What is safe to use for cleaning a camera sensor, and what are you actually cleaning?
Asked 3/1/2020
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What fluids are safe for wet-cleaning a camera sensor? People mention ethanol and isopropyl alcohol, but are household cleaners or eyeglass cleaners safe? Also, what is the front layer over the sensor made of, and why do some cleaners cause problems?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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In terms of wet cleaning fluids, the most popular sensor cleaning fluid is probably Eclipse made by Photographic Solutions. It is a very pure form of denatured methanol with almost zero impurities. Many types of alcohol used as solvent or cleaners contain impurities that can leave behind residue when they dry. These impurities will leave spots on the front of your sensor (or, more specifically, the front of the stack of filters directly in front of your camera's sensor¹). So using alcohol marketed as a household cleaner probably isn't a good bet, either.
Just bite the bullet and spend $20-30 on a sensor cleaning kit that includes 2-3 swabs and a small bottle of cleaning fluid designed specifically to clean your camera's sensor. Or buy swabs and fluid in bulk and save a little in the long run. That will go a long way towards reducing the chances of damaging your camera's sensor by cleaning it.
¹ Even cameras without low pass anti-aliasing filters, such as the OM-D E-M10 still have a glass cover in front of the sensor in the form of the infrared cut filter. Many also have glass plates where the two plates that make up the horizontal and vertical low pass filters would be. Some, such as the Nikon D800E and D810, even have dual horizontal low pass filters that offset one another.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
6y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
You are not usually touching the silicon sensor itself, but the filter/protective stack in front of it. The exact coatings can vary by camera, so the safest advice is to follow the camera maker’s guidance and use a sensor-cleaning fluid that is specifically approved for your sensor type.
From the answers here, the main risk with generic alcohols or household/eyeglass cleaners is residue: many contain impurities or additives that can dry into spots or damage coatings. That’s why purpose-made sensor fluids are recommended instead of random ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, or lens cleaner.
A commonly used option is a dedicated sensor-cleaning kit with proper swabs and sensor fluid such as Photographic Solutions Eclipse. However, even branded sensor fluids are not universal: some coated sensors (for example, ITO-coated types) may require a different formula such as E2 rather than standard methanol-based Eclipse.
So the practical answer is: use only sensor-cleaning swabs and a fluid specifically intended for sensor cleaning, and verify compatibility with your camera/sensor coating before wet cleaning.
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