Sensor cleaning

[armand]

How often do you have to do it and do you need wet cleaning every time?

After I got the D750 I found myself having to do it way more often than before. Partially changing lenses more often and maybe decreasing my OCD when changing them but still much more than when I had the D90. It's prob not related to the D750 as I noticed more dirt on the X-T1 vs the X-E1 so it has to be the frequency of lens changing.

Be that as it may, using as blower is helplessly ineffective and I had to use wet cleaning. I would be ok with but last time I needed 5 swabs to clean it at 2 times per swab. And it wasn't necessarily stuck on debris but more like specs of dust which wouldn't come out.

Any other ideas?
I saw that Arctic butterfly brush which could deal with these charged specs of dust but the reviews are anything but good.

[kers]

How often do you have to do it and do you need wet cleaning every time?

sorry to hear that you have problems with dirt.
I have had several Nikons and never cleaned them wet.. myself ( nikon did)

the D3x was the worst- i had to take it to Nikon every 2 months...
But since then things have become a lot better... on the d800E and d810 i use the built in sensor cleaning and only on rare occasions I have to use the blower...
I am doing a lot architecture with d8-11 so i would see it if there is dirt... and i change lenses a lot.      hardly any problems nowadays.

Maybe it is the climate you are in?

[armand]

I don't see much at F11, they tend to appear on the F14-F16 shots, even more when I increase contrast/clarity.

[AlterEgo]

Any other ideas?

[Some Guy]

I've often wondered if some of those white specks on my sensor is some sort of modeling release powder used in manufacturing someplace.  Sometimes I see specks of nice gold brass color as well that could be part of the bayonet mount.

What I've done is use a small silicon hose to my HEPA vac and suck out a lot of stuff on the black flock paper and bottom near the bayonet mount.  I've had stuff blown up on top of the focus screen with the bulb blower and it's a mess and might need to be dismantled to get rid of it.  I'm not too crazy about that.

I've gotten one of the sticky pens but it leaves a slight smudge when viewed under a lighted 7x Visible Dust loupe.  I've wondered about it holding maybe some shard of the brass or chrome bits above and scratching the sensor too as I blotted the debris.

The Butterfly spinner brush can pick up grease or oil of the mirror someplace and smear it around, or just push stuff off to the sides of the sensor.  Sort of mixed on it against a normal sable brush for its high cost.

Best I've found is the Eclipse fluid.  Whatever it is, it dries fast and less likely to streak than the water based alcohol ones, along with a sensor swab.  I put about three drops on the swab and blot it on a Pec-Pad and then do a couple of swipes and look at it under the lighted loupe.  The water-based ones leave a nice magenta streak, sometimes looking like a scratch, if it gets to an oil splatter, but the Eclipse gets rid of it.  Good stuff!

I do it prior to any big shoot on a couple of bodies as well as the lenses (Vac plus Eclipse wet swabbing.).  Some of these coated lenses are sort of finicky in cleaning too (Looks dull without a bit of polishing. Nano coating maybe?).

SG

[scooby70]

I have a Sony A7 and a couple of MFT cameras now and they very rarely require a wet clean but my Canon DSLR's (20D and 5D) needed a wet clean very often. The first time I wanted a camera cleaning I sent it off to Canon but all they did was move the dust bunnies about and charge me for the privilege so after that I've always done it myself and a damn sight better than Canon did too.

Here's what I used to do probably the night before heading out to shoot with my Canon DSLR but now only do very rarely...

- Firstly I shoot a series of out of focus shots of a white door starting at minimum aperture and progressing to maximum and view the results. If there is anything significant on the sensor I use a Rocket blower and repeat the test shot process.

If I think a wet clean is required...

- I take a Pec pad and fold it around a slice cut from an old credit card and tape it in place.
(I use a slice cut from an old credit card as it flexes easily and is therefore less likely to cause damage through pressure.)
- I add a drop of Eclipse fluid to the leading edge of the Pec pad and wait just a second or so until any excess has evaporated.
- I then clean the sensor.

I then shoot another series of out of focus white door shots and view the results. If there is anything significant left I repeat the process.

I don't know how many times I cleaned my 20D and 5D like this, a lot of times, and no damage was ever caused.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

My Canon 5D attracted dust like a magnet. I had to dry clean it at least once a month, and a few times wet clean. Th Arctic Butterfly worked pretty well for me, but I really got fed up with all the sensor cleaning.

