I've never used Giottos Rocket Blaster. I just like the way it looks.
From Cool Tools:
This rubber rocket doesn’t provide as much pressure as Dust-Off. But it does exhale a forceful-enough blast for dusting photo/electronic gear, and standing upright on its base sidelines as playful desk dressing/stress-relief toy. I squeeze the oblong bladder (the rocket’s body) and a burst of air entering through a hole at the bottom exits the narrow hard plastic red nozzle.
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Looks more like an enema to me...
when you link to Cool Tools is there any way you can link to the specific item you're mentioning? or tell what date it was reviewed? the link just brings up the current page.
I use those at my job cleaning chalk dust off of electronics. Not too terrible, but your hands get tired after a few hours of use.
heh...He said "Rubber Rocket"...
Had one for about 3 years now, they have a very good reputation amongst photographers for being fairly powerful and being one of the first blowers with an air intake (and a valve) at the back so it doesn't just blow dust back onto the lens or sensor.
I love mine, they're useful and strangely fun compared to those old lens-brush/blower things everyone used to use.
I've got one of these in my camera bag, and I quite like it. I don't use it for hours at a time like @Moloko, but squirting dust off of my lenses and (occasionally) sensor, it's pretty good. Plus it's shaped like a rocket -- I don't think that can be emphasized enough.
I have one in my camera bag also. It never fails that when I am at the airport, do they want to see any of the camera gear or other electronics? Nope, they want to see what this weird shaped object with fins is. I usually have to demonstrate what it does before they get it. It does seem to work better than some of the other brands though.
These are excellent! A great investment... I love it!
reminds me of an old douche bottle
Where do the batteries go?
Yup.
I am so glad that someone said it looked like an enema bag before me...
Rocket enema. Sorry, some mental images do not deserve to ever be conjured up...
I own one and love it. This thing is really a must have if you own an SLR camera and change lenses a lot. Over time, dust settles on your sensor and you need something like this to safely blow it away.
I need this to replace the crappy brush/blower thing @5 reference for cleaning eyepieces I use for my telescope. And the rocket shape will make it all the more appropriate, given the astronomical subject matter.
They're also handy for blowing dust off of negatives when scanning them or printing in a wet darkroom. : )
I, too, love my Rocket.
And @#14, even without changing lenses, SLR sensors gather a lot of dust. I never remove my 100-400 from my 1Dmk2, but I still need to clean the sensor after every few days of heavy use (i.e. once every two airshows or so). Lenses that change size as you zoom will suck in air as they grow (and blow out air as they shrink) which allows for dust to enter the system. The 100-400 is particularly notorious for this. So the Rocket is as indispensable to my photography as, say, Photoshop. (I.e. not totally crucial but definitely improves things).
I know an anal douche when I see one.
most canned air carries a charge and such is counterproductive for using on camera equipment. Nothing like dusting off a camera sensor only to give it a charge that attracts dust.
I carry around a rocket because it gets around this and lets me knock dust off quickly without that concern.
RocketDouche!
I, too, have one of these and think they're great.
But I'll second #2's opinion that it'd be great if you link to the actual blog post on Cool Tools, not the blog's homepage. Thanks!
Yeah, one of those has lived in my photographer fiancé's office for a while now. I've always thought it was awesome.
There is one sitting by my keyboard as I type.
Gilbert Anonymous here:
I love it. Take off the nozzle, fill it with gunpowder, aluminum dust, and ball bearings, stick in a fuze, and you've got a grenade.
I worked in a darkroom at a college for 4.5 years, students used those to dust negatives... I still love them!
My wife has one of these. We've avoided taking it on plane flights, though, since it seems like exactly the kind of thing some TSA agent would confiscate due to stupidity.
You're supposed to use those to blow dust off electronics??
Oh...
You can always search Amazon for "Giottos Rocket Blaster".
Kinda looks like the old Russian F1 grenade too.
One of the big advantages of Giottos over most other blowers is that the tip stays in the same place as you squeeze it. When blowing dust off a sensor, other brands will bend, risking touching the sensor, which you obviously don't want.
Photographing in China a few years ago, I loaned mine to another photographer I met and he told me his was confiscated by the DHS guys at the airport who told him he couldn't take it on a plane because it was "shaped like an A-Bomb."
I've got one, and the worst thing I can say is that, because it's for blowing dust off of camera sensors and lenses, it gets stored away from dust in a ziploc bag. Every time I use it I think "I really wish I had another one just as decoration and play thing".
looks kinda like a dildo to me. I guess people like air blown up their naughty parts?
(funny one of the CAPTCHA words is bung...)
I have one on my desk right now, and one in my camera gear.
I use this almost every day. It's like dust off that never runs out of air.
Ha! Nat Geo photographer hubby has one - so I see it every day!
So I was in this camera store, and I needed an air blower thingie to put in my photog kit, and there were two blowers.
One was ugly and grey and looked like the design hadn't been very well thought through, probably unchanged since 1890.
The other one looked like a rocket.
Which one did I choose?
Answer: Rocket. In both sizes (it comes in large and small).
Hmm... and on further investigation, they come in colors too. Collect the set. :-)
It comes in 3 different configurations. Link below.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Giottos-ROCKET-AIR-BLASTER-Triple-Play-Set-Clean-Air_W0QQitemZ390015347514QQcategoryZ79000QQcmdZViewItem
Air blower? ...I'm pretty sure that's not why Grandma had them in the medicine cabinet. Is this a joke?
For removing dust? Well.. I did not use it for that.
Haven't used it for blowing dust off a sensor. My SLR vibrates its sensor to shake off dust, seems to work pretty well so far. Not sure if the Giotto is the best way to clean sensors--there are other solutions out there. It is a much safer way to clean slides than using canned air. Also great for dusting off lenses/filters. Not bad for cleaning keyboard. Blows but does not suck at the working end.
I have one of the bigger ones, it really blows.
"it looks like something you stick up your ass, so I will mention that" x 40 = this thread
Seems like this shows a need for a filter built into the camera body to filter the air as it gets sucked into the body as the volume of the interior increases with the change in the zoom lens.
Not having a camera like this it was news to me about the dust that accumulates on the interior. A whole new industry comes into being because the camera maker can't design to eliminate dust intrusion. Or is this something that you guys just live with?
The design is actually practical too: Keeps the tip up away from contamination and minimizes horizontal surface for dust to gather on. It's almost as powerful as canned air, and much safer on the equipment and the earth.
I have one of those. Every time my friends see it, they squeal 'Rocket douche!'.
http://store.coltstudio.com/product/1015/
http://store.coltstudio.com/product/441/
Sure it's an air blower.. Nothing wrong with recycling good design ;)
NSFW
Rocket-shaped air blower for a healthy cervix!
(the juxtaposition of this article with the next is a bit jarring)
@IGNOTUS, I agree there are other solutions for cleaning a sensor -- like the expensive and (in my experience) anxiety-inducing Arctic Butterfly system -- but for a quick shot of dry air to blow gunk from inside the camera body and sensor, the rocket is pretty much failsafe.
Also, the lack of sucking action at the working end I think is one of the blowers three main features (in addition to decent volume per squeeze, and rocket shape), is a pretty good feature -- it's not drawing in dusty air from the working end only to spray it back onto everything.
I'm glad someone besides me immediately knew not only the product, but also the brand that this rocket "borrowed" its design from.
My dog also has a red-tipped rocket.
I bought one and i was very disappointed. it doesnt have a lot of force...