Update on CCD cleaning

[Matt. K]

For those who clean their own CCD's....many people have been using the 30 second exposure time to keep the shutter open whilst they clean the CCD and this works OK. There have been no reports of any damage using this method. However...using this method means that the CCD is active and hence may be attracting dust through static electricity, making cleaning a little more difficult. It is probably then a much better idea to use the mirror lockup function which opens the shutter on a non-active CCD. Instructions for using the mirror lock-up function are on page 194 of the D70 Manual. Hope this helps

[Onyx]

Anyone who uses the 30 second exposure function shouldn't be considering cleaning their own sensors IMHO! I've always used mirror lock up. There's no way 30 seconds is enough time for a cleaning pass. BTW, the static electricity thing is a fallacy. You're not really cleaning the sensor, but the anti-aliasing filter a few mm in front of the sensor, made of lithium niobate by best estimates, which is not sensitive to static charge.

[Matt. K]

Onyx...I don't know how you clean your CCD but it takes me 10 seconds to give it a blast of air and then do a double wipe with a pec-pad.