Carson SM-44 SensorMag LED Lighted Cleaning Loupe for Camera Sensor

if you are looking to clean your own dslr sensor then this is a fantastic tool to let you examine both the cleanliness of the sensor and its surrounds all brightly lit and magnified. Before using this loupe I relied on sight only and have been fairly succesful but what I was unable to see was all of the crud which over time had found itself into the sensor housing and just waiting to find its way onto the nicely cleaned sensor. The item is all plastic construction but seems well made, it fits loosely on the lens mount but I did not find this a problem as you are not going to go walking around with the loupe attached, I found the swinging lens feature to be next to useless and needed to remove the device to alow for cleaning but just replace the loupe again after cleaning to inspect the work. I used this on a Nikon full frame camera and I would recomend it to anybody with a dslr who is looking to save money on pro cleans and clean their own sensor (and would like to see what they are doing).

Brilliant! I've never cleaned my sensor before and have a full frame Nikon D600. Having watched a number of videos on Youtube some said you should just use the swabs and fluid, others recommended using a magnifier as well. I plumped for the latter. This magnifier makes it so easy to see both dust and any smears you leave with the fluid, which I don't think can be done easily using the take a photo method. The magnifier can also be used for lots of other purposes. I'm used to using a hand lens (former geologist), but the inbuilt lighting makes it so much more effective. I'm so glad I purchased this product and will not be keeping it just for the occasional sensor clean.

REVIEW OF THE CARSON SM-99 SENSOR CLEANING KIT I'm going to consider the two main components of this kit separately, for reasons that will hopefully become clear later on. 1) THE SENSORMAG ILLUMINATED LOUPE Pros: + Although it's constructed entirely from plastic (including the optics, most probably), the unit appears well made and generally robust - the only slight concerns being the switches and battery compartment cover, which hopefully prove to be much sturdier and resilient than they look + You focus by twisting the knurled ring of a monutube, which screws upwards (and outwards) via a rather basic helicoid arrangement (the monutube assembly can be completely removed from the base unit, to assist with cleaning the lenses' outer surfaces.) The enlarged image provided by the loupe is clear and sharp, with its 4.5 x magnification being perfectly adequate for the full-frame sensor I used it on - although of course, it might not prove quite so good with smaller sensor formats + The upper part of the base unit holding the optics can be swung clockwise/horizontally away from the lens throat to a maximum limit of 45 degrees, although it doesn't perhaps move far enough to grant unrestricted access to the sensor for cleaning purposes. I find it easier to remove the unit altogether once I've thoroughly checked the sensor, then replace it after cleaning for a final inspection + The six small LED bulbs located in a collar around the unit's underside (controlled by a small sliding on/off switch) provide a bright and even illumination of the sensor (the SensorMAG is supplied with 2 x CR2032 batteries, already pre-installed) + Another small sliding switch (this time, located to the side of the SensorMAG's pedestal section) somewhat bizarrely extends/retracts three curved and narrow 'feet' from underneath the base, which I understand are intended to stabilise the unit on Nikon DSLRs... + The SensorMAG comes handily supplied with its own semi-rigid zippered travel/storage case Cons: - The SensorMAG has been designed for use on DSLRs - NOT mirrorless cameras, where the flange-to-sensor distance is much shallower. If you want to use it on a mirrorless camera, I recommend that you buy a cheap Nikon to (your camera) adapter to act as stand and spacer - increasing the distance to the sensor and so allowing you to focus the SensorMAG properly - The unit can feel a little unstable (wobbly) on some camera mounts 2) THE DUSTBLASTER BLOWER Pros: + The blower's generous silicon rubber bulb is 90mm long, with a maximum diameter of 210mm - so there is certainly the promise of some decent puff! + Its nozzle has a soft tip (to avoid contact damage...?) and is finished in a very conspicuous fluorescent orange colour (to aid with proximity awareness, when positioning the tip within the camera compartment...?) + It includes a fixed but rather basic plastic side clip - as I understand, for conveniently attaching the blower to a belt or strap + It might have been coincidental, but the styling makes this blower look for all the world like a hand grenade - waiting for the pin to be pulled! Well, it amused me...but it could prove problematic the next time my camera bag is being searched at the airport! Cons: - That fluorescent orange tip. According to Carson, it's been designed to prevent dust from being drawn back inside the tip - and from there, being transferred on to the sensor. In reality, the tip (a pointed piece of silicon rubber, cross-cut to create four flapped sections that theoretically close off the nozzle when the bulb has been released) manages to impede the peak airflow quite significantly without actually delivering too much of a benefit in any meaningful way. In other words, it' a gimmick. If dust acquisition/accumulation within the blower were to be a problem, surely a few preparatory puffs would disperse it..as it would with any blower? In truth, the real cause of dust being blown on to the sensor comes from the intake valve in the base of this and every other blower, by which the blower sucks air in and re-inflates: as far as I can tell, the DustBlaster doesn't seem to feature any kind of special filtration in this area to prevent it - The DustBlaster is surprisingly noisy in operation - producing a sort of gasping whine that not only distracts but occasionally embarasses, too - At 75mm (including the tip), the nozzle is unhelpfully long - ironically, making it difficult to judge just how close the tip is getting to the camera's sensor, despite its lurid colouration! - I don't know whether it's the materials from which it's made or whether it's the adhesives that hold it all together, but the DustBlaster certainly gives off a noticeably pungent smell - though it's sweet rather than acrid in nature In summary: The SensorMAG loupe works well and is sensibly priced. The DustBlaster doesn't work very well and is over-priced. The obvious conclusion...? Ignore the SM-99 Sensor Cleaning Kit and only buy the SensorMAG loupe as a lone purchase. If you need a decent and properly filtered blower but resent paying the asking price for Visible Dust's Zeeion or Zee Pro blowers (and who could blame you?), you might want to consider a JJC CL-DF1 Professional Dust-free Air Blower for Removing Dirt and Dusts on Camera Lens, LCD, Sensor Keyboard Laptop etc. (Yellow) instead.

