Sensor Cleaning

[purplehaze]

I am too much of a klutz to even consider doing it myself. That said, given the choice between a camera repair shop that charges $50+ and keeps your camera for up to a week and a local camera store that will do the job for $35 while you wait, which would you choose? My sensor is badly in need of a cleaning. The repair shop is tried and true, but I do hate to part with my camera for so long, especially as I have been benefiting from shooting nearly every day.

[inkista]

Stupid question, but did you try using a bulb blower? That alone works most of the time for me.

[purplehaze]

Yes, thanks, Kathy; I have tried blowing several times, but there are some persistent spots that have been there for months.

[IzzieK]

Does your camera have a sensor cleaning option? Mine does and I tried to operate it from the menu when I remember. I think I had sensor cleaned my D300s three time in its lifetime. (It is now shelved for the moment.)

[JR1]

Must be me, I have never cleaned nor had a sensor cleaned to this day

[DanK]

Janis,

Not knowing anything about the two shops or how they do the cleaning, it's hard to say. If I were going to take it to a shop, I would ask locals for their recommendations, and I would ask the shop what method they use to clean.

I am certainly a klutz, but it actually isn't all that hard to do. My standard procedure is this:

1. Start with a rocket blower, with the camera held lens-opening-down. This is sometimes sufficient and in any case removes grit that might cause problems later.

2. if that doesn't work, use a static brush. I use the Copper Hill brush. This is less nerve-wracking then a wet cleaning and often is enough.

3. As a last resort, I do a wet cleaning, also with the Copper Hill materials and method.

I recently bought the LensPen sensor cleaner that is in this kit (you can buy the pen separately), but I haven't yet tried it.

I haven't often had to do the wet cleaning, but I would guess it now averages about once a year or perhaps once every two years.

Dan

[Mike Buckley]

Janis,

Nobody is more of a klutz than me so I completely understand how you feel. That explains why I started this thread awhile ago that explains the equipment suited for klutzes.

My recommendation but only because I understand what it's like to be a klutz: Buy the system mentioned in the above thread. Try to clean your sensor. If it works, fine. If not, rather than use a wet cleaning system (because, like me, you're a klutz), bight the bullet and pay to have your sensor cleaned probably for the last time.

Once your sensor is clean, use your purchased system to check your sensor before or after every shoot, especially if you changed lenses. Check it even if you didn't change lenses because dust that you blew off the sensor could have been blown into other parts of the camera and could have later fallen back onto the sensor.

Ever since using this system and checking preemptively for dust on my sensor, I've never needed to attempt a wet cleaning system or needed to pay to have it cleaned. That's true for both my and my wife's camera.

[Geoff F]

If blowing or brushing doesn't work then wet clean is the only remaining answer.

Something which I do fairly regularly. No real problems if you get some proper swabs and fluid. You are only 'window cleaning' after all; just on a smaller scale.

The swabs will be on a 'stick' so you simply wipe them across the glass. I usually invert the camera and give it a good shake afterwards in the hope that any lose dust/other crud will fall out instead of remaining inside.

Originally I purchased a Digital Duster device which also had a miniature vacuum cleaner, but that didn't last very long before it stopped working.

[inkista]

I think the main thing that needs to be stated here is that you're never touching the sensor itself. What you're cleaning is the glass filter on top of the sensor. So it's not as delicate as you may perceive.

If blowing or brushing doesn't work then wet clean is the only remaining answer...

Um, no. Dry cleaning can work, too. I've never used a wet method. Hearing that the Canon Service Center and lensrentals uses lenspens to do their sensor cleaning, and given how comfortable I am with lenspens for my lenses, it was my first go to. I iz also a klutz, and I can control the felttip head of a lenspen sensorklear much more easily than I can the bristles of a brush. I've never smeared grease on my sensor, and I've gotten all the dust off. The little black specks that are the carbon cleaning compound of a lenspen I get off with a Rocketblower and a Dust-Aid stamp.

YMMV, of course. But wet-cleaning is not the only other answer to this. It is one of multiple methods you can combine to taste for what works for you.

See: lenrentals sensor cleaning video.

[purplehaze]

Thanks, everyone; you almost have me convinced, but after reading Mike's thread, watching Kathy's video and doing a little more research of my own, I've decided to take it in to the local experts this time around. I am haunted by a day on the beach last fall, following which I could feel sand in the shutter mechanism. The panic-inducing gritty sensation didn't last long, but I fear that sand may have fallen down onto the sensor and that I am liable to do damage if I attempt a cleaning myself. I am going to keep the Lenspen option in mind for the future though. I notice that there are two versions on the market; the cheaper, older version uses watch batteries and provides half the lighting of the newer one, and the newer one also fits micro four-thirds lenses. Kathy's comment about the carbon tip leaving particles behind is echoed by other users, so I think I would also get the Dust Aid. As far as trusting the local camera store, it seems there is no guarantee that the work will be performed by a qualified service technician, so I think the camera repair shop is a better bet if my dust bunnies prove to be sand monsters.

[IzzieK]

The video on site uses a Nikon. I like the Dust Shield but it says "Canon". I will look at it closely later when I wake up properly. That seems to be a help in changing lenses which I may not know sometimes can be a dusty environment. Better prepared than not with my lovely camera.

[Geoff F]

Lenspens are in effect 'wet cleaning'. Leave the cap off for too long, as I did, and it dries out; then fails to work.

[inkista]

Lenspens are in effect 'wet cleaning'. Leave the cap off for too long, as I did, and it dries out; then fails to work.

From the Lenspen FAQ:

There are no liquids in a LensPen – nothing to dry out!

Did you forget to "recharge" the tip with the graphic cleaning compound by twisting it in the cap? A lot of folks do--it's why they redesigned the new ones with screw-on caps, iirc.

[Geoff F]

I still have the pen but just use the brush now. The rubber tip and the foam packing in the cap have gone completely dry. The tip is rather hard now.

It never really worked well for me even when new.

[carll]

Stupid question, but did you try using a bulb blower? That alone works most of the time for me.

That is all I use, a Rocket blower is my fav.

Carl.