Sensor Cleaning...What A Pain

P

Paul

Member
After three tries I have gotten most of the spots out. ; Blowing with a Giotto rocket did not do the trick, so I picked up some sensor swabs and E2 (Eclipse) solution from Photographic Solutions. ; The camera guy at a local shop suspected it might be grease spots rather than dust blobs. ; He did tell me it might take several times to get it clean. ; Of course they recommend only using the swab once in each direction and then throwing it away.

Might have a go a fourth time to see if I can get a couple of small stragglers still showing up.

Solution = $9.95
12 Swabs = $48.00

Shop would have charged $30 to do it, but I wanted to get the hang of it myself.
 
If I have dust when looking in the viewfinder but not on the photo, where is it? ; I tried cleaning the viewfinder, but that did nothing. ; Could it be on the inside of the viewfinder? ; And if so, can that be cleaned easily enough?
 
If you're seeing dust when you look through the viewfinder, its inside the prism or on the focusing screen, not on the sensor. ; I usually don't try to clean dust off of the top of the focusing screen because I usually end up with more dust on it than when I started, but that's just me.

Cleaning the sensor takes some practice to get good at it. ; I usually use at least 2 swabs before I have it totally clean. ; I think I used 5 or 6 swabs the first time I tried it. ; Also, the lip around the sensor has grease on it, so if you get the corner of the swab under that lip, you can smear more grease on the sensor.

Moose Peterson has a good series of videos on cleaning your camera gear on his blog. ; I'll post a link when I get home from work.
 
The last time I cleaned my sensor, I used 4 swabs! It does aggravating as you are counting the money for each one.

Remember, also, that dust on the top of your picture means that the dust is on the bottom of your sensor.

Last week I blew the dust off my sensor (still lucky with that method!) and used the sensor cleaner on the d300 until the camera stopped it from working. the auto clean sensors do work. I've cleaned the d300 sensor once. I cleaned the d80 sensor every 6 months or so.
 
The 40D has a self-cleaning sensor. ; :o

So I'll second what msummers said about grease around the edges. ; I believe Canon has put something sticky on the edges to catch dust that is shaken off the low pass filter, which should also be slightly charged to repel dust.

And like he said about cleaning the focusing screen: easier said than done. ; I doubt you have dust in the prism, but rather it's on the screen. ; If you look up inside the mirror box towards the viewfinder/popup flash, you'll see the screen and probably the goobers.
 
From everyone's buddy Ken Rockwell on the dust in the view finder: Use a shop vac.

No, seriously...it works! Although I've never subjected one of my SLRs to the full force of my mega shop vac, I have used our every day vac without issue. Works like a charm every time.
 
it is a pain, i just last night went through 4 swabs to get a couple of realy stubborn goobers out of the lower edge of the 5d, however i must say now that i have this little thingie, it's much easier to focus on only the goobers and pick up on those little white dust motes
$, sure, but not in comparison to the cost of the 5d, and it'll last for a lot of sensors

BriteVue Sensor Loupe/BI/1824/KBID/2466
 
"mPower" said:
From everyone's buddy Ken Rockwell on the dust in the view finder: Use a shop vac.

No, seriously...it works! Although I've never subjected one of my SLRs to the full force of my mega shop vac, I have used our every day vac without issue. Works like a charm every time.
Click to expand...

I blow on it which everyone says is a big NO, so I say if it works, go for it!
[nb]but I would never use a vaccum[/nb]
 
Thanks for all the feedback. ; Yes the 40D self-cleaning sensor has worked fine for me. ; I have had the camera for over a year and this is the first time opening it up and cleaning the sensor with swabs.

Shop Vac seems a tad risky, I will probably try to see if I can use the Giotto to blow the screen clean. ; Canon has a tool to remove the screen, so that is also another $option$.
 
"mPower" said:
From everyone's buddy Ken Rockwell
Click to expand...

I'm still looking for the left hand cameras he's talked about.[nb]Hattip to Craig. ; ;)[/nb] ; I've seen the mystical white Nikon lenses, but not those. ; :D
 
I've used the blower to clean my viewfinder, screen, and mirror, and it usually has pretty good success. ; Also, you might want to pick up a really good DSLR sensor brush - they're relatively cheap and really do a great job picking up anything the blower doesn't remove - without having to resort to the swabs.

If it is grease spots, then you have to swab...but I have swabbed my camera once in about a year now...while I've blown it out and brushed it every few months.
 
Thanks for the links Michael.

Justin, I will check those brushes out more. ; Even with the self cleaning on the 40D, I think it would be a good idea to sweep the sensor a bit more frequently than a once a year blowing/brushing/swabbing. ; Since I have three lenses now, I'm sure the maintenance will be on the increase.
 
*shrug*

The vac trick works for the big stuff[nb]Your mileage may vary. Not applicable in TX or FL. Void where prohibited.[/nb]. If you're serious about it, the BriteVue loupe and an Arctic Butterfly is a good way to fly for the run of the mill dust. If it's a grease based gremlin, send it in for a cleaning!

Cheers!
 
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