Lenspen question

[muscleflex]

hi all - can anyone please clarify this for me:

is the lenspen supposed to be dry? or is it wet from the cleaning agent?

i just bought one and the pad is dry..so i don't know if i got sold an old used one or it's supposed to be dry.
it's a jessops' lenspen.

[DavidW]

Dry - the cleaning agent is a powder.



Dvid

[zacker]

lol.... when i first got mine i touched it to see if it was wet and got all this blac stuff on me... i got scared it was gonna color my lens black so i tried it on my sunglasses first...lol I love my pen, it goes everywhere i go when i got my camera!!

[simwells]

I got a cheap one free with a lens, and boy using that one was a bad idea

[muscleflex]

hmm - thanks. it did put some black stuff on my hand when i tried it.
so - how does this work then? do i just apply it dry on my lens'? (or in this case, my camera sensor - just like cyberdyne systems does) or do i breath on it first before applying this?

[tekkie]

I use it totally dry, after the black things wear off I use it with breath, seems to work pretty good

[zacker]

i dont know about CDS but I wouldnt even think of using it on my sensor... grinding in all the dirt does not sound like something id like to do. According to the Instructions... you first remove visible dust and dirt witht he brush end and then use the pad side to remove SMUDGES... the Lens Pen is made for removing SMUDGES NOT DIRT!! for dirt that wont brush off you should be using a lens cleaning kit and for sensor dirt...nothing but a rocket blower..IMHO of course...

[JohnJ80]

i dont know about CDS but I wouldnt even think of using it on my sensor... grinding in all the dirt does not sound like something id like to do. According to the Instructions... you first remove visible dust and dirt witht he brush end and then use the pad side to remove SMUDGES... the Lens Pen is made for removing SMUDGES NOT DIRT!! for dirt that wont brush off you should be using a lens cleaning kit and for sensor dirt...nothing but a rocket blower..IMHO of course...

The only reason to not use the lens pen on your sensor is that it won't fit well. The sensorklear has a shape more useful on your sensor.

They work great when you can't blow or brush the smudge off. Just today, I had a smear - looked like some lube from inside the camera - got on the sensor. The sensorklear did a great job in cleaning it up quickly and well.

Your sensor is covered with a piece of glass - no big deal.

J.

[muscleflex]

^^ thanks for that. i guess i'll have to go back to jessops and get sensorklean then!
i'd love to use copperhill but they just cost too much money!

[zacker]

Ummm... it would be a cold day in **** before i attempted to use a lenspen on a sensor... after hearing the horror stories of what happens when sensor cleaning goes bad...lol Seriously, i find that using a rocket blower helps alot and that means doing it often and not letting dust collect and sit on the sensor. I saw a post of a 5D owner who was cleaning with the copperhill system and wore off a big spot in the protective cover of the sensor and absolutly ruined it. But I guess to each their own as I have heard alot of guys here say they wouldnt use a lens pen on a lens for fear of scratching the coating.. like i said, to each their own.

[JohnJ80]

Ummm... it would be a cold day in **** before i attempted to use a lenspen on a sensor... after hearing the horror stories of what happens when sensor cleaning goes bad...lol Seriously, i find that using a rocket blower helps alot and that means doing it often and not letting dust collect and sit on the sensor. I saw a post of a 5D owner who was cleaning with the copperhill system and wore off a big spot in the protective cover of the sensor and absolutly ruined it. But I guess to each their own as I have heard alot of guys here say they wouldnt use a lens pen on a lens for fear of scratching the coating.. like i said, to each their own.

The problem with blowers is several fold:

1. If you have to clean in the field, which is sort of the side topic of this thread, if you are in dusty air, you just rearrange the dust on the sensor since the blower is not filtered. You blow some out with the stuff you blow back in. I've often found that I can get maybe 70% of the dust out, but after that I seem to just be rearranging it. The only thing that gets the dry dust out permanently and fast that I have found is the Arctic Butterfly.

2. The air velocity out of the blower is so high that it is easy to drive dust into places you don't want it - like the viewfinder.

3. Blowers won't dislodge sticky dust (think pollen). Nor will they do anything with dislodged lube - a problem I have had to deal with 2X times now. I have to deal with pollen issues almost daily this time of year - fortunately they are handled well with the Arctic Butterfly. The only ways to get lube out are (1) lenspen and/or Copperhill or other wet cleaning, (2) professional cleaning. When the lube issue happens, you are down from shooting until you clean it up.

BTW, the damage that was allegedly done by Copperhill cleaning was on a 5D that has some special kind of coating on the sensor. A different fluid (Eclipse E2) is recommended for that and, I believe, the 400D too.

I've cleaned my sensor lots of times. I go in this progression; Arctic Butterfly->sensorklear->copperhill (when back home). This isn't tough to do, it isn't dangerous to your camera and it works.

J

[zacker]

all good points john.