Sensor Swabs for sure. Guaranteed not to damage your camera. Hard to beat that! Plus, I think they are the cleaner of choice for 3 or 4 of the major camera manufacturers. If you send your camera to get cleaned, it's just getting the same treatment you could do at home for a $60 kit that will last years.

Thanks for the heads up on that...

That's great, I still think it's a last resort technique..

Warning on using Isopopanol alocohol on EOS 5D sensor!

5D and Eclipse fluid warning

5D sensor - RPS Forum

I don't care if they have a guarantee, I don't want to use an invasive technique if an non-invasive technique works very well. You can get effective cleaning without touching your sensor by using a rocket blower as I have suggested

Rocket Blower....WOW!!! [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

At the end of the day, I don't really care, it's your equipment. I'm just giving the most sensible advise. Try the rocket blower, if it doesn't get the dust off, send it in for a cleaning or do it yourself. Once it's cleaned, use rocket blower on the sensor often to not allow dust to build up overtime plus it's also very useful to blow off dust from the rear of the lens before you mount it to the body.

Hey, I care about YOUR equipment! :)

But I agree with you, start with the lease invasive and work your way up. The Rocket blower is a good tool. If that doesn't work, go for a brush (which, like the blower, works better upside down). If that doesn't work, as a last resort, go for the swab.

The links posted regarding cleaning fluids destroying sensors are from a couple of years ago & refer to the 5D Mk I & according to 1 or 2 of the links there was a bad batch of filters that allowed fluid to damage the sensor.

Either a brush or a blower will remove loose dust particles from the sensor (o rather from the filter that is in front of & protecting the sensor. The blower just moves the dust around in the chamber where it is ready to settle on the sensor sometime later. The brush method is able to totally remove the dust from the camera body but through poor technique may also just swoosh it around.

Wet cleaning will remove stuck on dust whereas the blower or brush cannot.

Cheers

Nigel

Look, this is not rocket science. Everyone who knows what the hell they are doing on this topic knows to start with least invasive and then move up the chain to wet wiping (being more and more careful as you move up the chain of course). We also know not to overly obsess on minor spots and to just let them accumulate until such time that you absolutely can't deal with it anymore. This is particularly true for spots that can only be seen at extremely closed down apertures.

For those who are nervous about cleaning their sensor here is an excellent video demonstration of how it should be done with a blower, sensor swabs & Eclipse. YouTube - The Wet Method of Cleaning a Digital SLR Sensor

Cheers

Nigel Barker

Go read the information about sensor cleaning at Cleaning Digital Sensors, Cleaning Digital Cameras - Photographic Solutions, Inc. - Digital & Photographic Cleaning Solutions They are the makers of Eclipse and E2 cleaning solutions and the Senosor Swab cleaning wipes. I have an original 5D and found that E2 was the proper cleaning fluid for this camera. The website indicates that Eclipse is the proper cleaner for the 5DMkII. They seem like a solid company who offer guarantee that their products will not damage cameras when used as directed.

Suck Don't Blow!!
 

A Vacuum Hose would lift debris away rather than disperse it. This is what I would use when required.

I thought the 5D2 has the vibrating/ultrasonic screen. Is this not working?

As it operates every time you switch the camera on or off there is no way of knowing.. It may be doing nothing or on the other hand it may be doing a great job & is saving you a lot of manual cleaning:-)

I suspect that it does a good job of shaking off loose dust that has just landed but that dust stays in the camera ready to settle on the sensor at some later date.

Cheers

Nigel Barker

It will shake dust loose, but not pollen or any oily/sticky contaminant.

Which I think was one of the discussions about my 5D1, that lubricants from the factory for the flip up mirror were getting on the sensor. On the other hand, I have never noticed lube on my mirror hinge, so that doesn't sound right.