Don't be afraid of cleaning your own sensor - see my 'first-timer' results!

fuzzyfelt30

fuzzyfelt30

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Just thought I would share my results of my first wet sensor clean from this morning!

Having noticed more spots appearing recently, I was shocked to see how bad the dirt was when I took a closer look!! I immediately bought a rocket blower and used that but that still left me with a sensor looking like this AFTER the blowing!! :eek: :(


Before by Fuzzyfelt30, on Flickr

I then bought this on Amazon and as soon as it arrived today, I got on with the job and just followed the very simple instructions! :)

The situation after 2 swabs:


after2swabs by Fuzzyfelt30, on Flickr

Then after all 4 swabs:


after4swabs by Fuzzyfelt30, on Flickr

Still not 100% pristine but slightly better than it was!!! :lol:

If any of you out there are worried by doing your own cleaning.....don't be. It really is easy - just carefully follow the instructions and then sit back and admire the results! No more hours of 'spot-cleaning' on every shot!! :)
 
There is plenty of eclipse solution (0.5 fl. oz) but only 4 swabs in the kit, so I have ordered separately loads more swabs. I don't think it is the cheapest option available but someone else recommended it and it had everything I needed for a first go! Definitely cheaper and quicker than sending it away to be done! :)
 
I've never been afraid of my sensor. When you have a GH1 and every time you take a lens off it's just sat there staring at you hardly even recessed into the body you have to get pretty intimate with cleaning it. I have a lenspen sensorklear and have to clean my S5 after every other trip at the moment. I should probably stop changing lenses in the wind!
 
I've cleaned my own for years now. I recently cleaned my 5D and it's spot free at f32 :D My G1 rarely needs a wet clean and it's only had two or three in years of use and many more lens changes than my 5D.
 
I bought some cleaning swabs which came with a small amount of the liquid you need (DigiPads) I think were the company.

But I just get streaks on the sensor - not sure what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks.
 
jryans10 said:
I bought some cleaning swabs which came with a small amount of the liquid you need (DigiPads) I think were the company.

But I just get streaks on the sensor - not sure what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Personally what I use is Pec Pads and Eclipse fluid.

I wrap the Pec Pad around a slice cut from an old credit card and tape it in place. I then place just a drop of fluid on the tip of the credit card tool and then clean after just a second or two to let some liquid evaporate off.
 
I use the Delkin kit with the illuminated sensor loupe. It makes checking the results of your cleaning a lot easier and quicker. Plenty of pads in the kit, too. Although I do have to trim the width of them slightly before us.
 
Funny you should mention this..last night was the first time I actually "wet" cleaned a sensor in > 5 years of owning a DSLR.

I had an oily spot on it, and totally disregarded their advice to only use the swab once...I used it many, many times to get the oily/sticky patch off. Once the patch was gone, I had to be a bit careful and only do one final uninterrupted sweep for a final clear...came out quite good, one tiny speck in a corner barely visible at f/22.

If people are in doubt, just do it, it really isn't that bad.

Strange that I was worried about cleaning the sensor, but I dismantled a brand new Canon 1100D to remove the sensor so that I could remove one of the colour correction filters...a million times more scary than using a squeegee.
 
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