Just cleaned my first sensor

antonroland

antonroland

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Anton
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Anybody out there who didn't exactly think it was possible to do it yourself??
 
Well Ive had the stuff for nearlky a year now...and I still haven't done it.

I only have one or two small spots at the moment, so I'm not sure whether I need to do it yet or not.

Saying that, I'm worried about doing it. Sounds like quite a daunting thing to do.
 
I have a mark which is visable through the viewfinder, but doesn't appear on the photo's.

Would you recommend trying to clean this? or as its not on the final images shall I leave it?
 
Hiya Marcel

Daunting as hell yes but quite rewarding afterwards actually(y)

When you say ok to that cleaning option that first time and hear the mirror click open you sort of reach this mental point of no return:help: :help: :help:

I used the green clean pack BTW which consists of the vacuum can, the wet and dry swabs.

The wet swab looks HELLUVA wet but mops up beautifully with the "dry" swab which is also quite wet:bonk:

To summarize: vacuum, wet swab, dry swab and test.

It takes more than 1 or 2 wipes though(y) (y)

Rwotton : if you see spots in the viewfinder they will likely sit on the focusing screen which sits above the mirror.

They will most likely get to the sensor eventually but don't worry about it before they do.

The kit also advises to vacuum the whole chamber behind the lens before using the swabs.

Hope this helps

Cheers
 
I must admit to handing the camera over to him indoors for this kind of thing.....only had to do it once and he used one of those fancy puffer thingys... giotto or something.....anyway it did the trick. Since being advised to always turn off the power before changing lenses and hold it upside down to do it, I've not had a dust problem.......(fingers crossed as I say this):D !
 
To be honest I think this whole dust thing is a bit overrated

One will only really notice dust from around f/11 and smaller apertures (IMHO)

Most of us will have a terrible fright if we had to see what our sensors really looked like.

I think it was Hoodi who started the dirty sensor thread and boy did I have a fright.

Until that time I was totally oblivious to the condition of my cameras' sensors:shrug:
 
Must admit I do mine almost on a monthly basis usually dictated by small apertures and mostly coastal work. But somehow, my little blobs are almost like old friend in PS - you get to know where they all are. At the mo, I have a little piece of fluff in the top right - looks like a hang glider coming into the frame when viewed on the monitor.
 
Anton..........you do realise your going to get hundreds of cameras turning up on your doorstep for a spring clean :D


And mines going to be the first :D
 
One web address: www.visibledust.com

Buy the swabs AND the brushes. Worth every penny!

The EOS5D I just got had some funny marks on the sensor on my first shots so I cleaned with swabs and it is now 100% mark free - with one wipe!!

EDIT: oops sorry, corrected the web address
 
I have the sensor brushes (1.6x as I bought them for my 20D) and each size of the "VisibleDust"swabs along with "Sensor Clean" fluid. All bought from Steve at www.ffordes.co.uk and despite the price I can say they are great value for money - unless you actually like cloning/spot removing/etc :D
 
Hi folks
Thanks for all the replies ...I will try to respond to all in 1 post:thinking: :thinking: :thinking:

DF: NO PROBLEM bring your camera and come see good old africa:D

Might turn out to be one expensive sensor clean but hey,nothing ventured nothing gained ,eh?

Himupnorth: never seen the brushes yet but didn't look like I needed them even though my sensors were FILTHY:nuts: For that reason I did not get away with 1 swipe.....

Chewey: can't say for sure exactly which one I got but I can tell you this ..It is a green clean kit which consists of a little box containing a can with this little vacuum thing and 3 sets of 2 swabs each(one wet and one dry)

If it'll help I can give you the barcode on the box...?
 
After three Afghan trips and three Iraq trips, both my sensors were a bit claggy, despite never changing lenses on the go.

Both needed three swipes and one required an extra swipe to remove some solvent 'smear' in the corners.

Used to have to do this very regularly with the D1x's, so I lost my inhibitions about scrubbing with what appear to be dish-cloths on lolly-sticks a long time ago.
Remember it's a glass (bypass) screen you're cleaning, not the actual sensor. It may be wafer-thin, but as long as you don't poke it, it'll be fine.
 
All the bits for this are joining that tripod on my christmas list - so as of December 25th I'll have no excuse for not doing both cameras! :help:


:D
 
Having seen the prices of Visible Dust sensor brushes and also being well aware of the smudges I cause in the wet cleaning method by exerting too much pressure, I tried a Copperhill Brush this morning. One quick sweep and it's gotten rid of 95% of the sensor dust. So 9.9/10 for this. I paid £16.40 incl delivery via PayPal and the brush took about 5 or 6 days to arrive.
 
I just bought and tried an arctic butter fly
My review of this can be found here
 
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