Sensor cleaning fluids

[jaybird]

I was just reading something about someone cleaning their 5D with the wrong type of cleaning fluid and it basically destroyed some coating on the sensor.

I've never heard of this before so I checked cleaning fluids at B&W. Sure enough there are different fluids recommended for different cameras.

Is there any truth to any of this? I can't see the cleaning fluid for a 20D or 30D being different than that for a 5D or 1D or 1DMIII.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

[John_T]

...there were some incidences with some fluids and some 5Ds. Maybe read these links:

http://www.sensorcleaning.com/main.php
http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/

[jaybird]

That's what I was afraid of. I have some from when I was always using my 30D but didn't buy a new type of fluid for cleaning the sensor of the 5d.

What is it between the fluids that causes the problem with the 5D?

**EDIT

I just checked the B&H site again and only noticed that none of the Visible Dust products state which types of sensors they should be used with. Does that mean that they should be safe with any?

[Nicholas R.]

I was just reading something about someone cleaning their 5D with the wrong type of cleaning fluid and it basically destroyed some coating on the sensor.

I've never heard of this before so I checked cleaning fluids at B&W. Sure enough there are different fluids recommended for different cameras.

Is there any truth to any of this? I can't see the cleaning fluid for a 20D or 30D being different than that for a 5D or 1D or 1DMIII.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Jaybird,

The Indium Tin-Oxide coatings were improperly applied to about a dozen or so 5D's, and when Eclipse or E2 came in contact with them, the coating eroded. Last week, a fellow posted a case here where the Visible Dust formula removed his 5D coating, so this may not be a case of just solvents having this reaction. My impression after this VD case suggests that these defective coatings could be removed just by rubbing them.

Photographic Solutions guarantees their products 100% against damaging these coatings, so you may want to consider those. If you have a 5D, go to our website (Contact Us page) and mail us your serial number and we may be able to tell if your cam is from the same batch with the defective sensors.

In answer to your original question, E2 is a slightly weaker formula than Eclipse and SONY wanted Photosol to produce this for use on their Alpha D-SLR's. If the ITO-coating is properly applied, even Eclipse won't harm it in any way, and the newer 5D's should have non-defective sensors.

Nicholas
www.copperhillimages (http://www.copperhillimages)

[jaybird]

Nicholas:

I sent an email to the contact us address on your website. The cleaning of the 5D got me a little nervous because I read about people having problems with the coating. I never thought twice about it with my 30D and would have used the Visible Dust solution without even thinking as it does not warn against any types of coatings.