A couple of months ago, I posted a blog entry about how much easier cleaning my camera's sensor is with the sensor loupe. Well, I probably wrote those comments a little too soon!

After receiving my sensor loupe, I was able to quickly locate the dust on my sensor. Using a sensor brush, most of the dust was easily lifted from the sensor. Any remaining particles were removed with a couple of swipes using the very expensive Visible Dust Sensor Clean swabs.

My confidence began to rise as I successfully completed a second sensor cleaning before leaving for my Texas Road Trip in early January. While in Texas, I shot for 17 consecutive days...thousands of images...hundreds of lens changes in the field. I follow all of the tips about minimizing the risk of dust--changing lenses with the camera facing down, turning the camera off before removing the lens, etc. Yet, needless to say, my sensor was a mess by the end of this 17 day journey.

When I returned home, I attempted to clean my sensor. As expected, the view through the sensor loupe revealed a lot of dust. I used the sensor brush to try to lift the particles. Many particles were removed, but a few remained. I decided to use a Sensor Clean swab. At $3 a pop, I hoped to to minimize the number of swabs. After the first try, a few dust particles stubbornly remained. I went back to the sensor brush. But, this time I accidentally touched the side of the chamber with the brush before it made contact with the sensor. The result was a sensor with something (oil?) smeared all over it!

So, it was back to the Sensor Clean swabs. I used eight of those in total ($24) and still didn't have a clean sensor. I still had some of the much cheaper Copperhill Pec Pads (which only cost pennies each) left over from past cleanings, but for some reason I could not get the solution to stop smearing across the sensor.

Before risking damage to my sensor, I decided to go back to APS to have my sensor cleaned. I drove up to the Morton Grove facility, paid $45, and waited while a technician cleaned my sensor. He was able to get my sensor clean and reported that there was no damage. He also informed me that both Nikon, and APS, advise that I don't touch the sensor again. He said that cameras come into the facility all the time with scratches on the sensor--and that a scratched sensor often means a trashed camera or very expensive repair.

I mentioned that I shoot a lot--and that if I never cleaned my own sensor I would probably be visiting APS every month. At $45 a shot, and with a 70 mile round trip drive--that's not happening.

So, my next experiment will be with a brand new cleaning tool. It's called the "Sensor Gel Stick". It looks easy enough to use and does not involve any cleaning fluids. If I struggle with the gel stick, I can always bring my camera back into APS!