Camera Cleaning Equipment (UPDATED: Has my dust gone?)

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Amnesia180

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Hi All..

I'm looking to purchase some equipment so I can clean the sensor/AF points etc on my camera... to keep it in good working order.

Any suggestions?
 
Hi All..

I'm still looking for some advice on camera cleaning equipment. After phoning around some stores, the cheapest quote I got was £40.25 and the most expensive is £60!

That is for a Sensor clean ONLY... and I think the mirror has some dust on it, but they said it doesn't cover the cost of cleaning that either.

I can't pay £60 and hear people do it themselves all the time, so I'm going to give it a go, just need to know what to buy!

Thanks,
Amnesia
 
I'll check out those links, thanks RobertP.

How does this rocket blower look? Are they the sort you mean.

Thanks,
Amnesia
 
I've had a quick browse through your tutorial and I think this is the method I will take... As these swabs seem to be able to get into sensor/mirror/af points etc?

I've checked out this website and they do a Sensor Multipack with Type 2 swabs (suitable for my 20D) for £22.95.

Do you think these will do the job? I'll also buy a blower.
 
Cleaning sensor - yes, I've done it, and it's not as scary as some people make out.

Cleaning Mirror - not advisable, that is even more delicate than the sensor. Being on a fragile mechanism and the actual silver part of the mirror is on TOP and not behind the glass. So unless dust on the mirror is affecting focusing then I wouldn't touch it.
 
I don't think any dust on the mirror is affecting focus. I'll try cleaning the sensor then.

All I want is for those blobs that appear when taking photos of the sky etc to disappear.

Thanks!
Amnesia :)
 
Sorry to keep bringing this up, but would the kit that I linked (in post #5) be suitable for beginner to clean the Sensor?

Thanks,
Amnesia
 
I have a Giottos medium blower and think I should have got the large so yes that will be fine.

The kits look OK. Dearer than just buying the pads and liquid etc. but not the rip off prices some places charge. Try the blower first as you may not need the wet clean stuff.
 
Excellent :-)

I'll get the large rocket blower first, then see what happens :D
 
My Rocket Blower arrived this morning, unfortunately it was Second Hand (which I did not realise) but I paid £9 (including postage and packaging) for a large Giottos rocket blower (size is about 18.5cm long)

Tonight I'll see how it works.

If it has muck stuck on it, should I use the brush method next or go straight to a wet method?

Thanks,
Amnesia
 
If it's 'sticky dust' the brush won't remove it, so you need something like the Copperhill method.

http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning

You can buy ready-made swabs at great expense, or use a PecPad wrapped around a spatula as shown in the above link. A glue spreader (cut down a little, if necessary) does the job.

You can buy PecPads and Eclipse fluid from Warehouse Express, Crown Digital and a few other places.

Good luck! :)
 
Once upon a time the recommendation was never to get a brush any near a sensor and the perceived wisdom was to go "wet".....

I've now reversed my opinion on all that....

Visible Dust's solution is the best I've ever come across and "wet" is the last thing to employ IMHO!
 
Thanks Silkstone, but I've found a website that sells it as a pack. I'm not too "creative" with hands on things so cutting up sticks etc may prove too overwhelming for me haha... so I'd rather pay the little extra and get the ready made kit. It's about £25 and contains fluid, pec pads, swabs, and something else but can't remember what. The link is further up this thread.

chuckles said:
Visible Dust's solution is the best I've ever come across
Click to expand...
Visible Dust? Can this be had in the UK?
 
Okay, they seem to do LOTS of equipment. It's time to go away and read up.. :)
 
I assume you were talking about the Sensor Brush/CO2 method from Visible Dust?
 
That was after I got my kit..... things had to change cos of aircraft security. I've used dSLRs since 2002 and this, IMO, is the best way to clean sensors...... :thumbs:
 
chuckles said:
That was after I got my kit..... things had to change cos of aircraft security. I've used dSLRs since 2002 and this, IMO, is the best way to clean sensors...... :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback Chuckles.... Visible Dust seems like expensive stuff, but for the price of my equipment - the math does itself.

But still, I may just have to put up with muck on my lens for now as I can't afford Visible Dust, BUT - I can afford a wetclean, so that may remove SOME of it.

Then again, my rocket blower may do the trick ;) It seems rather powerful and has just removed all the bits and bobs out of my keyboard haha!!

Thanks again

I'll update with my progress soon! :thumbs:
 
Order of Battle.....

Blow..... Brush..... Wet..... (couldn't find a wet "B")
 
A wet "B"... Hmm... Bathe/Bath? But that may give some readers the wrong impression!!

I assume any nylon brush with fine bristles (from say an art shop like Hobby Craft) would be okay? As long as I fully soak it and allow it to dry naturally first.
 
I tried that.... it's VERY difficult to get one without any deposits that aren't detrimental to the sensor or Anti-aliasing filter. I cleaned one of the recommended type for days on end in all sorts sorts of sterile liquids and STILL it had deposits which could be seen on a clean filter. I always test a brush on something like a polariser filter before getting it near a camera sensor.

I gave up in the end and went down the Visible Dust route. Time became money in the end.
 
Thanks chuckles.

