tnf wrote:If he hadn't followed up the advice with a recommendation for a self-cleaning kit that didn't use a blower, but rather a vacuum attachment that hooks up to a can of compressed air, I'd agree there was self interest. He wasn't out for that. He told me that they can blow dust up behind things (he gave me some specific camera part names, but I can't remember them).
On the other hand, I've seen blowers recommended in lots of magazines, so its obvious there isn't a unified opinion on this in the cleaning world.
the overriding impression i'm getting from ploughing thru several different tutes on sensor-cleaning (actually, low-pass filter cleaning if we're going to be pedantic) is that a giotto blower is a worthy first effort, then some cleaner/swabs. i'm going to try the DIY method (i.e. swabs), because i think this is something worth learning to do myself. also, don't you have to be able to *see* the dust (i.e. with a loupe) to use those vacuum things? what if your dust bunnies are too small?
Also, interesting that you mention shops being closed. All the good photography mags seem to come from the UK (there are about 10 that seem to be clones of each other) and it looks like every city and town is teeming with camera shops based on all the advertisements I see. Plus you guys have a million-fold better photography opportunities over there - its rather boring here.
boring? you have a wider range of environments in the US, from manhattan to death valley. ok, those aren't necessarily on your doorstep, but they're there. you might think that living in oxford there'd be plenty of AAA grade picture ops, but tbh once you've taken your 1,000th gargoyle picture the novelty wears off pretty quick...
