How often do you clean your sensor

alfbranch

alfbranch

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I am curious how often to you clean your sensor?
 
I make a point of testing the camera for sensor dust before every important shoot. If it needs it I'll clean it and if it doesn't I wont touch it. I'm going to drop in lucky soon as I've got 2 shoots coming up on the 8th/9th November and I'm going to the Lincoln Photo show on the 6th and I'll get a free professional clean then. I've only cleaned the 5D3 three times in 18 months and I've not needed it on the 70D but that's only 2 months old anyway.
 
More often than many people with newer cameras that have a sensor cleaning mode
 
Only when needed even if they are offering a free clean,its the heart of the camera make no sense to keep cleaning it if their no dust bunny :)
 
Once every few months. It takes about 5 minutes, it's easy and there's no good reason not to. As someone else said, I get fed up having to clone out dust spots. That is usually the indicator to get it done. On cam cleaning doesn't do much tbh. I click that every now and then anyhow.
 
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I check my Panasonic G1 whenever I've done quite a few lens changes but it rarely needs a wet clean and indeed has only needed two or three since I got it. Its sensor is currently clean at f22.

I check my 5D whenever heading out for the day and also when I get home again. It often needs cleaning and I don't know how many times I've cleaned it - lots. The last time I checked it too was clean at f22.
 
Not as often as I perhaps should judging by the amount of bunnies I had after shooting some landscapes recently.

I'd been shooting birds and wildlife between 2.8 and 8.0 for so long that I had a nasty surprise from 11 and down.
 
A letter in AP this week complaining about this subject made me wonder.


rjbell said:
ive never cleaned a sensor
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Neither have I and I have more problems with splashes on filters than dust bunnies in fact my old camera doesn't have them. I look again at it in a few years and see if needs a clean then.
 
When it needs it. I shoot wide open normally so don't really see any issues until I've used a narrow aperture. I then either clean it myself or ask to have it done when the body goes in for a service.
 
When it needs doing. Not sure I've ever done either of my x00s but used to have to do my old D200 relatively often.
 
I've never wet cleaned a sensor. 450D since June '09 & 5D2 since Oct '10 - I have a few on my 5D2 [I never use the 450D to tell!!] but they only show up when doing long exposure stuff & the aperture is f/13 or smaller..... May give them a decent rocket blow every few months.
 
I've not had to do a wet clean on my 5D3 yet in 18 months, the inbuilt vibration seems to work well. My digital back I do more frequently, when using it on a technical camera it is exposed to the elements when you are attaching it, that said it is the easiest job as it is right in front of you, not poking about in a mirror box. My 1Ds2 takes more looking after.
 
I do it when the dust spots start getting annoying which is very 3 or 4 months for me. Often just a few puff with the rocket blower reduce it sufficiently, but I end up wet cleaning at least once a year.
 
I am surprised by the variation.
It must be that some are less bothered by dust spots or don't see them?
I suspect the more sticky specks are often pollen, so a wet clean is more likely to be needed in Spring and Summer.
It's not unusual to go 6 months withnothing too intrusive appearing.
 
As said above, only when strictly necessary. It is an increased hazard activity for the camera.
 
Just had mine cleaned for the first time in nearly a year since I bought it. Went to get a cleaning kit but shop did it for me there and then for a very reasonable price. Noticed dust bunnies at f18 and two sets tidied up was enough. Blower and in camera cleaner didn't shift dust.
 
I have never cleaned a sensor. My 7D is over 3 years old now and has one small spot that shows up on some images but can easily be cloned out so I'm not going to take the risk of cleaning it just for this.
 
The nice people at Just Ltd showed me how to do it at Focus so I bought the kit. And after a nervous start, I am fine with it. Best to watch somebody do it first. Maybe they will be at the new camera show in March altho that feels a long time away. And I don't have to clean either of my camera sensors very often at all. Just be careful when changing lenses and make sure the camera is switched off when you change the lenses [sorry if that is stating the obvious but a friend of mine didn't realise]. TTFN Chipper:thumbs:
 
since buying an arctic butterfly I've not needed to have the sensors on either camera wet cleaned - prior to that the 20D got done maybe twice a year, and 40D (which has the self cleaning vibration thing) maybe half as often
 
big soft moose said:
since buying an arctic butterfly I've not needed to have the sensors on either camera wet cleaned - prior to that the 20D got done maybe twice a year, and 40D (which has the self cleaning vibration thing) maybe half as often
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The 20D was the first DSLR I had a great little camera,but it really did seem to attract the dust bunny
 
Twice a week plus during every lens change. It's an easy job and swabs are cheap so no reason not to.
 
apart from the risk of damaging the aa filter - seriously during every lens change, isn't that a tad excessive
 
my camera says it is cleaning the sensor everytime I switch it off so I never do it - wouldn't know how
 
when you switch it on and off it basically vibrates the sensor to shift dust - it works fairly well, but sooner or later you may need to clean it / have it cleaned as its not 100%
 
4wd said:
I am surprised by the variation.
It must be that some are less bothered by dust spots or don't see them?
Click to expand...

There are several factors that could lead to this variation. How many times you change the lenses, where you change lenses, how much you use the camera, how many cameras you have, the apertures you normally use etc.

I many shoot wildlife and use apertures f2.8 to f8. When I take the odd landscape at f11+ then those dust bunnies just seem to appear. They are always there but don't show up in my normal wildlife images due to larger apertures I use.
 
Twice in 3 years!:)
Does need doing again now though!:runaway:
I'll get round to doing it in the next few weeks!:thinking:
 
sturisoma said:
my camera says it is cleaning the sensor everytime I switch it off so I never do it - wouldn't know how
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My 5DII has sensor cleaning but still needs cleaning about once a year.
However, I got one of the first 5DIII bodies and haven't needed to clean it yet :shrug:

As noted earlier, my 20D was a sod and always had some dust on it; cleaning was determined by how much PP I was prepared to do before getting the swabs out.
 
I have a D3 and D700 and haven't noticed any difference to sensor contamination at all. I generally use a rocket blower every so often with the odd clean with sensor swabs.
 
Pretty much as and when it's needed - working on the process of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
 
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