I'll see how my rocket blower works out :)
 
The Visible Dust brushes possess no magical properties. ;) The same laws of physics apply to any good quality, fine nylon brushes such as the Daler-Rowney System 21, which cost £3 each.

However, they are all just brushes and will not remove sticky goo, pollen, oil spray etc.
 
silkstone said:
The Visible Dust brushes possess no magical properties. ;) The same laws of physics apply to any good quality, fine nylon brushes such as the Daler-Rowney System 21, which cost £3 each.

However, they are all just brushes and will not remove sticky goo, pollen, oil spray etc.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the physics and understand the process. Visible Dust were able to source the brushes that were free of the impurities I couldn't get rid of. And that includes the above mentioned item! I ran out of time and the will to keep cleaning dodgy brushes before I could clean my sensor.

Visible Dust were able to furnish a guarantee that their brush is ok with camera sensors. Daler-Rowney didn't seem to want to offer that. :thinking:
 
if you subscribe to Practical Photography Magazine, you get a Visible Dust brush free. Just got mine the other day. Mag was a birthday present from friends with the Brush a bonus :)

£44.40 for 12 issues, with brush (£46 or so?) free

Gary
 
Excellent :-)
 
chuckles said:
I appreciate the physics and understand the process. Visible Dust were able to source the brushes that were free of the impurities I couldn't get rid of. And that includes the above mentioned item! I ran out of time and the will to keep cleaning dodgy brushes before I could clean my sensor.

Visible Dust were able to furnish a guarantee that their brush is ok with camera sensors. Daler-Rowney didn't seem to want to offer that. :thinking:
Click to expand...

I'm not meaning to criticise those who have bought Visible Dust products, but I do believe there's a whole load of hype and snake oil in the sensor cleaning market right now, to justify high prices for simple things. The same applies to sensor swabs and such like at several £££ a go.

The filter over the sensor is as hard as a lens element or filter, so a fine brush isn't going to scratch it. I'd be happy to sell something like the Daler-Rowney and guarantee that it won't damage a sensor. I wouldn't use it on my cameras otherwise.

And then there's that 'Arctic Butterfly' thingy! When I first saw that I really thought it was a skit, but no, they're seriously charging lots of money for something to spin a brush. :bonk: Apart from the fact that you don't want to distort the bristles like that, using a blower or even spinning the brush between your palms will achieve the same at much lower cost.

All credit to them though - they certainly know how make the most of a market opportunity.
 
It wasn't the scratching that was a problem for me. I know how hard an anti-aliasing filter is, also some sensor to air surfaces. It was the residual oils and glue particulates that was my concern. I couldn't shift them no matter which product(s) I used to clean them and indeed which brush product. I never checked how accurate the statement was but I believe the earlier AA filters were literally a fine mesh screen (microns) which it was claimed could be perforated through the use of brush bristles. I should also add there was a lot of hype at the time and Nikon, at least, cleaned the sensors for free!

Their latest (spin!) is a bit of a gimmick but I bought the earlier version which used compressed cannister gas/air to statically charge the bristles. I had no objection to that. It worked.
 
It's never been the same since we scrapped the idea of having a new sensor for each shot. :(
 
Ha ha.... something I've not given in to totally. That reminds me. Must send off my latest Bronnie stuff!
 
Okay,

I've used the rocket blower and it looks like some of the dust has been removed.

Whilst looking at the sensor I can definitely see some muck on there... but if it's not causing much of a problem, I might just leave it (it's nothing that couldn't be photoshopped).

Before The Rocket Blower

After The Rocket Blower 1
After The Rocket Blower 2

They are the original files so may take a while to load.

And I can still see specs through the viewfinder... (But not as many.. I have a feeling they are on the mirror or whatever it is that I see through the viewfinder).

Unfortunately, I only have a cloudy sky and a cream coloured wall and its starting to get a bit dark.

If the after images aren't too clear, does anyone want to suggest how I can take a better image to show if there is any dust or not.

Thanks!
Amnesia
 
Ewan said:
A photo of a bright clear sky at a high f-number like f22 should show it up pretty well.
Click to expand...

You don't need a bright clear sky..... a sheet of A4 paper is all you require....

Stop down to the smallest aperture you can, overexpose by 1.5 EV..... you'll get a slow shutterspeed but you're not interested in the detail on the paper ;) or holding the camera steady -- just the crud that's on the sensor!

Go to photoshop or similar and then use auto-levels..... make sure you're sitting down first though.... you'll think you can "Dig for Victory" and hoe-up potatoes unless it's clean!

Edity..... don't worry about AF either.... manual or even OOF... it doesn't matter. It's the light "Scatter" onto the sensor that's important.... the smaller the aperture the less diffused/softer and better.
 
A lot of my photos were ruined with dust recently, luckily i could clone most of it out. Then again changing lenses on the beach didnt help even with all the protection around my camera
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'll get a better photo tonight (working at the moment)!

Cheers!
 
I've just subscribed to Practical Photography Magazine too. Having bought a few issues now it appears to be an excellent all round magazine. The free Artic Butterfly brush (worth £45) makes it a no brainer.
 
I would look at purchasing a proper cleaning kit other than relying on the rocket blower alone
 
Okay, I'll look into it :-)

Thanks!

P.s: I've taken a few photos and the marks do not seem to appear on any of the photos... maybe that's to do with the positioning of them?
 
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