DUST IN SENSOR

I have a spec of dust on the GH3 sensor. This never happened to me with the Canon T2i. The T2i has auto cleaning when it is turned off and the protection of the mirror. The GH3 is manual. It is the sensor because I changed lens and it remained there. I tried blowing it away with a small lens blower brush. What do you recommend 1) buying a pressurized nitrogen bottle, 2) buying a Rocket Air Blower, 3) buying swabs with sensor cleaning liquid?

http://www.cinecameratv.com/dust.jpg

I use swabs and sensor cleaning liquid. Always have.
The first two options won't work if the dust is stuck on the sensor.
OR
Very fine sandpaper usually works.

That's the bad thing about mirrorless. When the lens is off, bam...there's the sensor.

I can see three more dust spots. Be careful - it's easy to make it worse.

I'd advise against the nitrogen bottle - unless it's one specifically for the job.

@cinecameratv on the T2i the mirror has nothing to with the sensor at all as there is a shutter which covers the sensor. Don't own a GH3 so I can't say if there is a shutter covering the sensor on that camera.

Now to you question about cleaning the sensor. B&H sells a sensor cleaning materials and also a sensor scope. Myself I use a Delkin scope with a double bag which contains the scope, cleaning solution, swabs and duster. I have used the kit a few times as I like to change lenses while in the field on windy days.

Thank you all.

@jason - I will be buying one of those kits.

Many years ago someone who claimed to be an expert told me to use Post-It to pull the dust off and on stubborn dust bunnies use Scotch Tape. Do not do this. After all the tape residue that was left on the sensor and then trying swabs and alcohol the sensor was scratched. Several hundred dollars to get a new sensor back then. I'm sure more expensive now.

Cinecameratv..have no fear, you can easily clean that sensor so its like new. By the way you are NOT cleaning the sensor, you are cleaning the low pass filter that sits on top of the sensor. You never touch the sensor itself. I did it last month and restored this GH2 like new. I had a few annoying black spots in my skyline, especially when using wide angle lenses.

So here's what to do. Get this.

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Survival-KIT-Sensor-Eclipse/dp/B000PNJL6G/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?
ie=UTF8&qid=1381303692&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=gh2+sensor+cleaning+kit+eclipse

and this

http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA1920-Rocket-Blaster-Small-Black/dp/B000L9OIQ2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1381304137&sr=8-3&keywords=rocket+blower

I grabbed a headlamp like the type you wear hiking at night, a magnifying glass or if you have good eyes, nothing. Give it a couple of good blows with the blower to dislodge loose dust. Then follow the directions on the package. If you have dirt particles like I had that were stuck on there for a long time then it might take a few passes with the swab. To show you how not so delicate these filter covers actually are. I actually put a few drops of the solution right on my sensor covering and then used a regular Q-tip to very gently "mop" the entire surface of the low pass filter. Then I used one of the pec pad sticks as directed to sop it up. The thing came out beautiful. Be sure to order the right size for the GH2/GH3...there are several different sizes. I think you need the smallest, By the way they may only give you three plastic applicators and pads in the kit, but the pec pad sheets they give you for lens cleaning can be carefully cut to give you dozens more pads to clean the sensor with. Just use the tiny elastics to re-wrap the pads on the sticks.

That rocket blower is worth it's weight in gold for $7 and I wouldn't recommend doing it without it.

This may come off as a little bit insane, BUT when i got my first dust problems on my 550d i just exposed the sensor and vacuumed the shit out of it and it was clean again. B&H kit also sounds like a good solution, hope you fix it as soon as possible.

By the way, the only reason I resorted to "mopping" my sensor after repeated tries doing it the easy way as prescribed, is because I never checked my 14-140mm lens for dirt particles as well. I cleaned the sensor about ten times before it finally dawned on me that just maybe the end of my 14-140mm lens that connects to the camera might have a spot or two on it as well. Sure enough after wiping THAT down, it was good as new and all spots were gone...and my sensor got cleaned about ten times more than it needed to be...but it shows you how durable these things are.