Unpopular opinion: using canned air for sensor cleaning is fine

I was at a workshop in Portland last June and this guy with a Leica tried to tell me I was ruining my cameras by using canned air on sensors. He said I had to buy a $200 vacuum kit. Look, I've been cleaning sensors with canned air for 8 years and never had a single issue. I just hold the can upright, give it a quick burst from 6 inches away, and go. Has anyone else had good results with the cheap method?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_rodriguez3012d agoMost Upvoted

That smudge story is exactly why I stick to canned air too. Three years ago I was cleaning a Sony A7III and the vacuum thing actually pulled a piece of the shutter curtain slightly off track. Cost me $400 to fix. So what do you think about the whole "holding the can upside down" panic people have? I've heard if you keep it vertical and don't shake it, the liquid never comes out. I've done that for years with zero issues. Have you ever accidentally tilted it or is that just a myth people use to scare us?

mileslane12d ago

You're all buying into marketing hype. Canned air is literally a solvent being sprayed into a precision instrument. That liquid everyone panics about doesn't just disappear if you hold the can straight. I've seen the residue buildup on sensor glass from people who swore they never tilted it. The real question is why anyone trusts a product that requires you to hold it like a surgical instrument just to not ruin your gear.

miasanchez12d ago

Okay wait, so I once tried the "proper" vacuum kit method and accidentally sucked a smudge INTO my sensor. Now it lives there forever like a tiny ghost haunting all my landscapes. So yeah, I'm back to the canned air approach with zero shame. Just gotta treat it like defusing a bomb - steady hands, no tilting, and definitely do it after three coffees like I did that one time.