I got a 5D Mark II in 2011. It shakes dust off the sensor every time you turn it on or off. As a result, I have never once had to clean the sensor, even though it gets a lot of use in all kinds of weather.

[kers]

I don't see much at F11, they tend to appear on the F14-F16 shots, even more when I increase contrast/clarity.

I can imagine that if you use F14-F16 things becomes more problematic... I try to stay away from those f-numbers because of diffraction.

[armand]

I can imagine that if you use F14-F16 things becomes more problematic... I try to stay away from those f-numbers because of diffraction.

Unfortunately my focus stacking isn't working that great and I would rather have it in one try. For many of the current subjects I had to go that high at the expense of resolution as I was getting good enough shots from a 12MP D90 so the 24MP D750 should have plenty of resolution to spare Problem was I had shots at F16 where I had to clone somewhere between 30 to 50 spots.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Problem was I had shots at F16 where I had to clone somewhere between 30 to 50 spots.

Hi,

Obviously prevention is best, but we may occasionally get confronted with a challenge in postprocessing. Therefore, just to add a tip, after a shoot which requires significant additional work, shoot an out of focus uniform light frame.You can use a gray card or a translucent white perspex plate and over-expose the metered exposure by 2 stops exposure time, using the same aperture as for the actual shots. Then use either RawTherapee, or Capture One Pro, and apply the automatic dust spot removal function. In Capture One it's part of the LCC functionality, in RawTherapee it's part of the Flat Field functionality.

Cheers,
Bart

[Arlen]

My Canon 5D attracted dust like a magnet. I had to dry clean it at least once a month, and a few times wet clean.

I completely agree. The 5D seems to have an unnaturally close relationship with dust. I learned to remove it with Eclipse and Pec pads similar to the way that Scooby70 described, but I never looked forward to it and put it off until it was too much to deal with using LR's spot removal tool.

The newer cameras that remove dust on their own are a godsend. After a year's use, I've never had any problem with dust spots on my Olympus E-M1.

[dwswager]

How often do you have to do it and do you need wet cleaning every time?

After I got the D750 I found myself having to do it way more often than before. Partially changing lenses more often and maybe decreasing my OCD when changing them but still much more than when I had the D90. It's prob not related to the D750 as I noticed more dirt on the X-T1 vs the X-E1 so it has to be the frequency of lens changing.

Be that as it may, using as blower is helplessly ineffective and I had to use wet cleaning. I would be ok with but last time I needed 5 swabs to clean it at 2 times per swab. And it wasn't necessarily stuck on debris but more like specs of dust which wouldn't come out.

Any other ideas?
I saw that Arctic butterfly brush which could deal with these charged specs of dust but the reviews are anything but good.

As you are aware, field conditions and practices will greatly influence how frequently one needs to clean the sensor.

My practices:

1. Use the dustoff setting on my Nikons to let them work it out.

2. When I start to notice things in post production or during routine equipment cleanup, I generally use a blower bulb.

3. If that doesn't work I progress to a dust off electrostatic brush.

4. If I really have stuck dust, then I usually use a Sensor Swab and Eclipse fluid.

The thing is if you keep it in check with blower bulb and a dry brush, you generally never get to the point of requiring a wet cleaning.  Of course, some shooting locations just about guarauntee you will get bad dust problems.  Other than desert conditions, my worst environment is shooting softball and baseball when the damn field crew decide to drag the fields at the exact moment I decide to change lenses!

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

The worst conditions I ever encountered with my 5D were during a dust storm at White Sands, New Mexico. I at least had the sense not to change my lens, but I had to shoot many pictures, as the scene was so awesome.

That was near the beginning of a three week exploration of NM, without a computer or large screen of any sort.

Once I got home and started post-processing, I discovered the huge amount of crud in every shot of blue sky. In those days that meant spotting exactly the same spots in every printable image from the entire trip. 

Did I mention how much I love my 5DII with automatic sensor cleaning?

[Jonathan Ratzlaff]

The coating on current sensors are quite delicate and manually cleaning them could result in a scratch on the coating which will require an expensive repair not covered by any warranty.  Why not do more auto cleaning cycles?  The only thing I would consider if working in a dusty area would be to see if the mirror chamber could be cleaned more often.   

