What is the reality of sensor cleaning?

[coolphoto]

This seems like an old topic, but I am unable to clean my 5D Sensor. I have used a number of products. The best I can do is a number of small spots when I shoot the sky at F22 and some of the remaining dried liquid residue is still visible.

What is the reality about sensor cleaning? Is it normal that liquid marks and some dust specs are left? Will it make any difference if Canon Professional Services will do the sensor cleaning? Has someone written the definitive work on sensor cleaning?

I have read that there are many problems related to dirty 5D sensors.

Thank you.

[DarkPenguin]

I don't know if this is definitive or not ....

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/

I find that the sensor brush is a good way to get the sensor clean with a higher than average chance of dragging some lubricants across the sensor.

The other sensor dust products are pretty iffy.  They work but they can be a pain.  When all else fails i have a box of sensor swabs.

[coolphoto]

I don't know if this is definitive or not ....

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/

I find that the sensor brush is a good way to get the sensor clean with a higher than average chance of dragging some lubricants across the sensor.

The other sensor dust products are pretty iffy.  They work but they can be a pain.  When all else fails i have a box of sensor swabs.
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Thanks, that is exactly what I was looking for.  Reading this website confirmed my experience that water based cleaning solutions leave some traces on the surface. Using Eclipse solutions with sensor swaps appears to solve that.

Walter

[mcanyes]

Another place to look: http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning

Anything water based is bad because it won't evaporate cleanly. I have been using Eclipse and Pec-Pads for a long time with no problems.

Michael C.

[LeifG]

The first link above mentions that some Canon cameras need to have the mirror chamber cleaned otherwise dirt falls from the chamber onto the sensor.

I have a Nikon D200 and recently found the sensor to be dirty. I tried a sensor brush with no improvement, followed by lens tissues and isopropyl alcohol, which led to numerous smears all over the sensor. Then I tried 1 x ( Digipad + Eclips ) followed by 3 x ( Pecpad + Eclipse ) and the sensor is near perfect.

I do have two large faint blobs (diameter ~1/8 sensor width) that were present before the cleaning, and are still present, and I have no idea what they are. They might be coatings imperfections.

[61Dynamic]

I do have two large faint blobs (diameter ~1/8 sensor width) that were present before the cleaning, and are still present, and I have no idea what they are. They might be coatings imperfections.
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Have you cleaned the back of your lens too?

[sergio]

I bought a 2 dollar extra smooth nylon brush at an art store and cleaned it VERY well and let it dry fully, blew it with air charging it electrostatically, two sweeps across the sensor and it is inmaculately clean.
This I did as a desperate measure trying to buy from visible dust when their website was a living horror to do business with. I don't buy their plasma chamber BS.
By the way, it is a property of nylon to get a charge with the friction produced by the air.
Somewhere around the web I saw an article that explained in detail this process but I don't know where I saw it. But I sure know it works and a lot better than sensor swabs with methanol. You will anyway need those to get the very sticky goo or stuff you mention. The brush just does a great job with dust.

[61Dynamic]

I too built my own. The prices at Visibledust are absurd and their story on making the brushes is very hard to swallow. I followed the instructions in Petteri's article (which I'm sure your referring to sergio) and it works perfectly.

Whenever a person asks me where to buy a brush and is not a DIY'er, I refer them to Copper Hill which sell the same thing (clean nylon brushes) and at a fair price. The only advantage I see at Visibledust is their Arctic Butterfly which is a good design not found elsewhere.

[LeifG]

Have you cleaned the back of your lens too?
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Doh! Now why didn't I think of that. Thanks. Leif

[sergio]

Now that we are at it, maybe somebody knows the pointer to an article about creating a discharger of static electricity or something like that with a modified spark lighter for gas stoves.  I remember it was a device you just pointed out towards the sensor discharging it and then the cleaning was done with an air blower. No physical contact with the sensor.

[robjr]

I've been using the Copperhill products as well on my 350D and 5D with great results. I just cleaned my 5D yesterday for the first time after a month of regular usage, and lots of lens changes. It had several spots that were becoming annoying. Two cleanings, and the spots are gone.

I do have a bit of dust in the view finder, which I try to ignore...

[MrIconoclast]

Thanks for all of this great advice.  

