Dirty Sensor

[pboreham]

I've been meaning to post about my sensor for a while - but its been brought to my attention again today ... so HELP!!!

I've tried to clean it myself, but I dont really know what I'm doing. Does anyone know how much a shop would charge to clean it?

You can see what I mean in the first shot of my Flickr - it has one visible black splodge to the top right. There are actually about 3 of those - the rest are smaller, but still visible on the right (wrong?!) image.

If anyone could point me in the right direction - would be appreciated.

Ta!

[Yandros]

Get a rocket blower and follow the manual guidelines for cleaning the sensor. A blower will shift non-sticky dust, but I've not been hugely impressed with the results.

These guys in London will do a while you wait sensor clean for £28+VAT

Repairs

[pboreham]

Bit of a trot to London, but thats interesting all the same - thanks

[scotty94]

Originally Posted by Yandros

Get a rocket blower and follow the manual guidelines for cleaning the sensor. A blower will shift non-sticky dust, but I've not been hugely impressed with the results.

These guys in London will do a while you wait sensor clean for £28+VAT

Repairs

Cheers for the link, must get mine cleaned pronto!! bit of a trek for me also to the smoke but worth saving in case I can't find someone more local

[Peakoverload]

By all means take it to a shop and pay to get it cleaned. However dust is a fact of life and sooner rather than later your sensor will get dusty again so what are you going to do? Always take it to a shop for cleaning?

Learn how to clean your own sensor, it really isn't difficult or anywhere near as scary as it sounds or as scary as all the 'alleged horror stories' make it out to be. In actual fact it's dead simple and, as long as you follow a few basic and largely common sense rules, it's perfectly safe.

I wrote an article on my site about all the methods I've used Sensor Cleaning but by far the most effective solution was to buy some Eclipse Liquid and a pack of Sensor Swabs.

1. Take a photo at the smallest aperture (f/22) against a white background and then examine it at 100% to see the dust.
2. Put the camera into sensor cleaning mode and take the lens off
3. Put a couple of drops of Eclipse liquid onto the very tip of a Sensor Swab.
4. Place the Swab at the very edge of your sensor and apply slight pressure - not hard, just a little more than simply resting the swab on the sensor.
5. Move the swab across the sensor in one direction (don't go back and forth) in one continuous motion whilst applying the same gentle pressure until the swab reaches the opposite edge.
6. Lift the Swab off the sensor.
7. Turn the camera off, replace the lens and take another shot. If there are still specs of dust, repeat with a new swab.

Notes:
Do NOT clean the mirror with a swab. In fact don't clean it at all unless you absolutely have to and even then at the very most you should only use a brush and even then don't apply any pressure at all. Better still use a Rocket Blower.

If you do clean the mirror do this BEFORE cleaning the sensor

You SHOULD use a clean swab for every wipe of the sensor. However Swabs are expensive and you often find that 2 or 3 wipes are needed to clean your sensor. You can use the same swab BUT make sure you apply new Eclipse liquid each time as you don't want a dry swab touching the sensor. You should also be aware that if you use the same swab more than once you can transfer dust back onto the sensor so if you've cleaned 3 times and still it's not dust free, use a new swab.

You CAN do it, it really isn't hard.

Good Luck.

[Farno]

I had a similar problem, but a rocket blower wouldnt shift it. As there were no local places to hand the camera over for a wet clean i looked into doing it myself.
I bought this starter kit Digi Pads E2 Starter kit Type 1 (E2KITTYPE1) - Warehouse Express
and followed the simple instructions that are supplied.
Worked a treat, the sensor is now clean and i have no spot on my shots.
It didnt find it difficult or scary, as posted above its common sense really.

[pboreham]

Thanks guys - whats with all the different sensor swabs? I dont want to get the wrong one, so whats the right size for the D40?

I keep seeing swabs for 1.0x, 1.5x etc etc - which one is right for the D40 please?

[Peakoverload]

I believe these should be fine Digi Pads E2 Starter kit Type 1 (E2KITTYPE1) - Warehouse Express

IIRC the D40 has the same size sensor as the D50, D80 etc. This is also a cheaper way of buying a cleaning kit as Digi-Pads are cheaper then Sensor Swabs and just as good and although you only get a small bottle of the E2 cleaning fluid that will last you ages as you only use a few drops at a time and it's a lot cheaper than buying a large bottle.

[pboreham]

Cool, I'll get that then

[denno75uk]

Just for anyone interested, alternative kit here. Includes a blower, pec pads, eclipse and sensor swabs.

[RandomLee]

I think I might in the same boat as pboreham.

I was out (for only the 2nd time I might add) with my new A200 on Saturday and I noticed a few dust specs in the viewfinder.

Then when I got home I could see a black mark in some of my pics but not others (going by memory I think the pics taken with a smaller apeture were worse but I'm not 100% sure without checking).

The annoying thing is I've only had the camera for over a week and the lens has never been off since I 1st attached it. As I said, this was only the 2nd time it's left the house and it's kept in a camera bag the rest of the time so I'm not sure how it could have got in there.

I tried rotating the lens in it's mount to see if the dust specs moved in the VF but they stay still, so I think that rules the lens out?

Does that sound like it is dust on the sensor, the mirror or in the actual VF?

Cheers,

Lee

[Biscuit761]

Pboreham, Colchester Camera Repairs on Severalls do it for a few local shops I have heard, may be worth a try.

I have done it on my D300 with Sensor Swabs, took a few goes but OK now.

Bill

[dognuts]

What kind of camera have you got?
Canon do one free sensor clean under warranty in the first year.