Giottos Rocket Blaster Air Blower

For whatever reason, an air blower is usually the last thing many photographers will reach for when cleaning the camera or lenses. I suppose that’s because they’ve got a reputation of being cheap little things that get tossed in with the $10 “cleaning kit” from the local camera store: those tiny plastic blowers can’t blow enough air to move a thing, and quickly get tossed.

And so, we rely on a microfiber cloth or lens cleaning tissues and expensive sensor swabs to keep our gear clean. Those items have their place, for sure, and I’d be lost without them — but a powerful air blower is a better choice simply because it doesn’t touch the optic, sensor or shutter curtain. The chance of causing damage with an air blower is just so much lower.

Comparing a tiny cleaning-kit blower to the Giottos Rocket Blaster Air Blower shows the monstrous size difference. If my math is correct, the small blower is able to move about 2 cubic inches of air per puff, while the Rocket Blaster can move roughly 10 cubic inches of air per puff! That means it’s actually useful, because it can easily take that statically-charged spot of dust off of the sensor or get that belligerent cat hair off the front lens element.

The Giottos Rocket Blaster is made of a soft rubber, so it’s easy to squeeze quickly, to really blast the dust out of the way. The “feet” of the rocket shape let it stand up easily, which is nice to keep it from rolling away when cleaning several things. It even comes in a variety of sizes, though the smaller ones will obviously blow less air and therefore be less useful, in my opinion.

It can be used for cleaning other things, too — I find it works well to clean the dirt out of my keyboard. Highly recommended!