Camera Maintenance & Care (sticky?)

[grimm]

This might be a good topic worth a sticky...

On Friday i was on-site taking some photos for work. The conditions on-site were not very camera friendly, very dusty. Well after taking some pictures, and changing my lens and taking some more, i noticed that there were some spots in the pictures. I cleaned my lens, which wasn't very dirty, and the spots remained. I left the site and went home, and started to diagnose the problem.



I cleaned my view finder, the focusing screen, and mirror, still spots. I then came to the conclusion the dust was on the sensor.

Being that this was practically a brand new camera I was pretty upset that i already got dust on the sensor and had no idea how to remove it. After some searching online and reading thru the manual. I found sensor cleaning swabs. Online these swabs ran about $45- $50 for a 12 pack. Price seemed some what high, but if thats what was needed then so be it. But before i ordered them i went to ritz and found that they had a 6 pack for $21.95. I picked up that and one of those bulb blower things. ($5.99) at ritz.

(linked products are similar but not exact to the ones i got)

I went thru the menus and set the camera to manual sensor cleaning mode (this locks the mirror in the up position and opens the shutter)

I then held the camera with the lens opening pointing down and used the bulb blower to blow out the dust.

turned the camera back off, put a lens back on, and took a test picture.

Luckily for me, the spots/dust was gone.

Not sure if anyone else has needed to do this, but it might be helpful to some.

[djb5118]

i have done the same thing and it worked well. one thing to notice though is that it may not always be dirt on the sensor. I have had a few occasions where there was just dirt on the viewfinder mirror(specs in the viewfinder but not on the picture). Its more of an annoyance than a problem.

[grimm]

yea I started the cleaning process by doing those first. i was shocked and scared that dust had made it's way onto the senor.

[howielong]

Yea thats what I normally do is use a blower bulb. I've had dust on my sensor before, (house construction)

Anyway since this is a cleaning thread, anybody recommend good cleaning stuff. Like a decent blower bulb or what not. Right now I use a old one my dad used when he shot film many years ago. I do use one of those microfiber cloths on my lenses if I have to.

[BlackTypeR]

I need to clean my sensor really bad. If I shoot anything above f/14 the dust spots start to become visible. At f/22 the amount of dust spots is ridiculous. I'm too afraid to do it myself. I called NY Camera & Video and they charge $50. Has anybody else had their camera cleaned there?

[TROLL]

A few notes on dirt/dust...

-If you can see dark spots or lines when you look through the viewfinder, then this dust is on your focusing screen (look into the front of the front of the camera and look up). These will not show up on the photos you take but they can be annoying over time.

-If you see dark spots or lines on the photos you take which will be more noticeable when you are using a higher f/stop and you're focusing closer, then the dust is on your sensor. You wont be able to see these through the viewfinder, but they will show up in your photos in the same spot every time... more noticeable on some than others depending on what you're shooting and how you're shooting it.

I wouldn't take the plunge on the swabs until you've tried to blow the camera out with a good bulb.
I just picked up a Rocket Air bulb ($15) and it did a great job at cleaning off my focusing screen and my sensor... no other cleaning needed. This should be able to blow off any dust that has worked its way in there.
If you have any streaks or anything more serious than dry dust then you may need to move to the wet swab system.

NEVER touch the sensor with anything. Not your finger, not a brush, nothing. Don't use canned air or compressed air to blow it out either because you can get liquid/moisture in there

Newer cameras (Canon 40D, Nikon D3 and D300, for example) have a self cleaning system built in, and I was very impressed with how my D300 took care of a bit of dust that was on the sensor. Poof and it was gone...

[grimm]

Here is a great tutorial on Sensor Cleaning
In addition to Troll's info.
In almost all digital cameras the sensor is actually behind a piece of glass of some sort, so when you swab, you are really cleaning the glass. The swabs i linked too have an ultra quick drying liquid. The one i got from Ritz was a wet/dry system. Apply the wet, then dry with the other. This seemed clumsy, but it was all they had. I was also impressed with how easy it was to remove and wash the focusing screen. The screen it self is a rigid plastic, i washed mine under cold water and used used a microfiber cloth to delicately dry it. It was rather durable though.

Canned air they say is too powerful and will lodge the dust into the cameras mechanisms, as well as possibly spray liquid into the camera.

Co2 is also bad, oil sometimes sprays out.

The bulb i got was the Quantaray Hurricane Blower. It was $5.99 it did an excellent job.

Those bulb blower two in one combos seem like a bad idea. but i see them every where, anyone ever use them?

[i like rice]

Originally Posted by TROLL

NEVER touch the sensor with anything. Not your finger, not a brush, nothing. Don't use canned air or compressed air to blow it out either because you can get liquid/moisture in there

I don't know about Nikon, but on Canon sensors, you are not directly touching the sensor itself since it is protected by a piece of glass.

I use both the brush and wet solution. I bought a Sensor Brush kit. The brushes push off the dust but also uses a positive charge to pick up the dust. For the time the brushes can't pull everything off, I'll use the Eclipse pec pad method.

[TROLL]

ahh ok i was unclear. you shouldn't use a generic brush that you'd use on filters and lens glass, etc because if the brush you're using has any dirt or oil on it at all you'll make the situation worse.
however if you're using a brush thats intended for sensor cleaning then thats different...
and i believe its the same for all cameras that there is a glass/plastic cover over the actual sensor, but getting that dirty or scratching it is still pretty tragic.

[den9]

never blow air from ur mouth either, did it once and fogged everything up, camera acted weird and i had to smack it to get the mirror to flip back down. it did work to get the dust out though.

also how does the self cleaning feature work?

[i like rice]

Originally Posted by den9

never blow air from ur mouth either, did it once and fogged everything up, camera acted weird and i had to smack it to get the mirror to flip back down. it did work to get the dust out though.

also how does the self cleaning feature work?

It doesn't

It vibrates the sensor to shake off the dust, so the dust collects inside the housing and eventually gets back on the sensor. This is why the wet method works better (or a brush that uses static to pull off the dust) because it removes it from the housing.

[TomTomTuning]

Blah to sensor cleaning.. i dont care much for that.

I use my Rocket blower on my camera maybe once a week just to be sure things stay clean.
I also clean my lenses usually after very use. There always seem to be dust on it after using it.