Sensor Swab Ultra and Sony Cameras

We have received multiple inquiries in response to Photographic Solutions, Inc.'s urgent bulletin about using their New Sensor Swab Ultra™ with Eclipse® (Methanol) on Sony Cameras. This issue is only being reported by Photographic Solutions, Inc. and is unique to their Sensor Swab Ultra™. As reported by Photographic Solutions, Inc., the Sensor Swab Ultra™ requires more pressure and more solution than their original Sensor Swab®. It is very easy to tell the difference between the two versions as the original Sensor Swab® has a rubber band holding the material to the handle and the Sensor Swab Ultra™ does not. Their fix for using the Sensor Swab Ultra™ on Sony cameras is to use their Aeroclipse™ instead of Eclipse®.

Aeroclipse™ is suitable for cleaning sensors but Methanol (Eclipse®) is the better cleaner of the two and much less expensive. If you still have some of the original Sensor Swab's®, they are safe and good to use on all cameras with Methanol (Eclipse®).

The original Sensor Swab® has been the best sensor cleaning swab on the market since 1998. As you can see we have endorsed it heavily on this web site and elsewhere since the beginning. Unfortunately in 2015 Photographic Solutions, Inc. started replacing the original Sensor Swab® with the Sensor Swab Ultra™. Although the name is very similar and in appearance they look similar but these are two very different swabs. The original Sensor Swab® was made in the USA and the Sensor Swab Ultra's are being imported. The material used on the paddle is very different too, the original Sensor Swab® used a clean room wiping material which was folded and held on with a rubber band. The material used on the Sensor Swab Ultra™ is polyester which is attached by heat and requires more pressure and more chemical for the cleaning process. The Sensor Swab Ultra's™ corners are rounded making it harder to get edge to edge cleaning results. Around the same time of this change, we noticed that Photographic Solutions, Inc. also stopped offering their no scratch guarantee for their swabs. Their current guarantee against chemical dame can be found on their web site.

For us, the biggest concern we have with the Sensor Swab Ultra™ is the possible sharp corners that can come in contact with the sensor. These sharp corners are caused by the melting of the polyester material in the manufacturing process. We have tested many samples of the Sensor Swab Ultra™ and came across too many sharp corners and therefore we would never use them on our own cameras nor would we recommend them to anyone else.

Major revisons in the works

We are currently working on a major revision to CleaningDigitalCameras.com due to some major changes made by existing brands in the market. Namely Photographic Solutions discontinuing the Sensor Swab®. Yes they have come out with a new swab that they are calling the Sensor Swab Ultra but this new swab is a totally different product and we don't recommend it.