Sensor cleaning

clariasync

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Zak
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Anybody clean their own sensors?

If so, what do you use and what technique? I've got a Canon with a crop sensor if that makes any difference?

Thanks

Zak
 
Its not a hard job Zak, have a butchers on Youtube and you will find heaps of demos and helpful hints. Just remember to make sure your battery is fully charged before you start the cleaning.
 
Thanks Ian,

Will have a look and let you know how I get on.

I have the camera sensor clean on,but got the odd speck of dust still present.=, so guessing a manual clean is required.

Zak
 
Worth having a look at lenspen sensorklear as well.
 
I'm a big fan of the Artic Butterfly... its really easy and effective, even if it is a bit pricey it will save you hours of cloneing out marks.

We're getting into the pollen season - its the time of year for nasty sticky gunk to mysteriously get in there... best to pre-emptively clean occasionally if you change lenses a lot...
 
Thanks for the infoguys, this has given me a bit more confidence to give it a go!
 
I check and clean my sensor if it needs it before going out for the day as my camera doesn't have a self cleaning sensor. Here's what I do...

Firstly I take an out of focus test shot of a white door or piece of A4 paper at minimum aperture and view it on my pc. If there's anything significant I blow the camera out with a rocket blower and take another test shot. If the blower hasn't done the trick I wrap a pec pad around a slice cut from an old credit card and add a drop of Eclipse fluid and do a contact clean, wiping from left to right and then turning the tool over and wiping from right to left. I then do another test shot and assuming all is ok I'm ready for the day...

I'd rather do this before heading out as I'm then starting from a known good position and stand less chance of loading up a card full of shots and having to clone out contamination from shot after shot.
 
How does the dust get in. I had some dust on my D80 sensor which a friend cleaned for me.

Since then I have always been very careful when changing the lens. But last week when viewing some photos I had taken I could see the sensor was dirty again.

Would using a zoom lens like the 18 - 135 cause dust to go in?

Thanks and OP sorry for jumping in.
 
Some zoom lenses are known as "dust pumps" due to their lack of weather sealing and the action when you zoom in and out - I have no idea about your 18-135 though. Generally the more "pro" the gear, the better it is sealed against ingress of dust/pollen/water/nasties - but not always (especially wide-angles).

But mostly its down to poor technique and timeing - which is as much a case of doing it in the wrong enviroment as to the more obvious things like which way you hold the camera & lens...


Also, just because a sensor has been cleaned once doesn't mean all the gunge has been expunged - there might be stuff that is lurking on the edges that's been dislodged (one downside to blowers - they might not remove stuff but only move it from one place to another...). Another reason for getting your own sensor-cleaner equipment, so you can do it several times, to be sure.
 
But mostly its down to poor technique and timeing...

I'd disagree with that, at least with the “mostly” bit...

Even if you never change your lens most cameras aren't even remotely sealed and there are gaps around buttons and switches etc through which contaminants can enter plus it's been admitted by the manufacturers that much of the stuff that ends up on your sensor is stuff that's come off the cameras internal parts. Over time the manufacturers have started to make cameras out of materials that are less likely to shed bits but I suppose that it will still happen at least to an extent and there have been well publicised issues recently with oily substances coming off the moving parts and contaminating the sensors of new cameras.

My own experience has lead me to believe that much of the contamination my camera suffers from is internal debris as it was plagued with contaminants on the sensor when newer but these days it's relatively rare, I assume because much of what was going to break off the internal parts has now done so.

Obviously you have to be sensible when changing lenses but even if you never do so you still can't guarantee that you'll never suffer from a dirty sensor.
 
woof woof said:
I'd disagree with that, at least with the “mostly” bit...

Even if you never change your lens most cameras aren't even remotely sealed and there are gaps around buttons and switches etc through which contaminants can enter plus it's been admitted by the manufacturers that much of the stuff that ends up on your sensor is stuff that's come off the cameras internal parts. Over time the manufacturers have started to make cameras out of materials that are less likely to shed bits but I suppose that it will still happen at least to an extent and there have been well publicised issues recently with oily substances coming off the moving parts and contaminating the sensors of new cameras.

My own experience has lead me to believe that much of the contamination my camera suffers from is internal debris as it was plagued with contaminants on the sensor when newer but these days it's relatively rare, I assume because much of what was going to break off the internal parts has now done so.

Obviously you have to be sensible when changing lenses but even if you never do so you still can't guarantee that you'll never suffer from a dirty sensor.


Agree, a lot of it is material that sheds from inside the camera.

But just clean it, I do mine every couple if weeks and have done for years. Often blowing it out and a tickle with a brush is all it needs. But sometimes u need to wet clean it.

Here's a tip. Get a soft nylon bristled paint brush. Blow the brush with canned air to charge it. Now the dust sticks to the brush better. It's like the artic butterfly brush idea that spins to clean and charge it but cheaper.


BTW don't use the canned air inside the camera for cleaning though.
 
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