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Anyone cleaned their own sensor before?

I took mine to a local Nikon shop - they did the job for $35. It was well worth it. Since then I have been "sensor dust aware." 🙂 That means I am careful when changing lenses to minimize open body time. I always keep the lens and opening pointed down.

You shouldn't have any trouble with that kit.
 
fuzzybabybunny said:
Is it tough? I just ordered a sensor cleaning kit for my Nikon D300s:

https://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=PSI-5K-F

I will report back once I've caught my sensor on fire with the Methanol / Eclipse fluid.
Click to expand...

All the time, I have used a number of different methods...its not hard...but is frustrating if you want it perfectly clean.

I recommend getting one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Loupe_7x.html

It will avoid the painful process of taking a picture of a white wall/blue sky everytime you clean the sensor to see how you did.

Here are the methods I've used:

SensorKlear I - Not bad...gets the bigger pieces, tends to push around smaller pieces a bit.

SensorKlear 2 - Bendable tip is nice but the felt didn't work nearly as well this time...frustrating and felt looks lower quality

Copperhill sensor brush - Works well but gotta clean the brush well or it starts to do the opposite of cleaning the sensor.

Copperhill wet cleaning - Works well...a tight fit with the brush so it can be tough to get into the extreme corners

Dust blower(giottos) - eh...its alright in a pinch...gets most of the larger stuff but doesn't do much to smaller particle dust. Makes the sensor perfect to the naked eye but doesn't stand up to the 7x scrutiny of the sensor loupe.
 
NO no and no, all exactly the wrong song here. The fact is and remains, dust on the sensor of any digital SLR is damaging and incompatible with correct digital photo rendering.

Therefore the digital sensor should be sealed from the world behind a dust containment system, where there is no possibility that dust should fall on the sensor itself.

We create such systems in the world of hard drives and computer chips, why not in the world of camera sensors?
 
Lemon law said:
NO no and no, all exactly the wrong song here. The fact is and remains, dust on the sensor of any digital SLR is damaging and incompatible with correct digital photo rendering.

Therefore the digital sensor should be sealed from the world behind a dust containment system, where there is no possibility that dust should fall on the sensor itself.

We create such systems in the world of hard drives and computer chips, why not in the world of camera sensors?
Click to expand...

Because cameras have interchangable lenses which enable dust to enter the inside of the camera. It's a pretty simple concept. Don't act like such a wiener.


Cleaning sensors is easy. I did it on my 5D about a year ago. There are lots of tutorials on youtube. Make sure you only use a drop or two of the fluid.
 
I just did it myself for the first time. sensorswabs and eclipse. - the visible dust stuff is pretty obviously an overpriced ripoff.

Actually took a fair amount of pressure to get a couple stubborn bits off, which kind of surprised/concerned me. Was fine though.
 
It depends on the mess you made? Shrug. I had dust on my sensor. I blew it off with a Rocketblower.

I freaked out and posted all over POTN and read the hell out of it. Seems like if blowers don't go, try a static charged brush.

Wet clean is a last resort. But if it's bad I would take it to a shop.

angry hampster said:
Because cameras have interchangable lenses which enable dust to enter the inside of the camera. It's a pretty simple concept. Don't act like such a wiener.


Cleaning sensors is easy. I did it on my 5D about a year ago. There are lots of tutorials on youtube. Make sure you only use a drop or two of the fluid.
Click to expand...

You do realize how a dSLR works right? You take off the lens, dust can enter the compartment. While the sensor is covered by the shutter, movements like mirror lockup, sensor opening/closing vibrations and any airflow will eventually cause some dust to fall on the sensor. So unless you have an airtight camera, and you work in a cleanroom, and you make sure the inside of your camera is a cleanroom with no loose particles, you're bound to get some crap on your sensor over time.
 
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I used Dust-Aid on my D50, which didn't have a dust-buster sensor system. I haven't yet checked my dust-buster-equipped D90 for dust, though I'm nearing 10k actuations so I probably should.
 
Lemon law said:
NO no and no, all exactly the wrong song here. The fact is and remains, dust on the sensor of any digital SLR is damaging and incompatible with correct digital photo rendering.

