Sensor cleaning

Why not do it yourself? Will save yourself a lot of money in the long run.
 
jovialjester said:
A but nervous about that, not done it before
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I'd be more nervous with jessops doing it! It's really not hard and providing you are sensible, nothing can really go wrong.
 
There must be some how to do it vids on line.

I started to DIY after I sent my 20D to Canon and it came back with more specks on the sensor than it went away with. IMVHO there really is no alternative to DIY.
 
There's no problem doing it yourself as long as you're not careless about it.

Nervous is a good trait.
 
It is a very nerve racking thing to do the first time, but as long as you follow the instructions and take your time, you can do it...

I've used a Lenspen SensorKlear pen and it works well...
 
i did it for the first time, was pretty easy, just make sure you get right size of swabs.
dont know why i was so worried
 
I wouldn't want to try it myself,other than just giving it a blast with a rocket blower.
I sent my D3 off to Nikon via Jessops.
Have just received an email to say it is at the shop ready for collection. Hopefully it is nice and clean. It has been away for two weeks but I think the reason for that is because there was a mix up in what I wanted them to do. Aftrer a week i was sent a letter saying the cost my camera repair would be £114. After a visit to the shop it was sorted. They had it booked down for a service instead of just a sensor clean. The correct price is £49-70. You could always take a chance on a free clean at Imaging exhibition at NEC.
 
I was in the same boat a week or two ago, bit the bullet and bought a swab kit + rocket blower for about 25 quid.

Took about 5 mins start to finish and to be honest, I dont know what I was worried about. If you're happy to change the lenses, and can apply a sensible (think writing with a pencil) amount of force to the swab, you shouldnt have any problems. Ive still got enough swabs to do 3 more cleans. I paid £25.00 for 4 cleans, which when I worked it out would cost about £120 if I was to send the body off.

Stu
 
Just tried a DIY clean and it hasnt gone too well. Its a new 550D only 3 weeks old too!

2 obvious dust spots even at f5.6. First method of attack was hold it face down and use the rocket blower. This had the effect of adding substantially to the dust on the sensor.

Then followed an attack with a lens pen. After some 5 minutes a lot had gone but some still stubbornly there. A further 10 mins of this and all the lenspen is doing is moving the dust across the sensor to a different place not removing it. The dust isn't sticking or falling off.

What sort of "motion" are you meant to be using? Due to the size of the pad on the pen it doesnt give very fine control (crop sensor) so the amount of movement or sweeps you can do is minimal. I can't see how you can push the dust off the side totally with it.

Any ideas? Im annoyed, it took my 450D about 6 months in the desert before getting dust issues. 3 weeks in a house in the UK and the 55D is already covered!
 
I must admit, I bought the lens cleaner kit with the eclipse fluid and due to amount of dust I had in my sensor I had to use 2 of the 4 in the pack but after a lot of nerve racking preparation and watching virtually every video on youtube on how to do it - I set myself down one sunday morning and did it, luckily all worked well and I was dust-free once again. :thumbs:

Unfortunately camera is now in Lehmans having a new shutter - but I am sure the two aren't related !! :thinking:

(To be fair the 2 above incidents were at least 6 months apart)
 
I took mine to a shop on somerset while on holloday and the shutter snapped shut knackering it .. Lucky enough the shop sent it away to be fixed . The man in the shop said it had happend to him befor so he is now apprehensive at doing any more canons
 
gnirtS said:
Just tried a DIY clean and it hasnt gone too well. Its a new 550D only 3 weeks old too!

2 obvious dust spots even at f5.6. First method of attack was hold it face down and use the rocket blower. This had the effect of adding substantially to the dust on the sensor.

Then followed an attack with a lens pen. After some 5 minutes a lot had gone but some still stubbornly there. A further 10 mins of this and all the lenspen is doing is moving the dust across the sensor to a different place not removing it. The dust isn't sticking or falling off.

What sort of "motion" are you meant to be using? Due to the size of the pad on the pen it doesnt give very fine control (crop sensor) so the amount of movement or sweeps you can do is minimal. I can't see how you can push the dust off the side totally with it.

Any ideas? Im annoyed, it took my 450D about 6 months in the desert before getting dust issues. 3 weeks in a house in the UK and the 55D is already covered!
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You're doing it wrong, rocket blower is terrible at adding does dust to the sensor I know I've done it. The only way to clean it properly is to use eclipse fluid. I have cleaned both my 30D and my 5D with it. It takes about 10 minutes, just make sure the battery is fully charged before you start.
 
