I am noticing that when I go very low aperture size I see lot of dust on the sensor. Since the system has auto sense clearning, why it didn't work? if I have to clean what do I do so that it does not have side effect on auto clearning?
The fact that the automatic cleaning isn't removing the debris means that you either have dust particles that, for whatever reason, are tightly adhered, or that some of the debris is not dust, but perhaps lubricant spots or other non-dust soils. The normal method for removing this is by swabbing using a solvent-wetted swab. This is sometimes referred to as the "Copperhill Method." The original web page that detailed the method is, apparently, gone. There are at this point a number of wet-swabbing kits available. I can't directly vouch for any of them, since I use my own home-made system. Essentially, what you need is:
- High-purity solvent. I use ethanol with less than 5 ppm residue on evaporation, which costs about $30 for a half-liter bottle. Lasts forever.
- A swab the height of your sensor, either a pre-made one designed for the task or one created by you. I use a silicone spatula trimmed to shape and wrapped with a Pec-Pad.
You dampen the swab with solvent (not wet, just damp) and swab carefully, once, across the entire surface, then re-test. Repeat with a new swab if required (usually two or three pases are required).
If you're not confident in doing it yourself, many better camera shops can do the job.
I recently took my camera and lens in for a cleaning/repair. I got chastize for using the swipes and liquid cleaner in my kit. He told me that he could see scratches on my sensor (ugh). So I've stopped cleaning it myself and will take it to him once or twice a year. He also told me if there was a minimal editing challenge he would take a quick lookie loo and spot clean it for me for free...wink...nice fella!!!
Do you have a link handy for the ethenol? I see so many versions so kind of confused :(
Originally posted by kirbic:
The fact that the automatic cleaning isn't removing the debris means that you either have dust particles that, for whatever reason, are tightly adhered, or that some of the debris is not dust, but perhaps lubricant spots or other non-dust soils. The normal method for removing this is by swabbing using a solvent-wetted swab. This is sometimes referred to as the "Copperhill Method." The original web page that detailed the method is, apparently, gone. There are at this point a number of wet-swabbing kits available. I can't directly vouch for any of them, since I use my own home-made system. Essentially, what you need is:
- High-purity solvent. I use ethanol with less than 5 ppm residue on evaporation, which costs about $30 for a half-liter bottle. Lasts forever.
- A swab the height of your sensor, either a pre-made one designed for the task or one created by you. I use a silicone spatula trimmed to shape and wrapped with a Pec-Pad.
You dampen the swab with solvent (not wet, just damp) and swab carefully, once, across the entire surface, then re-test. Repeat with a new swab if required (usually two or three pases are required).
If you're not confident in doing it yourself, many better camera shops can do the job.
I used to use the Copperhill and other do-it-yourself things. This year I sent it into Canon for a good cleaning and basic maintenance. I'll never clean it myself again. Canon service was excellent.
I needed a laugh today, awesome. "Looks good." Too funny.
I can imagine someone brand new looking for a YouTube video on how to clean their sensor and thinking that while the method didn't seem quite right the voice is so serious that maybe the method is legit.
I hear 1200 grit sandpaper works great on getting crud off the sensor. Go ahead, try it! ;-)
1200 grit, Pfffft! I have an 80 grit personality, I'm gonna try that!
Have at it! Oh and I also have some 40-grit sandpaper (so coarse that it looks like it has chunks of gravel on it) leftover from when I did my stairs, want some? ;-)
I hear 1200 grit sandpaper works great on getting crud off the sensor. Go ahead, try it! ;-)
1200 grit, Pfffft! I have an 80 grit personality, I'm gonna try that!
Have at it! Oh and I also have some 40-grit sandpaper (so coarse that it looks like it has chunks of gravel on it) leftover from when I did my stairs, want some? ;-)
I've used 40-grit... I've seen a lot coarser. Back in high school, one of our shop teachers had a piece of sandpaper for demonstration that he referred to as "US army toilet paper." It was probably about the equivalent of P12, the grit grains were so large they looked like pebbles glued to the surface. If you stuck it to a vertical wall, I'd have bet I could have climbed it ;-)
However, I've stayed away because it's confusing about which to get for what sensors. (Sony sensors are different...and Fuji sensors are basically Sony sensors -- as are many Nikons). They need to be explicit by model.
Good jovial tone in this thread. Made me laugh a lot.
Correct me, if I'm wrong.
When we clean "the sensor" on our DSLR cameras, we are actually cleaning the AA (Anti-aliasing) filter in place above the sensor.
It would never be an option for me to entrust my beloved camera to a technician to perform the cleaning task. Simply, I don't think their standards are as high as mine.
Yes, you will need pec pads, eclipse fluid and a properly sized swab. Yes, you may have to repeat the process until you get it right. And, yes, you will have to verify the clean sensor.
I've cleaned the sensors on my cameras hundreds of times in the past 12 years, with no scratches. The self-cleaning sensor systems in modern DSLRs are an improvement, but over time, a manual cleaning becomes necessary.
One thing I would never do is blast air into the sensor chamber, in an attempt to remove dust. Seems to me that would simply drive particles deep into crevices, without remove the sticky ones.
Now this make sense and eventually the camera it-self would have dust sitting and will need to take to technicians at that point in time.
Originally posted by hahn23:
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One thing I would never do is blast air into the sensor chamber, in an attempt to remove dust. Seems to me that would simply drive particles deep into crevices, without remove the sticky ones.
