this does not work? Visible Dust to the rescue! They sell a nice package, The Arctic Butterfly, that includes a few brushes which attach to a small battery powered handle which spins the brush to statically charge and remove any dust that may be on the brush. It also includes a Loupe with several LED lights to help see the sensor and mirror box. I was very nervous to put anything on the sensor, but it worked like a charm! The sensor looks brand new.

The product is available at B&H for around $200 for the kit. They do have cheaper models that are not batery powered and without the loupe. It seems a bit pricey, but we have invested much more than that on a DSLR with a large sensor. Not cleaning the sensor seams unjust.

If you are not sure if your sensor has dust on it, take a picture of a white piece of paper out of focus, at f11 or smaller, open it in photoshop, zoom to 100% and see if you see anything.

More about sensor cleaning can be found at The Digital Photography Show.

To see the Arctic Butterfly in action check out the demo video on their site.