Warning to EOS5d owners

[Jonnyreb]

If you have a 5d and if you have an artic butterfly....... be very, VERY careful when you clean the sensor!! The chamber of the 5d (and 1 series cameras) has a generous amount of oil to keep the shutter life up....... You may inadvertantly pick up a microscopic amount of oil on the brush and then liberaly smear it over the sensor :'( :'( :'(

After a panicked email to CPS, all is not lost. For £50 i can get the sensor cleaned!! I've also purchased some sensor swabs and fluid which i'll attempt before the camera goes to canon.......

So - does anyone have some helpful hints on using the sensor swabs? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Cheers

Jon

[Grendel]

Oooh nasty Jon :(

[oldgit]

ooh ohh. :(

[Jonnyreb]

Was not a happy chap yesterday. Flights doubled in price overnight, hotel got fully booked and i had to book elsewhere, then i smeared my sensor.

Only good news from the weekend is that the 70-200 is sharper than a very very sharp thing. Sadly this showed up the sensor detritus which led me to try to clean it which resulted in this thread

[Grendel]

So - does anyone have some helpful hints

Jon


A tip on behalf of Jimmy L....don't use a photo of your ceiling as a reference point for sensor dust if it has black dots on it :lol: :D :lol:

[Marcel]

:lol: Good one :D

What's the artic butterlfy? (Yes I'm too lazy to Google today)

[Jonnyreb]

Thanks Daddy - appreciate your wisdom :D

Marcel - the artic butterfly is basically a motorised super-soft brush. You spin it to build a charge and dislodge dust then gently wipe it over the sensor once. it picks up dust and debris and was extremely useful for the 30d. Due to its properties it also makes a cracking oiling brush too :(

Just forked out another wedge of cash to WE for 'smear away', 'orange pads', 'green pads' and 'sensor clean' - no doubt a review / tutorial will follow

[RobertP]

Have a look at my copperhill method thread in the tutorials section. You can practice on a filter glass. Why not put some of the oil on to a glass filter then experiment with the best way to remove it. Once you have a way that works then clean the sensor cover glass.

If eclipse fluid does not touch it I'd try white spirit as it will remove oil but does not attack plastic. Takes longer to evaporate but it does and you would only be using a drop or two on the swab. Then do an eclipse clean afterwards.

[Jonnyreb]

Have a look at my copperhill method thread in the tutorials section. You can practice on a filter glass. Why not put some of the oil on to a glass filter then experiment with the best way to remove it. Once you have a way that works then clean the sensor cover glass.

If eclipse fluid does not touch it I'd try white spirit as it will remove oil but does not attack plastic. Takes longer to evaporate but it does and you would only be using a drop or two on the swab. Then do an eclipse clean afterwards.

Robert - I'll give that a go (you know, I hadn't even considered experimenting on anything :embarrassed: )

Thanks for the tip :thumbs:

[rayfin]

WARNING! WARNING ! WARNING !

The 5D (unlike some other EOS cameras) does not have a plastic screen in front of the sensor so when you clean the sensor you are cleaning the actual indium tin oxide surface of the sensor itself. For this reason do not use Eclipse fluid and do not use white spirit ! Eclipse have released Eclipse E2 fluid for use with the 5D.

See here for more info (thread mentions 400D but it applies to the 5D as well): http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=280062

As regards the actual cleaning it is fairly easy. I accidently smeared oil on the sensor surface and it made a right mess (will post a photo if I can find one) but it cleared up fine with swabs and cleaning fluid. To be honest I have some spots on the sensor now but I find it so easy to clean them up in PS (I know where they are!) that I can't be bothered to clean the sensor again unless they get worse.

Ray

[Jonnyreb]

Yikes - thanks for that Ray!!

[Marcel]

:eek: I never knew that Ray. Thanks for the headsup.