I have cleaned my sensor a couple of times now with a "Dust Aid" kit. Was a little nervous but it did a good job, after watching videos on youtube. I have not had a stubborn spot yet so have not attempted a wet clean.
 
Darkstar said:
I took mine to a shop on somerset while on holloday and the shutter snapped shut knackering it .. Lucky enough the shop sent it away to be fixed . The man in the shop said it had happend to him befor so he is now apprehensive at doing any more canons
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Nothing to with being a canon, it's just purely incompetence.

I imagine he didn't check the battery was charged and the shutter closed when the battery died.
 
It's quite easy to do yourself, buuuut, there are quite a few places who'll do it for free when you spend a certain amount. I know Calumet offer free sensor cleaning if you spend £100
 
10 minutes? Crikey - what are you lot doing. It rarely takes me more than 2 minutes - and 1:30 of that is to find the eclipse and pads ;)

Have to say I find a sensor loupe invaluable fore this. You can see all the dust on the sensor with that.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Nothing to with being a canon, it's just purely incompetence.

I imagine he didn't check the battery was charged and the shutter closed when the battery died.
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The battery was on Full and he had it on bulb setting other than that don't know what happened .
 
Ian, it should have been in Sensor cleaning mode not Bulb.

I hope he paid for the repair because thats pure lack of camera knowledge and was negligence. The man clearly didnt know what he was doing.


Martin I have an unopened cleaning kit for a 40X if you want to bring your camera round one evening after this week I'll show you how to do your own for £20 and you can take the rest of the kit home with you. You should get at least one or two more after we do yours. I only live in Wythenshawe. I do my 5d2 and 1d3 myself.
 
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ChrisH said:
Ian, it should have been in Sensor cleaning mode not Bulb
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I was just about to mention the special sensor cleaning mode, which is made to stop this from happening by accident
 
arad85 said:
10 minutes? Crikey - what are you lot doing. It rarely takes me more than 2 minutes - and 1:30 of that is to find the eclipse and pads ;)

Have to say I find a sensor loupe invaluable fore this. You can see all the dust on the sensor with that.
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So you always do a wet clean regardless? A few guides I saw said always do a dry clean first?

I was looking on crooked imaging at the cleaning stuff and they say pec pads are not to be used on a sensor, then they have a wet cleaning kit with pec pads :thinking:

I need to order some stuff and I'm thinking of the dust aid stuff.
 
I always do my own as well. Having a loupe is essential in my opinion and depending on how bad the dust is I use either an Artic butterfly or eclipse fluid and swabs. About the worst thing you can use is a rocket blower irrespective of what others say, all it does is blow dust from one part of the inside of a camera to another. Another downside is it can also disturb any dust in the camera body as well making the sensor far worst than it was.

Can't stress enough how important having a "loupe" is, without mine I wouldn't even attempt to clean a sensor, they are worth their weight in gold.

The thing about sensor cleaning is doing it in a dust free environment ie kitchen, leave plenty of time don't rush it and be gentle . Stick to this and sensor cleaning is a doddle.
Realspeed
 
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dannyjo22 said:
So you always do a wet clean regardless? A few guides I saw said always do a dry clean first?
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IME a dry clean just moves the dust around - and there's more dust hidden inside the camera that comes out if you blow it around. I've not had much luck with brushing and I'm not about to pay an extortionate amount for one of those plastic brushes that spins to electrically charge it (although I believe it would work). Dry cleaning doesn't work for me.

BTW, I will also clean my sensor if there is a single dust spot that is on there that shows up. The sensor loupe is, again in my experience, invaluable. You can see where the the dust is and you can see individual specks of dust. You know when it is clean.
 
realspeed said:
I always do my own as well. Having a loupe is essential in my opinion and depending on how bad the dust is I use either an Artic butterfly or eclipse fluid and swabs. About the worst thing you can use is a rocket blower irrespective of what others say, all it does is blow dust from one part of the inside of a camera to another. Another downside is it can also disturb any dust in the camera body as well making the sensor far worst than it was.

Can't stress enough how important having a "loupe" is, without mine I wouldn't even attempt to clean a sensor, they are worth their weight in gold.

The thing about sensor cleaning is doing it in a dust free environment ie kitchen, leave plenty of time don't rush it and be gentle . Stick to this and sensor cleaning is a doddle.
Realspeed
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Haha... Echoes my experience completely (except I'm too stingy to pay for an Arctic Butterfly ;))
 
The sensor swabs seem quite expensive especially as you can get the excel fluid separately. Does anyone know of a good place to get the swabs from?
 
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