We’re big fans of air blowers when cleaning out dust from tight nooks and crannies, as they let you get the dust out without having to touch any part of whatever you’re cleaning. The Nitecore BlowerBaby uses the same basic concept as standard air blowers, but comes in a much more portable size, making it ideal for cleaning cameras and lenses when you’re on the road.
Billed as “the first electronic photography blower,” it reimagines the air blower as a pocket-sized device, allowing you to bring it along at all times, so you can blow dust out of your camera equipment whenever you need. Whether you spend the day taking studio photos, filming wildlife, or setting up at different location shoots, this thing makes it easy to clean your rig without taking up much space in your bag.
The Nitecore BlowerBaby is a small device that produces moving air blowing at a rate of 43.5 mph, which, the outfit claims, is twice the typical output speed found in traditional air blowers. Its main function is blowing air into the front opening of interchangeable lens camera bodies, allowing you to clean out any dust inside without having to stick a brush or a cloth in there, which could damage the sensitive optical components. Naturally, you can use it to blow air into, pretty much, anything as well, whether it’s a dirty light, a dusty mic, or a bunch of dandruff on your photographic subject’s hair, in case it doesn’t look to good on camera.
The device has a unidirectional air intake equipped with a high-density filter (that big round mesh on the side), so it takes in air while keeping out dust and other particulates, ensuring it blows nothing but clean air towards your sensitive equipment. It uses a standard filter, although it’s also compatible with CMOS filters if you prefer that when dealing with delicate camera gear. And yes, you can swap filters at any time, so you can replace dirty filters when their useful life is up. Do note, using a CMOS filter cuts down the air speed to 31 mph, which is a pretty significant step down.
The Nitecore BlowerBaby has a silicone nozzle to ensure it doesn’t damage any surface it accidentally touches, while the body is cut in aerospace-grade aluminum, so it should hold up to the demands of the field. That nozzle, by the way, isn’t just for blowing air out. Instead, it actually pulls double duty as a brush holder for attaching one of the two included brushes, with the outfit recommending using the brushes when cleaning lenses and other equipment that are not quite as delicate as the main camera sensor.
It has a 1,500mAh battery that, the outfit claims, will allow for an estimated 90 cleaning sessions. Sadly, they didn’t list how long each of those sessions should be, although we imagine they shouldn’t be that long, since we expect blowing air to get rid of dust in pretty short order.
The Nitecore BlowerBaby is available now.
