I have used a blower and Arctic Butterfly brush for several years now on my D300. This past week, my 10 month old D700 was showing spots. I tried the blower with particles still there according to the loupe viewer, then I tried the brush. It seemed to have worked. Then, I found smears on the sensor. I tried the wet method using the Visible Dust swabs and VDust plus. It left a terrible smear on the sensor.

I ordered some of Visible Dust's Smear Away on Saturday. Today, I called Visible Dust and found that I needed the RED bottle of smear away. I created a new order. The individual at Visible Dust stated that if you have a Nikon, then you MUST have the RED smear away to use after a wet cleaning.

In the meantime, I ordered one of the Copper Hill Images sensor kits. There seem to be some photo stores that are "cleaning centers" listed on their website.

Also, Visible Dust tech support said you can/should clean your Arctic Butterfly brush and the cap in 99% Iso alcohol (rubbing alcohol?). Dip the brush in alcohol in a clean glass. Gently press against the side to remove some of the alcohol. Spin and let it dry. He suggested this cleaning something you should do frequently, especially with a Nikon as they have oil/grease near the sensor.

Both websites have several tutorials on cleaning, I would suggest reading/viewing both multiple times to become familiar with the process. Moose Peterson (http://www.moosepeterson.com/blog/about/moose-video-guide/) has a four part guide for cleaning including sensor cleaning with Visible Dust and Copperhill.

Last, if you cause damage then you can have the low pass filter replaced by www.LifePixel.com. It is around $650. (Not there yet....)

Gary

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