Sensor cleaning - the lows and highs

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I returned from a recent trip and noticed quite a few images with dirty great goobers on them so it obviously time to do a sensor clean - my first on the D3 and the last time I did one was on my old D70 which was some while ago.

After researching and talking to various people I decided on the Arctic Butterfly kit which included a loupe with some built in LED's - at just over £100 it wasn't cheap but then again the camera isn't cheap and I wanted the job done properly. How wrong could I have been! I followed all the instructions and did two passes with the brush whilst remembering to charge it up in between. A quick check with the loupe showed no difference :bang: so I did it again. What i hadn't noticed was that the pristine white brush had picked up what looked like a bit of grease or crud in one corner and I promptly smeared it all over the surface. b****r! As you can imagine I was none too pleased and the air was a tad blue.

I decided to give the swabs a go and finally settled on a company called Camera Clean who supplied me with a pack of 24mm sensor swabs (I think that was the size - for a full frame sensor) and a bottle of E2 cleaning fluid which turned up today. It was with some trepidation that I attempted this and three swabs later my sensor was like new! PHEW!!

If you are going to clean your sensor give the Arctic Butterfly a wide berth although I must admit the loupe is a very handy bit of kit. I have since spoken to Peter Brogden who is the Director at Camera Clean and found him very informative and extremely helpful, so a big thumbs up from me for some great service and easy to use products.

Anyone want to buy an Arctic Butterfly - hardly used! :lol:
 
I picked up a sensorpen kit recently after reading some good reviews. I then noticed a review on here that said it was rubbish but I gave it a go anyway and had perfect results :thumbs:
 
£100 for a sensor cleaning kit?? :eek:

Yikes.

I need to do mine very very soon. I'll be checking out that Camera Clean though, thanks for the link.
 
I have an AB and its great, BUT I did see the thread here before using it about them picking up grease from inside the chamber, so care is needed when using them not to touch the insides when accessig the sensor. Oh, and according to the same thread, clean your AB with E2 fluid to remove the grease if you do collect some, allowing it to dry thoroughly first before using again.

BTW, thanks again Colin, been having a play, an amazing piece of kit when all I have used before is onboard flash :D ;)
 
Sensor Swabs and Eclipse fluid have always worked well for me. Only real problem I have is that the swabs are a teeny bit too wide for my 30D and much too thin for my 5D. I have to force it a bit with the 30D and the 5D I have to use two to really cover the area.
 
Arctic Butterfly is only for removing dust - they are perfectly good.

There is the possibility of shutter lubricant getting sprayed onto the sensor in very fine particle sizes - if this has happened and you use the Butterfly, then you smear the lubricant over your sensor - hardly the fault of the dust brush!

Swabs are the only way to remove lubricant or other grease.
 
Colin I had exactly the same problem when I used my AB on the D3, I've used it loads before but there's plenty of oil etc around the D3 sensors ( search on NC and you'll find loads about it ) and that will be where the gunk came from :(

You can get tablets to clean the grease off the brush because it's good for removing dust. :)

Pete
 
LadyLens said:
I have an AB and its great, BUT I did see the thread here before using it about them picking up grease from inside the chamber, so care is needed when using them not to touch the insides when accessig the sensor. Oh, and according to the same thread, clean your AB with E2 fluid to remove the grease if you do collect some, allowing it to dry thoroughly first before using again.

BTW, thanks again Colin, been having a play, an amazing piece of kit when all I have used before is onboard flash :D ;)
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Thanks Yvonne, I wasn't aware of the fact that the AB could pick up grease but I'll try and clean it with the E2 fluid. Good to hear you're getting on okay with the flash, any questions give me a call.

Lensflare said:
Arctic Butterfly is only for removing dust - they are perfectly good.

There is the possibility of shutter lubricant getting sprayed onto the sensor in very fine particle sizes - if this has happened and you use the Butterfly, then you smear the lubricant over your sensor - hardly the fault of the dust brush!

Swabs are the only way to remove lubricant or other grease.
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Thanks lensflare, i realise it's not really the fault of the brush but how are we to know whether it's grease spots or dust - expensive lesson learnt!

icecavern said:
Colin I had exactly the same problem when I used my AB on the D3, I've used it loads before but there's plenty of oil etc around the D3 sensors ( search on NC and you'll find loads about it ) and that will be where the gunk came from :(

You can get tablets to clean the grease off the brush because it's good for removing dust. :)

Pete
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Hi Pete, as I said I didn't know about all the oil round the sensor. Thanks for replying.
 
Come and see me, Colin.... I will tell you ALL about sensor cleaning! :D :lol:
 
Is Janice's title is about to change to Chief Skrubber? :lol:
 
pxl8 said:
Is Janice's title is about to change to Chief Skrubber? :lol:
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

It used to be Sensors2Go and that was reminder enough!

Wonder if Jimmy Lemon's brilliant site is still up and running? :shrug:
 
My 5d has a dust bunny in the top left corner, but I'm not brave enough to clean it :(

I'll just keep cloning until it is really dirty..... With my track record we'll be on the 5D mk 7 by then.
 
pxl8 said:
I picked up a sensorpen kit recently after reading some good reviews. I then noticed a review on here that said it was rubbish but I gave it a go anyway and had perfect results :thumbs:
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Same hear, cheap as chips & it worked well :thumbs:
 
Hacker said:
Hi Pete, as I said I didn't know about all the oil round the sensor. Thanks for replying.
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I didn't either Colin, it was only once I'd smeared grease/oil etc all over my sensor that I found out :( I probably had the mad panic the same as you then ordering wet cleaning kit because I'd run out :lol:

tdodd said:
It seems to me that D3 + Arctic Butterfly = Trouble....

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=119758
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It's interesting that it crops up with the D3 quite a bit, I'm going to try and clean the edges of the sensor once things calm down to eliminate it from now on, having said that I haven't yet cleaned the D3's sensor since. Need to do both cameras before Next Friday though.

Pete
 
I had the same issue the first time I used the AB on my 20D, but after speaking to the guys at the manufacturers they suggested cleaning the brush in isopropyl to get rid of the grease on the brush. Since then I've been really careful to not let the bristles get near the mechanisms in the shutter box and it has been fine.

I also used a lenspen sensorklear to get rid of the grease, but the AB seems to do a better job of getting rid of dust...
 
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