[DeanChriss]

...
Why not do more auto cleaning cycles?

Most dirt that remains stuck to the image sensor after two auto cleaning cycles will stay there no matter how many more you do. Dirt that sticks to the sensor can only be removed manually, usually by wet cleaning. If you work outdoors there is a lot of sticky dirt. Cameras themselves can generate quite a bit of dirt, especially when they are new. Some of that dirt is oily. I end up cleaning the image sensors on all of my cameras about 4 or 5 times per year. Each cleaning session takes a few cleanings of the sensor surface before it is completely free of dirt. For cleaning purposes I use f/32 on a 300mm lens, which will show every bit of dirt that is present. If I'm in the field and just want to check how dirty the sensor is I'll use the smallest aperture I'm likely to actually be using for photos. That might be f/16 if I'm shooting landscapes or f/5.6 -f/8 if if I'm shooting wildlife. One has to be reasonably careful about cleaning these things, but it's neither difficult nor expensive and there's no magic involved. Before starting, blowing off the sensor with the camera pointed downward helps remove heavier abrasive particles that could be present. After that, working in a clean environment without a lot of dirt blowing around and avoiding contamination of the cleaning tools is key. The part of the tool (Pec-Pad or whatever) used for cleaning should never touch anything except the surface being cleaned. I've cleaned a lot of cameras many times each since 2003 without a scratch or any other damage.

[Edit: I meant to mention that if you don't want to do this yourself and you belong to Canon Professional Services, they provide free cleanings (number depends on membership level). Like repairs, turnaround is just a couple days.]

[MarkBruinsma]

Hi all,

I am a long time reader, not so much a writer at the Lula forum. Recently I had to do several sensor cleanings on the row, therefore I thought to contribute my own experience as well.

I don't live any near of a camera shop and that's why I don't own any (fancy) wet cleaning tool. No, ordering through the internet ain't possible for me either. So I had to "invent" my own way to get rid of the dust particles repeatedly coming back on the sensor. At the beginning - I have my Alpha 700 for 6 years by now - the problem was resolved by using a dry soft piece of cloth, wrapped around a flat screwdriver, wiping softly over the sensor area. The cloth was carefully tested on a very scratches sensible shiny plastic surface of my printer. Overtime I got the feeling that more and more I was only wiping the dust to the sides instead of taking them out. So sooner than later I had to repeat the procedure. At certain point I got a few electrostatic dust particles and I had to go for a wet clean. My solution was making my dry soft piece of cloth slightly humid with water. If it would leave a streak, I just "polished" the surface with a dry piece of cloth again. Altogether not the most efficient way I guess - there's quite some fiddling involved - but it got the job done.

That is until recently. The procedure started to be cumbersome and frustration wanted to kick in. Using a blower was making things worse. Thinking about it for a while I suddenly wondered why someone would blow air into the camera housing and not to suck air out. Why I was never reading about using a vacuum-cleaner instead! I immediately was attempted to try. I couldn't think of any bad risk and if something happened with my old camera... I'm crying out loud for getting a newer sensor with better performance (DR and less noise) anyway.

Surprise, surprise, holding the vacuum-cleaner close to the opening of the camera, wiping with a small soft brush -also tested on the printer surface before - I got rid of most of the dust. Most but not all. Now combining the wet clean and the "polish", with the vacuum-cleaner close to it, did the trick; I haven't had my sensor that clean for a long time, including the camera housing! So what do you think?

At the beginning I was worried about the risk for cleaning the sensor myself. Warnings like: "it could scratch the surface of the sensor" were not appealing. By now I know when using normal care it ain't that fragile, or at least I haven't seen any damages with mine so far. Funny though I got over-enthusiastic, now I wanted to have the whole camera housing without dust, so I started to clean the focussing screen as well. Made out of glass - I think - it should be less sensitive for scratches than the sensor surface. But the angle is different and I used another cloth which was less dense for its weaving structure. Long story short, I have to live with some scratches on the focussing screen. So be cautious with that one!

Mark

[spidermike]

The coating on current sensors are quite delicate

Not in my experience - the last I heard the top layer on the sensor is quite robust considering its structure. I am not saying you can attack it with wire wool to get it clean but it should withstand realistic cleaning procedures.
The few times I have had to clean my sensor, a dry sweep with a lens pen has been sufficient.