Sensor cleaning question

[arthurking83]

I think I used to have one of those lighters years ago when I lived in Melbourne to light the BBQ or was it the Cook Top are they the ones you mean

....

you're probably thinking of the same thing. They're the type that used to only create a spark after building up an amount of resistance, where it would then make a click and the spark would jump between the centre electrode and the edge of the tip.

What you do with it, is to pull out the spark making 'doodad' and then point the device at the sensor, and squeeze the trigger to the point of popping but not past the point of popping. This bulids up an amount of static, which counteracts the charge of the sensor area and apparently loosens the dust.

But other things got in the way since I read about this, and the copperhill kit works so well, that it's really not a necessary step to do.

All I do is to use clean canned air to quickly blow out any loose dust within the mirror box before cleaning with the copperhill kit.
After a single swipe with the copperhil kit, check the sensor for any more dust, and if more exists do it again..... and so on, until it's clean!

[Bennymiata]

Re the anti-static devices.
Many, many years ago, when I was really into hi-fi, and had a vast record collection, I had an anti-static gun to "fire" at the records to remove static.
It worked really well in that if you had a dusty record, you'd zap it with the gun, then if you turned it upside down, you could see the dust fall off it.

I don't know of these are still available, but you might find one at a jumble sale or something, and could be useful to use on the sensor before cleaning.

[Wazza999]

I believe the commercial fluids are iso-propanol based, it has a sweeter smell than ethanol. There are two types of eclipse fluids, type 1 and type 2 for tin oxide coated sensors (some sony and pentax models). Type 2 works for all sensors I believe. Vanbar have a good kit with pec pads for lens cleaning as well. BTW, you wouldn't get streaking if the alcohol was mixed with water as they are miscible liquids not suspensions and wouldn't need shaking.

[rodw]

Well I had a go at this today. I picked up a sensor cleaning kit from Photocontinental. Yes I know they are expensive but what the heck. I decided to get the kit with the illuminated lens loupe that saves you from taking photos as it was about half the price in the kit than if you bought it later. It was definitely not easy to do on my D40. I used quite a few of the supplied swabs before I was happy with the result and took a few sky shots along the way which are still required but only towards the end.

I got the stuck on stuff fairly easilly but getting the last skerrick of dust off the sensor was quite tricky. The kit included a little polishing pen and once I started to use that I made some progress.

What I can say is that it would be very hard to damage the sensor as I gave it a fair old rubbing. A couple of times I ended up with rub marks on the sensor but eventually they came off. I was a bit worried a couple of times though!

[old dog]

I finally bought a wet clean kit last week and after two goes the sensor is clean as. I`m quite impressed at how easy it is to do. I just practiced on a CD case for a couple of times and then went for it. Also I bought a can of compressed air to try before the wet clean. All good.

[mickello]

I have had only one experience of having the sensor cleaned, on a Canon 400d in London a few years ago. Unfortunately, they were unable to clean it as the dust was too 'gunky' and wouldn't come off. They certainly appeared a very professional outfit, and though they didn't charge me anything, it was pretty disappointing. Maybe I left it too long before getting it looked at? Ended up giving it to a friends son who was studying photography at school, and bought myself a new camera.

[arthurking83]

..... Unfortunately, they were unable to clean it as the dust was too 'gunky' and wouldn't come off. They certainly appeared a very professional outfit, and though they didn't charge me anything, it was pretty disappointing. Maybe I left it too long before getting it looked at? Ended up giving it to a friends son who was studying photography at school, and bought myself a new camera.

Unless you spray the sensor(filter) with some type of glue, this is not possible.
The problem is time. With these overgunked up sensors, it merely takes more time, and more clean attempts to get it clean. It's that simple.

I've had this, where I wasn't willing to do more than 10 sensor swipes(with the copperhill cleaning kit) in one sitting, and the dust wasn't too intrusive, as long as I didn't use too small aperture values.
I cloned out any really obvious bits.

As time wore on, I just took time to clean the sensor on a more regular basis, and after a few cleans, it came up clean again(D70s back then).

Also it must be said too, that when you 'clean the sensor', you don't actually clean the sensor itself! You are cleaning the filter that covers the sensor. Yep! there is a filter pack that sits over the sensor. The worst possible scenario is that if you had such a dirty sensor that wouldn't clean up at all.. they could have replaced the filter instead! .. Costly, but doable.
On a 400D, there are obvious costs considerations to ponder, but if any outfit claims that a sensor is too dirty to clean, I'd question their professionalism.
They should have at least explained any alternatives solutions available.
(I hope you didn't purchase this new camera from them!!)

[achee]

This seems to be the most recent thread on sensor cleaning, so I'll ask here...

I've been trying to clean my sensor and... well, the results are far from satisfactory! This is what I've been doing:

1. Blowing out the sensor / mirror box using a small general purpose hand pump (with short flexy hose and blower tip), camera on tripod facing down. The hand pump puts out a lot more air than the typical 'rocket' blowers.

