Giottos Rocket Air Cleaning Equipment Review

The Giottos Rocket Air is a general purpose cleaning product designed to help remove loose debris and dust from a variety of different surfaces.

One area where Rocket Air will find friends is as a sensor cleaner. One of the unfortunate problems digital SLR cameras suffer from is dust on the sensor. It appears in your photos as annoying black blobs (or dust bunnies as some people call them) in the same place on each of your photos. There are really only two ways to deal with this;

• Clone out the blobs in Photoshop.

• Clean the dust from the sensor.

The first solution is time consuming and, because of this, it's only viable when the problem is slight.

The second option seems to be treated as if it were black magic, with many different weird and wonderful solutions being offered. If you have already tried researching the best way to remove the dust from your cameras sensor, you will have come across ideas like statically charged brushes and cleaning fluid with special swabs. The simplest and least risky option is to actually blow the dust away using a high power blower, such as this Giottos Rocket Air. Never use aerosol or compressed CO2 based blowers on your cameras sensor as these may deposit propellant inside your camera, damaging delicate optical surfaces.

Using the Rocket Air could not be simpler. Point it into the camera, or at the surface you wish to clean, and swiftly squeeze the bulb part of the blower. This removes dust and other debris fairly quickly and easily.

For such a simple device the Rocket Air has a couple of well-thought out design touches, which give it a definite edge over other similar products. The rocket fins act as feet so that the air nozzle doesn't pick up dirt itself from contact with surfaces. Also the sturdy red plastic air nozzle doesn't move around when the blower is squeezed, which allows you to direct the airflow exactly where you want it. On the downside, the design is bulky, compared to other air blowers, which means it is more likely to be left at home.

Verdict
Priced at around £7 the Giottos Rocket Air is only a couple of pounds more expensive than equivalent products, but the added usability, gained from its higher quality design, really makes this a good choice.

In summary, the positive points of the Giottos Rocket Air are:
Sturdy plastic air nozzle doesn't move around when the blower is squeezed, allowing you to direct the airflow more effectively.
The feet allow the blower to stand upright, which helps keep dirt away from the air nozzle

The negative points are:
The better design features add to the cost.
It's more bulky than other similar air blowers

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Test by Gary Wolstenholme