What's the chance I've blown it!

Bolt

Bolt

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Stu
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OK I think I have done bad.

Had a few dust bunnies on my 700D and thought that I'd have a crack at blowing them away. Got myself a loupe, OK I can see the dust, got myself a pucker Rocket blower, I can blow said seen dust away.

Blowing, looking and keeping the camera upside down is not so easy. Most of the dust bunnies have gone but now I have another one that will not shift, there could be a chance that I have accidentally touched the sensor with the end of the rocket blower.

How easy is it to actually mark the sensor or is it more likely I have blown more stubborn dust on to the sensor, one big piece and 3 others around it.

Feeling like a bit of a tit at the moment because its cheaper to by a new body than replace the sensor.

I am going to take it to see if it can be cleaned but would appreciate your feedback in the short term.

Thanks all.

Stu
 
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VERY slim chance you've marked the sensor with the plastic end of a rocket blower.
 
Make sure the white wall is clean :) and/or don't focus on it properly. i.e. Make sure what you are viewing can only be sensor dust.
Have you considered cleaning the sensor with a solution? I did this on one of my Canon DSLRs. I forget the name of the solution but I applied it with a pec pad wrapped around the end of a glue spatula and it worked wonders. I had to do 3 sweeps till it was clear.
 
minnnt said:
Take a picture of a white wall at f16+ and look for any marks. If there are none then you're sorted.
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+1 . its rather hard to "scratch" the sensor. i wouldn't recommend cleaning the sensor yourself! take it to a pro!
 
It's easy to clean your sensor but I don't recommend using the rubber end of a rocket blower. There are many threads in here if you do a search.

Don't the sensors have a protective cover? Even so, I think you will be OK and you have been given good advice above on how to check.
 
nus123 said:
i wouldn't recommend cleaning the sensor yourself! take it to a pro!
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That's testicles - what do you think a pro can do that you can't? The technique's the same. You just clean the bloody thing. Read up about it. It's easy.
 
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droj said:
That's testicles - what do you think a pro can do that you can't? The technique's the same. You just clean the bloody thing. Read up about it. It's easy.
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I would MUCH rather take my 2k camera body to someone who cleans 100s of sensors a week vs. me who has never done it before.
 
nus123 said:
I would MUCH rather take my 2k camera body to someone who cleans 100s of sensors a week vs. me who has never done it before.
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Lay off the drink, baby, before you start boasting about the cost of your camera body ....
 
clicktor said:
Make sure the white wall is clean :) and/or don't focus on it properly.
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Just to add a little to this...

I always make sure that the door/wall is completely out of focus and once the camera is set to a low ISO and f16 the chances are that the shutter speed will be quite low and you should be able to move the camera about while the shutter is open... this will still get you a grey image to see dust bunnies on and moving the camera will prevent any marks or grain on the door/wall showing up in the image.
 
Bolt said:
OK I think I have done bad.

Had a few dust bunnies on my 700D and thought that I'd have a crack at blowing them away. Got myself a loupe, OK I can see the dust, got myself a pucker Rocket blower, I can blow said seen dust away.

Blowing, looking and keeping the camera upside down is not so easy. Most of the dust bunnies have gone but now I have another one that will not shift, there could be a chance that I have accidentally touched the sensor with the end of the rocket blower.

How easy is it to actually mark the sensor or is it more likely I have blown more stubborn dust on to the sensor, one big piece and 3 others around it.

Feeling like a bit of a tit at the moment because its cheaper to by a new body than replace the sensor.

I am going to take it to see if it can be cleaned but would appreciate your feedback in the short term.

Thanks all.

Stu
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You haven't. It's not easy to mark the sensor, and the fact you don't even know if you've touched it means there's no chance you've marked it. You'd know if you had, trust me.
 
Hey everybody thanks for the varied feedback :)

I've shot against a white piece of paper and yes I can see the mark and still other dust as well :(

I've been thinking about the proper cleaning swabs but let's see what happens...

ohms12 said:
You haven't. It's not easy to mark the sensor, and the fact you don't even know if you've touched it means there's no chance you've marked it. You'd know if you had, trust me.
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I'm hoping this is the law ohms!


Thanks peeps.
 
nus123 said:
+1 . its rather hard to "scratch" the sensor. i wouldn't recommend cleaning the sensor yourself! take it to a pro!
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It's not hard to do. Save some cash and clean it yourself. You won't damage it
 
You can't actually touch the sensor on your particular camera as it has a filter in front of the sensor itself.
 
Stu, Skiking & Rog are right....it really is pretty easy to clean your own sensor! Just get the appropriate sized kit from Amazon or wherever and follow the instructions. Having never done it before, I managed to clean my Pentax a couple of times with no problems. Takes all of a couple of minutes and you're back in (crystal clear) action! :)
 
Bolt said:
Hey everybody thanks for the varied feedback :)

I've shot against a white piece of paper and yes I can see the mark and still other dust as well :(

I've been thinking about the proper cleaning swabs but let's see what happens...



I'm hoping this is the law ohms!


Thanks peeps.
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It's probably just dirt. In any case, if there is a mark, you've only marked the low pass filter, not the sensor itself! I bet you it's just dirt though - buy yourself an eclipse wet cleaning starter kit - it really is very easy.
 
Again thanks for the feedback, had it cleaned this afternoon and thank fully we are back up and running again! :banana:

Definitely going to look in to the cleaning kits that you have mentioned though for next time, £65 a pop for a sensor clean.

Cheers and happy snapping all.
 
£65, Ouch!! I hope you got a sit down and tea and biscuits for that price - where was that?

As a comparison (and I know the OP wanted piece of mind) but the swabs work at at less than a fiver each and doesn't take more then five minutes to clean.
 
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