2. Wet-swabbing the sensor with VisibleDust swabs and VDust Plus solution, camera on table facing up.

Over the last hour or hour or so I've repeated blowing and swabbing about 3 times, and it seems like the spots are moving around, but they don't seem to be coming out! When I swab, I can't seem to be able to get the dust off the end of the sensor, so they sit at one side. I'm trying to swipe as far to the sides as I can!

Any suggestions? Should I get a brush and add dry brushing to my process?

Cheers!

[Speedway]

Q1. What is the air pump you are using? It may be adding to the problem.
Q2. How much liquid are you putting on the swab? A couple of drops is usually sufficient.
Q3. How often are you changing swabs? I change them after each swab.
If blowing doesn't work put the blower away and just use the swabs. Wipe from one side rolling the swab over at the end of the stroke and lift it off, fit new swab repeat from same side to cover the whole sensor then repeat the whole process from the other side. Do not use the blower as this may be moving dust from other parts to the sensor. With heavily embedded dust you may have to repeat a few times and it can also be worth trying swabbing from top to bottom and vice-versa. I have a sensor brush which I find does the job most times. But if you get a brush make sure it is the correct one. Lens pens are no good for sensors.
Keith.

[arthurking83]

....

Any suggestions? Should I get a brush and add dry brushing to my process?

Cheers!

Nope!!
if there is still dust on the sensor, then brushing is highly discouraged. It CAN scratch the sensor's (actually the filter pack) surface.
I say CAN, because it's not a given, it may or it may not, but better not to risk it.

This movement of dust whilst you clean is common.
The best way to combat it is to always use the wet clean swipe only in one direction.

I've done a quick how to a long time ago so you may have to search, but I think I covered it in there.
Basically what can happen is what you're getting, instead of lifting the dust off the sensor, the wet clean method can simply latch onto the dust spec and just drag it across the surface.

in all the years I've been doing this and seeing this, I've never seen any evidence to suggest that this also marks the surface of the sensor.
Think of it as wiping the crumbs off the table surface, the wetness of the wiping material acts as a sort of lubricant, and all you do is move the particles(whether crumbs or dust) across the surface.

So I always swipe in the same direction when I do a sensor clean. This way, if I'm moving the dust across the sensor, at least it's always across in one direction and not back and forth all the time.

I don't know of these VisibleDust swabs and VDust solution, but with the copperhill kit, you have a tapered swab and the idea is to use it only twice, once on each side of the tapered edge.
You swipe once for half of the sensor, flip the swab and use the other side of the tapered edge and swipe again in the same direction but this time for the other half of the sensor.
The copperhill kit's swab only covers about 2/3rds of the sensors vertical surface.

Make sure that the fluid you're using is also shaken excessively well. If it's diluted ethanol(as it's most likely to be), I've found that if the fluid is left sitting for long periods, it can separate and when used can leave streaks on the sensor surface. If you ever see anything like that, shaking the bottle well, and doing a final swipe will eliminate that streaking.

The other point I noted about your response was that you leave the camera facing up on a table. I tend to hold the camera up high, facing down and me looking upwards at it and doing the swiping.

One other small effective piece of kit I got, was this Sensor Brush from Copperhill. It's basically a paint brush but I don't exactly know the material used for the brush material itself.
This one tho works for dry usage, but only if there is minimal dust on the sensor, not for cleaning off the typical dust bunny problem.
What this brush does, is that you statically charge it on some supplied paper, and then lightly stroke it over the sensor. It's meant to pick up the worm like hair particles, more than clean off the small speck dust bunny gunk that bakes onto your sensor.
I also use it to brush off the dust off my mirror and viewfinder matter screen if there are any serious issues there.
In 6 years of use now, I still haven't seen any detrimental effects of it's use.

I also recommend against using rocket blowers or pumps for blowing out the mirror box and main body area too .. unless the pump is filtered.
I especially recommend against using them on your sensor, even tho they do no damage. All they seem to do is to blow concentrated blasts of dust onto the surfaces they're supposedly blowing dust off!
For that, I use canned air sprays. it's clean filtered, I use it on the sensor regularly and the only caveat is to never shake the can before use!
If the can is shaken or agitated in any way prior to use, let it settle for a while, or blow out a small burst of air into nowhere before use on a camera.

[William]

It's actually easy, Get ba good cleaning setup, Swabs ( Right size for sensor) , Fluid , Forget the Airsprays , It may take a few go's to get it off , Only use the swab once on a swipe , Turn over use again and then dump it

[achee]

Thanks guys!

The air pump is just an ordinary hand pump that you would use to pump up a ball, with a hose and a tapered blower attachment. I started using that because the author of this somewhat authoritative-looking site http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/wheretobuy.html suggested using an air-mattress-style foot-pump, but I don't have one.

I was using about 4 drops of solution. Ok, probably overdoing it.

I set out planning to use each swab once only (each side), but after my dismal results and considering the price for 4 swabs ($40) I did a bit of reusing!