One nice thing about film, is that you  get a brand new sensor for every image!

I enjoy my D200, and want to take good care of it.

[benInMA]

Make sure to clean the sides of the mirror box with a blower brush before cleaning the sensor as someone said.

My 5D seemed to have the typical dirt/dust issues that people complain about when I first bought it... but ever since I cleaned the walls of the mirror box it has been pretty resistant to getting dust on the sensor.  I haven't had to clean it in months now, and even if I stop down to f/22 and shoot the sky it only has 1-2 specs on it.

[Digiteyesed]

I have a set of Visible Dust brushes, plus a couple more soft nylon artists brushes that I bought and prepped using Petteri's instructions. There is no difference in performance (which is excellent, BTW), between the expensive brushes and the homemade cleaning kit. Now I feel kind of silly after spending all that money.

Fool me once...

[Digiteyesed]

Forgot to mention that I used to clean using PecPads and Eclipse fluid along with the sensor swab, but have switched over completely to the brush method instead. I find that I get equally good results with a fraction of the time and effort, plus there seems to be less risk of damaging my sensor.

[RedRebel]

I have a set of Visible Dust brushes, plus a couple more soft nylon artists brushes that I bought and prepped using Petteri's instructions. There is no difference in performance (which is excellent, BTW), between the expensive brushes and the homemade cleaning kit. Now I feel kind of silly after spending all that money.

Fool me once...
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At least this is an honest answer... I bought two different artist brushes, but I was asking myself if the original Visible dust brushes would be more effective...according to your story probably not.

[thierrylegros396]

Now that we are at it, maybe somebody knows the pointer to an article about creating a discharger of static electricity or something like that with a modified spark lighter for gas stoves.  I remember it was a device you just pointed out towards the sensor discharging it and then the cleaning was done with an air blower. No physical contact with the sensor.
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Pay attention with electrostatic discharge !

That's the best way to destroy electronic components !!

Thierry

[dwdallam]

No, it won't make any difference if a Canon technician cleans it. Mine came back with two technician buggers on it, really large, and a pubic hair--probably beard. Sloppy.

I agree about the 5D leaking dust or mirror box soot all over the place. I can clean my 5D and have it perfect at f22, only to get specs without even changing the lens. Open it up, use a rocket blower, and they are gone. This tells me something in teh box is contaminating the sensor. Next time I clean it, I'm going to clean the entire mirror box with my new set of cleaning swabs and Eclipse--they now come with those items as standard for a package and recommend cleaning the mirror box and inside of the camera well.

And be prepared to clean your sensor for the rest of your ever loving life, and be prepared to specs sometimes even after you clean it. It's just a fact of life with digital. It's nothing the patch tool doesn't handle perfectly and quickly in Photoshop too.

I use to be really anal about this subject, but now I jsut clean it the best I can and shoot. If there is a spec noticible in the image, I patch it in PS. I don't have the time to worry about this crap anymore.

[danag42]

The best I've found so far is Sensor Swabs and methonal (Eclipse fluid).  But no mattef how much I clean, there are always one or two very faint spots that turn up on photos.  Not anything that can't be fixed with a click of the Healing Brush, but annoying nontheless.

I have ordered one of the cameras that has a sensor cleaner (Pentax K10D).  It looks like it has a decent feature-set, their lenses have always been well-regarded, and I'm hoping that the sensor shaker will reduce the ammount of cleaning required.  

[span style=\'font-size:8pt;line-height:100%\'] (Plus there are all those old classic lenses that will fit on the beast.  Apparently anything with a K mount will work on and meter with the camera.  I'm sure there are enough used A and M lenses floating around used to make a decent kit!) [/span]

[AdrianW]

My preferred solution: SensorSwab/Eclipse.

Suggestion to those who are still getting small dust specks - clean the camera with the opening face down, that way you're less likely to get new dust back in. How? Well I just set it up on a tripod above me, and have my desk lamp on the floor with me to light the chamber.

First I tend to blow the chamber out using a hurricane blower, and then I clean the filter itself.

As Thierry says, I'd be very very nervous about anything that puts static anywhere near the sensor. CMOS is extremely sensitive to static electricity, even an inperceptible amount of static can blow a CMOS chip completely. That's why you should use anti-static precautions when playing around inside a computer.