Sensor cleaning Manchester....

My D3 sensor got absolutely caked in dust to the point I had to wet clean it to get rid of them, even after using a rocket blower. I got a kit from hilton photographic with 6 swabs and it fully cleaned it after 4 of them so its now back to being clear. Its a lot easier to do than I thought and quite fool proof really. Use the right amount of solution and don't go over an area you just cleaned. One side of the swab is the wet clean side, whilst the other wipes residue from the sensor. When you get use to the "stroke" you need to use to get the swab to glide across the sensor, its VERY straight forward.
 
A blower usually does it for me. I've never had to wet clean a DSLR of my own. My phase One back was a different matter though. That thing was just a magnet for anything.. dust, passing birds.. small children.. .. I gave up in the end, it was just impossible to keep clean despite a wet clean at least once a week.

I sometimes have to resort to a brush as well as a blower.. always earthed and de-charged, and kept in a clean airtight container mind you.. not any old brush.

I think there is a great amount of undue fear regarding sensor cleaning. You're not actually touching he sensor at all, but the AA/IR filter and they're not as delicate as some would have you believe. I've never had to wet clean my own, but I've cleaned other people's more times than I care to recall, and I've never had a problem.

One thing I can' stress enough is make sure you have a charged battery. The shutter slamming closed when your sensor cleaning swab is in the way will not exactly make your day :)
 
Pookeyhead said:
A blower usually does it for me. I've never had to wet clean a DSLR of my own. My phase One back was a different matter though. That thing was just a magnet for anything.. dust, passing birds.. small children.. .. I gave up in the end, it was just impossible to keep clean despite a wet clean at least once a week.

I sometimes have to resort to a brush as well as a blower.. always earthed and de-charged, and kept in a clean airtight container mind you.. not any old brush.

I think there is a great amount of undue fear regarding sensor cleaning. You're not actually touching he sensor at all, but the AA/IR filter and they're not as delicate as some would have you believe. I've never had to wet clean my own, but I've cleaned other people's more times than I care to recall, and I've never had a problem.

One thing I can' stress enough is make sure you have a charged battery. The shutter slamming closed when your sensor cleaning swab is in the way will not exactly make your day :)
Click to expand...

Lol yeah, that would be interesting! My D3 won't raise the mirror for cleaning unless the battery is at 100% though.
 
Neither does the D800... but some camera let you... unless they just have a lower threshold. It's not something I'd want to do with anything other than a full battery though.
 
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