Dirty mirror ?

[rawill]

I have been hunting and reading the threads on here about cleaning the sensor and the mirror.

I took my camera to a shop, and they wanted NZ$200.00, in an all care no responsibility process!!

I had a look and see dust on the mirror.
I see little blowers for sale for around NZ$5.00-$19.00.

I am thinking I should go ahead and buy a blower, but before I do I thought I'd post up here to see what response I get.

I am happy if you tell me to keep reading the threads on cleaning the sensor and mirror, but I guess like most newbies. "I am afraid!"

I don't want to mess my camera even though it is only a D70s

[Manfred M]

Chances are that you won't even see the impact of any dust on the mirror. Dust on the focusing screen can be annoying, but will not impact your image at all. The only issue is that should the dust become dislodged, it could get onto your sensor

Dust on your sensor, or more specifically on the AA filter over your sensor, should get cleaned off as it will affect your image. I've been lucky so far as and running the built in cleaning cycle two or three times has dislodged any dirt on the sensor. I've cleaned someone else's sensor and while I got it clean, it was a bit of an exercise in frustration. It wasn't difficult but I had to be careful to get rid any residue from the cleaning tools and process.

[rawill]

Well I know I have dust in my photos,
one photo that I put up on here had the specs showing!

[Glenn NK]

Well I know I have dust in my photos,
one photo that I put up on here had the specs showing!

The dust spots on your images are from the dirty sensor of course.

If the dust doesn't bother you when framing and focusing, don't worry about it because a dirty mirror has no effect on the image other than if it is really bad it might affect metering. Keep in mind that the mirror can be quite easily damaged, perhaps more easily than a sensor.

And on the topic of dust, do not fret about dust in a lens - it rarely is bad enough to affect image quality. There is an old story (urban legend?) about Carl Zeiss. When asked about air bubbles in one of his lenses he supposedly said, "My lenses are made to look through, not at". IOW, the bubbles didn't materially affect the lens performance - neither will dust.

Glenn

[Manfred M]

Another fact on old lenses (I'm thinking about the ones produced before and just after WWII) is that they got better with age as dirt got onto the lens elements and acted as a thin-film anti-reflective coating. I remember that Canon lenses in the 1970's were notorious for having more bubbles in their glass than the competition.

All that being said, if you are seeing dirt on your image; Glenn is correct. You need to clean your sensor. If you don't want to do this yourself (you do need at least an illuminated magnifier and lots of clean, cotton-tipped swabs and isopropyl alcohol as your cleaning agent), a suitable work area. Otherwise, you will need to get it cleaned by someone who services cameras.

[rawill]

Maybe I should get a camera service agent to clean it, BUT, when I took it in he said he would do it for NZ$200.00 but that it was at my risk. He was an all care no responsibility man!~!

I am not about to pay $200.00 and have no guarentee of the quality of the work.
Might as well try and learn myself, after all it is now only a $400.00 camera!

[Donald]

when I took it in he said he would do it for NZ$200.00 but that it was at my risk.

If we're talking about a sensor clean ..........

One - That was far too expensive

Two - Don't know what the law of contract is in New Zealand, but it ain't going to be vastly different than in the UK. If he accepts money then, as far as I'm concerned, he has made a contract to provide a good or a service. He can talk all he wants about it being at your risk, but the law would be on your side. He's just a crook and deserves to go well and truly bust.

[gpzt]

Hi !
There's an old saying in naval rescue: "no cure, no pay". This should be applied in your case, in my opinion. Dust or stains on the mirror do not influence the quality of your pictures. I personally have a small spot on my sensor which shows on some sky images. I am not ready to take the risk of a major problem for this and prefer to remove that tiny spot with " the Gimp"...when necessary.

[kdoc856]

I have cleaned the sensor on three different cameras, with very satisfactory results. There are several suppliers of sensor cleaning kits, and these do a good job. It's actually quite easy, and I was relieved to learn that there is a fairly hardy coating over the photon sensitive surface that isnt all that easy to mess up. Moose Peterson has a free tutorial on his web site.

[ktuli]

Robin,

I would give this thread - If you're as afraid as I am... - a read. Lots of really good sensor cleaning advice in there. I've cleaned mine, and it really wasn't all that bad. The stuff I bought to do the cleaning was in the range of $200 total, but I've since cleaned 3 different cameras and still have supplies to do it plenty more times. I can't see how a place can justify that cost - especially when they're not going to guarantee their work at all!!!

- Bill

[Shibang]

Personally I would buy the blower, I have one and use it often. Now and then I just give the inside of my camera a quick blow as I change lenses a lot but I also use it all the time to blow dust of my lenses.

As already mentioned, that seems a lot of money to have your sensor cleaned and even more so with no guarentee.

I needed the shutter arm changing in my D7000 because of the oil spot issue but before I took it to Nikon for repair, I googled a lot and watched a lot of youtube clips until I felt comfortable trying to clean the sensor myself.

