Sensor Cleaning

[joey]

Which sensor cleaning kits and methods do people use?
From which supplier do you buy it?

Thanks!

[Yi-P]

Most of the time, dry method -- Giottos Rocket Blower, blow it dry.



Very rare wet method -- methanol (eclipse) + pec*pads on a home made swab.

[fozzie]

joey - I have a supply of Giotto Air Rockets (Large) for $18 to do a dry clean:

http://www.2filter.com/prices/products/rocket.html

Send PM if interested.

For wet clean this is the only product I would recommend, and is available from Quality Camera Sales in WA. Stu is a fantastic guy, with prompt service:

http://www.qualitycamera.com.au/product ... ts_id=1351

I am leaving for the 'Avalon Air Show 2007' at 3am today, and will not be back until next Tuesday afternoon.

fozzie

[sheepie]

For wet clean this is the only product I would recommend, and is available from Quality Camera Sales in WA. Stu is a fantastic guy, with prompt service:

http://www.qualitycamera.com.au/product ... ts_id=1351

I second that recommendation, on both counts

First though, try the Air Rockets - they work with 90% of the muck your sensor will pick up.

[Aussie Dave]

For wet clean this is the only product I would recommend, and is available from Quality Camera Sales in WA. Stu is a fantastic guy, with prompt service:

http://www.qualitycamera.com.au/product ... ts_id=1351
fozzie

I second this !

I have and use this and it's great....purchased from the same place mentioned above

[bloop]

I used to just rely on the Rocket blower method until the other night I gunked up the sensor with even more crap than it had to begin with so I took the plunge and ordered a wet clean kit from Quality Camera Sales yesterday (which I received today, thanks Stu). I've done 3 swipes thus far and there are 2 spots which just won't budge. It's starting to annoy me grrrr.

OT: How many swipes does it take on average to remove all the spots?

[Big V]

Bloop, that is like asking how long is a piece of string Just keep doing it till they go, you have to use 3 drops on the pad to moisten them enough that they can be budged, then get them on the second go with 2 drops. After awhile they do go.. At least it is not costing you 90 bucks a pop now!, which is what most places in Adelaide would charge. Keep at it and all will be well.

[joey]

I think I am going to need to use wet kit to clean the sensor on my camera. It’s dirty, it’s stained, I am ashamed to show a picture of it.

[joey]

Bloop, that is like asking how long is a piece of string Just keep doing it till they go, you have to use 3 drops on the pad to moisten them enough that they can be budged, then get them on the second go with 2 drops. After awhile they do go.. At least it is not costing you 90 bucks a pop now!, which is what most places in Adelaide would charge. Keep at it and all will be well.

After reading practical comments and various resources on the web. Cleaning digital sensors looks like a science, not a rocket science... using various techniques, you have to know what you are doing to remove the dust.

[bloop]

It took a total of nine swipes to clear it all, but I finally have a spotless sensor. Not nearly as scary as it first seems. Now for the speck on the focussing screen thanks to the Giotto rocket... Doesn't show up in pictures but annoying as hell.

[michael_]

9 swipes? did you change the pec pad each time? or reuse the same one?

[DaveB]

Be cautious when cleaning the internal filter. I use the blower as a first pass, and usually don't need to go further. If I need to I go to an Arctic Butterfly brush. If I need to go further (and I haven't been flying on the trip and thus haven't had to leave the wet-cleaning gear behind) I do a wet clean.
Not only is this faster and easier than doing a wet clean each and every time, I recently became aware of two related issues...

A recent service advisory from Nikon suggested that the coatings on the sensor filter have been damaged on some Nikon DSLRs from repeated cleaning with at least one 3rd-party product (sorry, that's about as much detail as we got). Now, it's possible that it's just due to people doing a bad job, it might be a problem with some of the weird-and-wonderful cleaning "solutions" out there, but I think it's worth keeping in mind. Don't use wet-cleaning unless you have to.

Also it seems that the rubberised seal that the D70's filter sits on top of (separating it from the sensor slightly) has in some cases started decaying (again, the suggestion is that the cleaning solution is at fault). Because of the construction of the Nikon filter/sensor mount, it's also possible that excessive pressure on one side during cleaning might help fluid to get in on the opposite side.
This is a reminder to not flood the filter with fluid and then wipe it. Don't saturate the PecPad: 2-3 drops on a 14mm-wide spatula are enough (an 18mm-wide spatula as used on some full-frame cameras can need a bit more).
The sealing around the edges of the filter in EOS bodies is different for almost every model. I think it's generally more secure than the Nikon system, but there are a couple of exceptions. So the advice to not flood the filter with fluid should be a blanket rule!

9 swipes? did you change the pec pad each time? or reuse the same one?

Depending on how you wrap the pad around the spatula, it's possible to re-use the same pad about 6 times (rearranging the pad between each wipe). You have to be careful to always use a pristine area of the pad though! In my business I use this gear a lot for cleaning all sorts of glass (not just reaching down into the mirror box of a camera) and go through a LOT of pads...