Jessops Sensor Cleaning

indiabravo

indiabravo

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Just noticed today that Jessops are now offering in-store sensor cleaning. £30 next day or £40 same day.

Anyone braved it yet? Thoughts?
 
Ha, I have the touch of an elephant and zero patience! Not a great combination for sensor cleaning. £30 tho? I was quoted £157 by a Nikon certified guy a few weeks ago and it would be away for 4-5 days.
 
Calumet offer their autumn events end Oct/early Nov - free sensor clean for a charity donation
 
That's not a terrible price as long as they do an immaculate job. I'd be interested to see how stringent the quality control is and exactly how they are justifying the cash, but if they can get it right then it'd be a great service for those too nervous/disinclined to clean their own sensors!
 
For this price they usually have threshold of so many black dots left ... I would double check with them about it before would buy this service ...
But personally I do it myself ...
 
indiabravo said:
Ha, I have the touch of an elephant and zero patience! Not a great combination for sensor cleaning. £30 tho? I was quoted £157 by a Nikon certified guy a few weeks ago and it would be away for 4-5 days.
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Unless you actually have a medical condition that prevents you from controlling your hands... you can clean your own sensor. It's very, very easy. You will not damage your sensor, as you can't actually touch the surface of the sensor. Make sure your battery is fully charged, and use the camera's dedicated sensor cleaning mode (not just setting the shutter to B).

Paying £30 to have someone clean a piece of plastic 24x36mm (or probably less) is just outrageous.

Another thing.... You really trust the idiots in Jessops any more than you trust yourself?

http://www.cameraclean.co.uk/produc...desc=Mini+Sensor+Cleaning+Kit+with+24mm+Swabs


£18 and you can do it yourself the next 5 times... £3.60 a go.


All this talk of sensor cleaning being this big scary thing, and that if you do it wrong you'll ruin your camera is just internet b******s.
 
I use a lensmen SensorKlear and it works a treat - isn't a wet clean, so you don't have the worry of that...
 
Jamtea said:
... exactly how they are justifying the cash...
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They don't have to justify it. They're running a business. They know how many snappers out there believe all the ballcocks that's talked on the internets about sensor cleaning being on a par with brain surgery ...
 
I'd imagine a lot of the £30 cost would be liability insurance as it will almost certainly go to a junior member of staff (probably the saturday lad/lass) and they would have to budget to replace a small percentage of cameras that get accidentally destroyed (probably less than 1% but they would still need to budget for it)
 
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Or probably sub it out to some camera enthusiast to do for next to nothing on Saturdays on a consultancy basis.

No NI issues and can shift liability to said consultant.

Win Win.

I think Calumet charge £57.50 for FF sensor cleaning.
 
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I once was forced to use the end of my t-shirt to clean the sensor... it was fine, although I obviously don't recommend this.

Seriously, ignore all the crap you hear... buy the sensor swabs I linked to above in post #8 and just get on with it. It's easy... just make sure you use a proper sensor cleaning mode and follow your camera's instructions.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Seriously, ignore all the crap you hear... buy the sensor swabs I linked to above in post #8 and just get on with it. It's easy... just make sure you use a proper sensor cleaning mode and follow your camera's instructions.
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And order the right size ... are the ones linked for full frame?
 
JulesP said:
Neither would I after I heard one of their 'sales' people saying 'I wouldn't describe the 50mm f1.8 lens as a prime lens - it's too cheap, the 24-70 is a prime'.
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sounds like the idiots that work at the Bury st edmunds store
 
Agree with Pookey - it really is easy. A bit unnerving the first time but as long as you follow the instructions it's easy. The sensor itself is covered by a glass filter so you never actually get anywhere near the sensor anyway.
 
JulesP said:
Agree with Pookey - it really is easy. A bit unnerving the first time but as long as you follow the instructions it's easy. The sensor itself is covered by a glass filter so you never actually get anywhere near the sensor anyway.
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I went to Wex photography in Norwich and got showed how to do a sensor clean. Its not as hard as it looks
 
new2me said:
And order the right size ... are the ones linked for full frame?
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Can't remember... basically... most brands come in three sizes roughly equating to 35mm, APS-C and 4/3rd sizes. Just read what it says when buying. Just make sure you don't buy one too big is all.. using a smaller one is no big deal. All this "must give a single wipe in one direction" stuff is b******s as well. So far as I'm concerned all that matters is that the pad picks up dust, and the fluid leaves no residue.

[edit] Just checked.. it plainly says 24mm swabs... so they're full frame. I've no idea what the OP's camera is, so that's down to him to check.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
I once was forced to use the end of my t-shirt to clean the sensor... it was fine, although I obviously don't recommend this.

Seriously, ignore all the crap you hear... buy the sensor swabs I linked to above in post #8 and just get on with it. It's easy... just make sure you use a proper sensor cleaning mode and follow your camera's instructions.
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i have done similar as when i got my dslr back in 2006 i suddenly noticed a huge blob when chimping shots and shifted it with the corner of my microfibre cloth - had not even read about "sensor cleaning" at the time but figured it was on the sensor rather than viewfinder.
i have used the same "corner of microfibre cloth" method to shift a lot of dust when i first got my 8 year old M8 about a year ago although this would only ever work on loose dust that gets left after rocket blasting
 
What I don't understand though is how come so many snappers get crap on their sensors in the first place ...
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
What I don't understand though is how come so many snappers get crap on their sensors in the first place ...
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Changing lenses in less than ideal conditions... Windy days, windy and rainy days... dusty environments. Easily done.
 
You dont even need to change lenses to get dust - my old Ricoh GR with fixed lens got a huge dust bunny on the sensor and the only way I managed to shift it (eventually) was sticking it in my bike pannier and riding over cobbles!
 
Just do it yourself, it not exactly Rocket Sience, as evidenced by Jessops offering the service.
 
boliston said:
You dont even need to change lenses to get dust -
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This is true. Moving elements inside the lens are basically pistons moving air around. Lenses aren't airtight.
 
A friend of mine is a semi-pro togger. All he has ever done to shift dust on the sensor is use a hairdryer. Says it's a trick that has worked for years and he's never had a problem.
 
Neil Pho said:
Actually using their cameras.
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I've had a second hand D200 for a number of years and still no sign of any dust bunnies. I then bought a D750 and within a couple of weeks use I was having to clean the sensor as at f8 spots were noticeable - easily cleaned though. I treat both cameras in the same way as in I'm protective in the way I change lenses. Makes no real sense as to why one camera is more susceptible than the other.
 
Furtim said:
Using a long abandoned 20 year old rocket blower to deposit decades of dust and crap all over the bloody thing. :)
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If it's a genuine rocket blower that shouldn't happen as they have a one way valve system that means when you let go, it closes the output, and opens a filtered input aperture.
 
Pookeyhead said:
If it's a genuine rocket blower that shouldn't happen as they have a one way valve system that means when you let go, it closes the output, and opens a filtered input aperture.
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Certainly not genuine, and quite possibly a lot more than 20 years old too. Just some cheap blower I bought when the pennies really really mattered!
 
Furtim said:
Certainly not genuine, and quite possibly a lot more than 20 years old too. Just some cheap blower I bought when the pennies really really mattered!
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Then it's not a rocket blower.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Then it's not a rocket blower.
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You are of course correct. Thank you for pointing out my error but I can't hang around to chat as I have to get back to my hoovering, this new Dyson is the dogs b*****ks!
 
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