removing the dusts for less than 3 euros/dollars

It's better if you speak French though the photos are explicit. It DOES
work. I did mine in less than 10 minutes yesterday.
http://fovea.perso.cegetel.net/IonizerF.htm

 

It's also presented in english.
<http://fovea.perso.cegetel.net/IonizerE.htm>

 

Very elegant: no contact with the optics at all.

 

Quite clever. I'll wait for a few dozen testers first!

Cheers,
Alan

 

I was thinking about that, and I remember there used to be ionizer
'guns' for cleaning LP records. I wonder if any of those are still
available.

 

The most well-known of these was the DiscWasher ZeroStat, the one made
with a red plastic pistol grip. I still have one.

Static neutralizing guns have been in use for many years by darkroom
workers, for cleaning negs and slides. The principle is sound, but it's
not a panacea. Some dust particles adhere by mechanical or chemical
effects, and reducing static charge does not help to release them.

I would also be concerned about using a static gun very close to a
CMOS/CCD sensor. If the device arced to the camera, or released a
strong unbalanced current of ions, the delicate structures on the chip
could be damaged.

 

Some of those brushes used polonium, a radioactive source to ionize
the dust and make it lose it's static charge. They'd be safe, better
than something with an electric field anyway.
-Rich

 

This is also my main concern with the technique. I'll let others try it
for a few years first!

Cheers,
Alan

 

I don't think that there can be any arcing: remember, you have completely
removed one of the wires.
Further than that, you hold the device about 5 to 10 cm *in front* of the
camera, not *in* the camera.

Anyway, I tried and everything is fine. In fact, I used it before cleaning
the sensor. I also used a pressure gun (with moderate pressure) to dislodge
the would be last particles of dust (yes, I'm a bit of a kamikaze). And
now, I have a spotless image on my camera.

I think we have to be both reasonable and practical: my alternative was to
send my camera to have it cleaned (lots of ??? and 2-3 weeks waiting time).
Now I know how to do it and I can fix it anytime.

And oh, I forgot: I also removed the frosted glass because there was some
yuck lodged behind it. In fact, I did it before the sensor cleaning
operation as a warm up exercise.

Cheers,

Jean.

 

I realize that. I'm just concerned about the effects at the surface of
the sensor. If the technique is sufficient to cancel/neutralize the
static bond at the surface, then what else is it strong enough to do?

I agree on reasonable and practical. As another poster stated, there
is also the issue of dust stuck by humidity or other means, and the ion
gun won't do it for that...

I'll wait for a larger return of repeated uses of the electrostatic
technique.

Cheers,
Alan.

 

The Polonium brushes used animal hair which will leave sleeks all over your
sensor. You only want to use a synthetic brush on a sensor.

 

As another poster stated, there is also the issue of dust stuck by

This is correct, and I had to cleaned the sensor with pecpad and fluid to
get it perfect. I think the gun must/can be used before pecpads to make the
opertion more "sterile".
Jean.

 

The ions are hitting a niobium glass filter rather than the sensor. This
should effectively insulate the sensor from the ion stream.

 

At that point, I doubt there's much improvement in doing a static pass
before doing a wipe pass.

Cheers,
Alan