Well, once I'm through with this VisibleDust kit I'll give CopperHill a go, seems like that's what we talk about the most here! But in the meantime... the VisibleDust stuff should be able to move the dust if I'm using it correctly, it cost me $80! $40 for the swabs and $40 for 8ml solution. I bought that because I wanted to do the job in a hurry and it was all I could find nearby off-the-shelf. It looks ligit - http://www.visibledust.com/

Maybe the swab is so wet that the dust is sitting in pools of solution on the sensor, and not sticking to the swab?? But 4 drops is within the manufacturer's 2-4 drop recommendation.

[William]

Hmmm !! Never heard of the Visable dust product , Give Copper hill a go , Or Eclipse which I use , Hope it has'nt damaged anything

[arthurking83]

Whoa!! $40 for 4 swabs??

The Copperhill kits have various levels of products contained within them, so look for one that suits you.
But the products they(can) include are: PecPads, a spatula thingy, and Eclipse fluid ... the kit O ordered included the sensor brush kit too.
I remember PecPads to cost very little per unit .. but nowhere near $10 each!!

May have been the reuse of a swab that cause your problem to begin with.. but then again maybe not.. as I use them only once(per side) and chuck em out.
I've been known to have used over 10 PecPads for a single cleaning session on one particularly difficult occasion.
I do sometimes use the used ones to clean LCD screens, or around the nooks and crannys of the camera body .. but only when I'm feeling completely bored!

[Duane Pipe]

Look what I did to my 450d sensor after a few sherbs
I cleaned it about 2 year ago and it hasnt been done since. I think I used every thing but a Jackhammer, I used cotton buds, a piece of plastic cut from a ice cream container wrapped with a lens cloth and lens cleaning solution and I think a snotty tissue as well

Both shots taken today f22 for the test image
I think that I have treated it in the worst possible way






I gave the camera to dad when I got the 7d

[arthurking83]

.....
I think that I have treated it in the worst possible way

.....

LOL! 'ya reckon?

Considering the treatment dished out, the images posted aren't as bad as most people would expect to see.
The only reason you can see any imperfections in the images is due to the flat nature of the images.
On a normal image with detail that is usually the point of focus in an image, I doubt that anyone would see any real effects caused by the mistreatment of the sensor.

A note too: remember that in front of the sensor is a series of filters for various reasons and purposes.
It's the front most filter that has been affected, not the actual sensor.

Replacement filters can be had, and even tho it's a complicated process of stripping the camera down to it's various pieces, it's not an overly expensive job if the owner is willing to do the labour themselves.

My (two) sensors both look pretty much pristine still, even tho earlier in the piece I was fanatical about sensor dust bunnies.. especially on the D70s. Less so with the D300, which could be due to the self cleaning mechanism it has.
I know I'm onto my 3rd(of 4 packs) of PecPads now, so I know I've cleaned it 'thoroughly' using the copperhill method.
And so after more than 6 years(D70s) and 4 years (D300), I'm pretty much convinced that the Copperhill method(Eclipse + PecPads) is pretty much as safe as you can get.

[Duane Pipe]

[QUOTE=arthurking83;1041108]LOL! 'ya reckon?

Yep It was enough damage that I wanted a new camera 7d But I think that this shows the amount of damage that you can do to a censor So dont be scared to do it yourself with the correct equipment

[zollo]

i've used Visible Dust fluid and swabs, and own the arctic butterfly and zeeion blower achee, they are definitely legit, but i gotta say, you overpaid for the kit.

as for the loose dust, i always use the arctic butterfly to remove loose particles before i do the wet sensor clean. it (arctic butterfly) works extremely well and there is no rubbing involved to get the static charge. I also have the zeeion anti static blower that is fantastic to use on a sensor because, well, its antistatic.

personally, i wouldnt use a hand or foot pump etc. the main reason being that the air could be oily (from the assembly/lubrication of the parts of the pump) in which case you are just blowing more muck onto the sensor.

also, during a clean be careful not to touch the mirror chamber with either the swabs or any brushes etc especially on the way in, as there is a fair bit of lubricant sprayed all down the sides by the mirror mechanism. if you clean your sensor and are repeatedly getting new spots fairly soon after, the chamber box will probably need a clean. after having to clean my sensor every 3 odd months, i cleaned the chamber on my d3x and it has remained spot free for 7 months now, impressed I am.

hope some of this helps someone

[Duane Pipe]

A bit off topic. Before I leave home I put the lens on that I think I will use most for the outing, In a sterile place.

here is what I do. I take the cap off the lens that is going on the camera but I always blow around the cap before removing it.
I then place the lens upright on a clean surface, then I blow around the camera body and lens before un-attatching, I then put the unattached lens upright on the clean surface and then put the clean cap on the other lens I always use the same back cap when swapping lenses and not one from the bottom of my bag. Make sense

[achee]

Well, the 4 swabs were part of a 'kit' which also had 1ml of fluid... but that hardly seems to count! So... yep, I guess I overpaid! Ok, I'll use my last two swabs trying to finish off this clean, then get the pecpads and spatula thingy, so I can wipe it again and again and again and not feel so bad!