[bbb]

I haven't dared clean mine yet. Luckily I spend most of my time with the lens wide open so it doesn't show too much. I think I need to be brave though! :gag:

[Jimmy_Lemon]

A tip on behalf of Jimmy L....don't use a photo of your ceiling as a reference point for sensor dust if it has black dots on it :lol: :D :lol:

*makes a mental note of people to chase with a big stick* :p

[I MAG images]

I use digi pads from warehouseexpress, it comes with its own cleaning fluid and I use 2 drops (no more than) then wipe one then the other right to the corners. I then use a dry pad just one way. After that I give it a good blow with a rocket and that does the trick. If however if you need to have it pro cleaned I only use Fixation at Vauxhall London, great service and very helpful. Dont forget you get one free clean under warranty....Ian

[rayfin]

I use 2 use digi pads from warehouseexpress, it comes with its own cleaning fluid

In light of the spec change by Eclipse I'd double check the fluid you are using. Better safe than sorry! For those of you worried about cleaning the sensor - don't be. It's pretty simple - might take a couple of goes but unless you are really ham fisted I can't see you doing any damage. I don't think the charges quoted for 'professional' cleaning are value for money (they only do the same as you anyway).

Ray

[RobertP]

Interesting! glad I don't have a 5D as i might have ruined it :)

I looked up that coating. Wikip. says it is probably an anti static coating on the 5D so I'd guess it wouldn't be a complete disaster if you did slightly damage it - but better safe than sorry.

[Ally]

Ouch! :thumbsdown: could have been worse though! as long as you get it back clean and healthy once more :)

[Shorn]

wrong thread sorry

[Jonnyreb]

Well, to my utter and absolute relief, after a small fortune went WE's way, all smears and specks have been removed from the sensor.

I bought:
x1 visible dust 'smear away'
x1 pack visible dust orange swabs
x1 bottle eclipse
x1 pack sensor swab swabs
x1 bottle sensor brush cleaning tablets.

All products have done a fantastic job. Yes, the cost was almost £100 for everything, but i'm now confident that any future mishaps can be painlessly removed by me without having to send the camera away.

The EOS 3 had just received another handful of + points :thumbs:

[Grendel]

So you gonna sell me your (freshly cleaned and well oiled) 5D then mate? :D

[Jonnyreb]

So you gonna sell me your (freshly cleaned and well oiled) 5D then mate? :D

Sure - I reckon £4,489.98 would be a fair price :D

[Grendel]

Well that'll cover the cost of the camera + the cost of cleaning the WD40 off the sensor I guess :lol:

[Jonnyreb]

Oops, SHOCKING! Naughty me - thats well overpriced. Apparently £4,485 will be sufficient :)

[Grendel]

Gosh, you wouldn't be angling for a 1DnMkIII would you by any chance Mr Reb? :D

[Jonnyreb]

Close, but no cigar. I'll settle for the old and feeble 1Ds mkII :lol:

EDIT - and the scariest fact is that JESSOPS (!!!!!) have it at the lowest price i've found so far!

[I MAG images]

have a look at what our American friends pay for their 1Ds Mk2's http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=pagination&A=nextPage&Q=&catId=6222&compareCatId=6222&shs=&ci=6222&ac=&al=0&mnp=0.0&mxp=0.0&cmpsrch=&cltp=&clsgr=&bl=8&sb=bs%2Cupper%28ds%29&sq=asc&fi=all&pn=2

[I MAG images]

B and H is an amazing shop. If you are ever in NY go there its a must see.

[Jonnyreb]

have a look at what our American friends pay for their 1Ds Mk2's http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=pagination&A=nextPage&Q=&catId=6222&compareCatId=6222&shs=&ci=6222&ac=&al=0&mnp=0.0&mxp=0.0&cmpsrch=&cltp=&clsgr=&bl=8&sb=bs%2Cupper%28ds%29&sq=asc&fi=all&pn=2

Looks a good price, but when you convert to £ and add sales tax there less than a flight's difference :(

[Wyvern971]

Well I think I did this with my 5D once :(

I tried fixing it using Eclipse and PEC pads :eek: though I don't think I did any lasting damage (I hope I haven't anyway that was 6 months ago)

The PEC pads didn't fix it and in the end I took it into fixation (as I thought I had a focussing issue, which I didn't just noob mistake as the lens was crap and it was hunting in low light)

Fixation perform a sensor clean anyway as part of the check and I didn't get charged as it was in warranty :thumbs:

[I MAG images]

Looks a good price, but when you convert to £ and add sales tax there less than a flight's difference :(

I agree totaly and you would have to pay the VAT when you come back. The point was how come they can get it a grand cheaper than us Brits???

[Jonnyreb]

I agree totaly and you would have to pay the VAT when you come back. The point was how come they can get it a grand cheaper than us Brits???

Ah - combination of Gordon Brown and distribution expenses (US being closer to Japan with no countries in between)