The cleaning kit cost me about 40 euros and was enough that I could have cleaned my sensor 10x if needed.

I would do what I did and if you don't feel comfortable then don't clean it, just give it a blow and see if it helps.

Cleaning your sensor is not rocket science, just be patient and don't spend the night in the pub the day before you decide to give it a clean, a steady hand can make the difference

[Glenn NK]

I have a blower - it simply didn't remove anything but loose dust - which the built-in sensor cleaning mechanism will do.

Occasionally there are spots that stick - really stick. For these, no amount of blowing will do any good.

Some of the tough spots to remove are lubricant from the mirror bearings/mechanism which will "flick" off and onto the sensor. These will be more plentiful in the early life of the camera as the excess lube is shaken off - they will require a wet cleaning. I removed many of these in th first few weeks with my first DSLR.

Other spots (and I quote experts on this) are caused by ordinary dust that when exposed to moisture will "weld" onto the sensor. This term is not mine, but some photographers that are far more knowledgeable than I have mentioned this type of spot and have evidence to indicate they are correct.

Then there are the spots that we cause ourselves. Too much cleaning fluid on the swab and the stuff doesn't evaporate cleanly - I've done this on more than one occasion.

And finally there are the spots (not spots but scratches) caused by an over zealous and over vigorous wet cleaning with the improper tools and technique. Again, all I will say is that I had to replace the protective glass on my sensor a few years ago.

When I finally bought the proper kit and read the instructions, and followed them, the many cleanings since on both camera bodies have resulted in clean scratch-free sensors.

Finally, DO NOT be afraid of cleaning the sensor - it's part of life - like washing your underwear occasionally.

Glenn

[rawill]

I need to find a "proper cleaning kit".

There is a lot of listings for blowers and cleaning kits on our "Trademe" auction site.
Bewildering for a newbie. The local camera shop wants to charge NZ$65.00 for 3 cleaning kit swabs.
Is that a good deal?

[Glenn NK]

The most useful source I found is a reputable camera shop.

Fortunately for me, we have two of them, and one is 10 minutes walk from home.

They stock the VISIBLE DUST products. Visible Dust makes a "special" brush which they claim does wonders, but I personally just do the wet cleaning with the purpose made swabs and some fluid called Sensor Clean.

Just adding to my previous post, the blower is useful to ensure that there is no gritty stuff in the mirror chamber or on the sensor which could scratch the sensor. And to really start a war, I'll state that I use compressed gas instead.

Glenn

[Colin Southern]

If we're talking about a sensor clean ..........

One - That was far too expensive

Two - Don't know what the law of contract is in New Zealand, but it ain't going to be vastly different than in the UK. If he accepts money then, as far as I'm concerned, he has made a contract to provide a good or a service. He can talk all he wants about it being at your risk, but the law would be on your side. He's just a crook and deserves to go well and truly bust.

Hi Donald,

It's a questionable practice, but if the parties agree "no responsibility" before hand then that becomes part of the agreement.

I agree though - far too expensive for what is a 10 minute job.

Rawill, just grab a blower and sensor pen off TradeMe - it's really not that hard.

[Donald]

They stock the VISIBLE DUST products. Visible Dust makes a "special" brush which they claim does wonders,

It does. After lots of nervousness, I got myself an Arctic Butterfly (after checking out with folks on here who I knew also used it) ... and it is a wonderful tool.

[arith]

I cleaned the sensor on my old camera loads of times just for practice; it had the cleanest sensor around and I part exchanged that camera with a trader. Make sure the battery is fully charged and keep away from edges.

The mirror; keep away from the mirror. It is difficult. If you find a main dealer; cleaning should cost no more than 30 mins work. In Britain £35. But if you go to a camera shop it is £200; strange but I found out they post it to a main dealer.

[Ken MT]

I have checked up and in Christchurch I can get a sensor cleaned for $NZ 70, while for a 4 pack of Visible Dust swabs and cleaning fluid, I would have to pay $56. The swabs are one use only.
I do have a blower and find it is a good first try, and if that fails then may go on to wet swab. The blower is also good for cleaning crevices round camera and lens etc.

I found that this is quite a good site with a good explanation if you want to do it yourself

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/index.html

[Colin Southern]

It does. After lots of nervousness, I got myself an Arctic Butterfly (after checking out with folks on here who I knew also used it) ... and it is a wonderful tool.

I'm finding that it works well in conjunction with a sensor pen (the sensor pen removes the "welded on" bits and then the arctic butterfly & blower "clean up").

The arctic butterfly does pickup silicon lubricant easily though (I think the 1Ds3 was bad for it) - so I think it always pays to check it first on the back of a UV filter.

Speaking of which ... guess what I need to do right now ...

[Colin Southern]

Speaking of which ... guess what I need to do right now ...

All done.

Sensor Loupe + Blower + Arctic Butterfly + Sensor Pen + Sensor Stamp = ZERO dust spots (down from several hundred).