As a Sony Alpha user (A7Rii) the issue of dirt on the sensor is massive. Leave your sensor exposed for a couple of minutes even in a dry clean room and the ability for the sensor to attract dirt is massive. The problem with that is that especially when you are using the video functionality, if you lower your F-stop below F4 then you'll start to see the dirt grains and large blobs on the image. When you use this SensorMag it will show you exactly where the dirt is. Use this in conjunction with the swab cleaners you can buy on Amazon, and hey Presto you have a clear sensor. The product comes with instructions that'll give you a 'best practice' of what to do from checking the sensor dirt whilst taking a still's picture, all the way through to cleaning the sensor correctly. Invaluable if you use your mirrorless camera for paid work!!!

I bought this to tackle a stubborn piece of dust on my Sony A7Riii's sensor. The loupe is well presented, with a zippered case for protection. Operation is pretty simple - perch it on your lens mount, turn the LEDs on and adjust the focusing slider until you can clearly see your sensor. There's an opening at the front, so you can use it with a swab or Lenspen Sensorklear 2 to target dust particles. The magnification and illumination are good enough to find dust spots that aren't visible to the naked eye. For the price, I strongly recommend it for anyone tackling sensor cleaning at home.

lights & mag very good but not a true fit.

This inexpensive loupe is just invaluable. It's an all-plastic build, but the quality is fine. The LEDs are very bright and illuminate the sensor perfectly. I bought it for use on M43 mirrorless DSLRs (Lumix GH4s and GH3s), and whilst it doesn't slot into the lens mount and sit tight, it rests perfectly on the camera body. It made wet-cleaning the sensor a breeze, inasmuch as it showed clearly every irritating little spec of dust. Made the whole process so much easier and quicker.

Lo usé para limpiar el sensor de mis tres cámaras, sensor apsc y micro 4/3. Este producto es indispensable para poder ver exactamente el lugar donde se encuentra el polvo o suciedad a retirar gracias a su gran aumento. Lo usé junto con unos cleaning swabs (especie de cotonetes) de microfibra y en un solo paso limpie el sensor y quedó como nuevo

Très bon produit pour vérifier la propreté des capteurs, très bon prix et très efficace, indispensable pour vérifier son capteur appareil photo, livraison rapide, je recommande

Cumple con su función, buena herramienta para mantenimiento de tus electrónicos

Fait beaucoup de bruit à l'utilisation. Par ailleurs, le souffle n'est pas puissant du tout.

Just as the other reviews say - to focus on a mirrorless sensor you end up unscrewing completely from the barrel to get focus but when you do, it shows every detail you need to clean your camera. Badly in need of a design update but I've added an extra star as there's literally nothing else out there at the price. Does the job.