I wanted to share my experience with the Sony sensor gel stick available here https://photographylife.com/product/sensor-gel-stick-for-sony. My main motive for purchase was to save time and money by avoiding the tedious wet cleaning. I saw that it had a few good reviews and was being sold by one of the popular photography educators, so I decided to give it a try. I ordered direct from his site.
From watching videos, it seemed like a foolproof method. I placed the gel stick on the first dust spec, expecting it to be removed without issue. To my shock, the gel stick stuck to the sensor. I immediately panicked and pulled the gel stick off with a fair amount of force and to my horror, it left a large smear of residue. At this point, I stopped thinking clearly and placed the gel stick on one of the sticky pads, thinking that it would make the gel stick usable. I proceeded to place the gel stick on the sensor once again, and to my dismay, it stuck to the sensor once again. I don't think I've been so angry and shocked in my life. I waited until morning to cool down before I shot an email to the photographer. He proceeded to refund my account and told me a simple wet cleaning would fix the problem. He said that the problem was that my sensor had never been wet cleaned, so the gel stick would stick to it. Not wanting to take any chances, I sent my camera into Sony's repair service provider. I received my camera back after a few weeks. To my dismay, the senor was clean but it had a few new dust specs, plus there was a very faint mark at the bottom of the sensor. I thought maybe they didn't get all of the residue. I sent it back in, but received it in roughly the same condition.
I concluded that the only way forward was for me to remove the specs and mark myself. I decided that since I would be doing a wet cleaning, I might as well give the gel stick another try on the dust specs since the sensor now had two wet cleanings performed on it. To add insult to injury, the gel stick left more marks, though not as bad as the first time. That was the last try for the gel stick. I went ahead with a wet cleaning. I used a few different products to remove the residue and dust. The mark was unable to be removed. At that time, I realized the mark was not residue but rather a scratch. The scratch is located exactly where I first placed the gel stick. I sent the photographer an email about this and received no response back. The product is still being sold on his website with the same disclaimer that he is not responsible for any damage from use of the product.
Have any of you had a similar experience with the product?
From watching videos, it seemed like a foolproof method. I placed the gel stick on the first dust spec, expecting it to be removed without issue. To my shock, the gel stick stuck to the sensor. I immediately panicked and pulled the gel stick off with a fair amount of force and to my horror, it left a large smear of residue. At this point, I stopped thinking clearly and placed the gel stick on one of the sticky pads, thinking that it would make the gel stick usable. I proceeded to place the gel stick on the sensor once again, and to my dismay, it stuck to the sensor once again. I don't think I've been so angry and shocked in my life. I waited until morning to cool down before I shot an email to the photographer. He proceeded to refund my account and told me a simple wet cleaning would fix the problem. He said that the problem was that my sensor had never been wet cleaned, so the gel stick would stick to it. Not wanting to take any chances, I sent my camera into Sony's repair service provider. I received my camera back after a few weeks. To my dismay, the senor was clean but it had a few new dust specs, plus there was a very faint mark at the bottom of the sensor. I thought maybe they didn't get all of the residue. I sent it back in, but received it in roughly the same condition.
I concluded that the only way forward was for me to remove the specs and mark myself. I decided that since I would be doing a wet cleaning, I might as well give the gel stick another try on the dust specs since the sensor now had two wet cleanings performed on it. To add insult to injury, the gel stick left more marks, though not as bad as the first time. That was the last try for the gel stick. I went ahead with a wet cleaning. I used a few different products to remove the residue and dust. The mark was unable to be removed. At that time, I realized the mark was not residue but rather a scratch. The scratch is located exactly where I first placed the gel stick. I sent the photographer an email about this and received no response back. The product is still being sold on his website with the same disclaimer that he is not responsible for any damage from use of the product.
Have any of you had a similar experience with the product?
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