Therefore the digital sensor should be sealed from the world behind a dust containment system, where there is no possibility that dust should fall on the sensor itself.

We create such systems in the world of hard drives and computer chips, why not in the world of camera sensors?
Click to expand...

they devised just a solution for you! here you go good sir! buy it and laugh at all the idiots that claims a piece of packing tape between the sensor and lens will degrade image quality...

oops, too late
 
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If there was really a thin film that didn't degrade image quality in anyway, Canon/Nikon/Sony/etc. would put them in their cameras from the factory. I would never put a piece of plastic between my body and expensive lenses.
 
did mine after reading up on it and watching a youtube vid as I live in a rural area so didnt want to drive twice to the city, worked out fine for me
 
DLeRium said:
You do realize how a dSLR works right? You take off the lens, dust can enter the compartment. While the sensor is covered by the shutter, movements like mirror lockup, sensor opening/closing vibrations and any airflow will eventually cause some dust to fall on the sensor. So unless you have an airtight camera, and you work in a cleanroom, and you make sure the inside of your camera is a cleanroom with no loose particles, you're bound to get some crap on your sensor over time.
Click to expand...


...I realize this. I wasn't being sarcastic, I was saying that dust on sensors is common and easy to clean.
 
I just bought a few of the disposable pre-moistened Sensor Swabs. Just waiting for them to arrive to test it out. I did the blower on the sensor and while it cleaned off a tiny bit of it, most of the remaining dust seems pretty firmly stuck on there.
 
Lemon law said:
NO no and no, all exactly the wrong song here. The fact is and remains, dust on the sensor of any digital SLR is damaging and incompatible with correct digital photo rendering.

Therefore the digital sensor should be sealed from the world behind a dust containment system, where there is no possibility that dust should fall on the sensor itself.

We create such systems in the world of hard drives and computer chips, why not in the world of camera sensors?
Click to expand...

they do. it's called the Ricoh GXR system. Tho, i find coupling the sensor to a single lens a huge waste of resources.
 
angry hampster said:
...I realize this. I wasn't being sarcastic, I was saying that dust on sensors is common and easy to clean.
Click to expand...

sorry i think i did some misreading. hahaha. i thought someone was being sarcastic 😀 my apologies! rereading this thread and my response now makes me feel dumb as i dont think i was making much sense.

the timestamp suggests i was probably gobbling down my lunch and neffing 😀

oh and i think i meant to quote Lemon Law and I read his response as saying that it's impossible for dust to get into an SLR...

Anyway, OP, can you let us know how it went? As I said before my only experience was with a rocketblower and that did the trick for me.
 
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It was really easy.

I first tried the pre-moistened one. Didn't work very well. Not enough moisture on it. Then I took a sensor swap, put a few drops of Eclipse on it, and it worked just fine.

One thing:

If you want to clean your sensor just once, *one* sensor swab probably won't be enough. You're supposed to swipe it to one side then swipe it to another and dispose of the swab. If you swipe it back and forth repeatedly you WILL leave streaks on the sensor.

So if the first swipe from side to side doesn't get everything off, you will have to use a second swab.

Very easy, very quick, very low risk if you ask me.
 
I used a brush from visibledust, back when they first started, on my old Canon 300D. It was easy and worked just fine.

I didn't do any wet cleaning though.
 
fuzzybabybunny said:
Is it tough? I just ordered a sensor cleaning kit for my Nikon D300s:

https://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=PSI-5K-F

I will report back once I've caught my sensor on fire with the Methanol / Eclipse fluid.
Click to expand...

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Always use a freshly charged battery, and don't dally in your cleaning. Also, use E2 solution or equivalent for wet cleaning, as the camera's filter uses an ITO coating that can be damaged by Eclipse (methanol). [/FONT]
Click to expand...
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
That's an excerpt from Thom Hogan's D300 review --> [/FONT]http://www.bythom.com/nikond300review.htm
 
ITO really? Interesting. we definitely use ITO in the solar industry. This gives me some good info to work with. I can experiment on stuff at work! LOL

Anyway, the Hogan article is good if you read his cleaning stuff. Definitely work in the order he talked about. Blower then a brush if you need, and wet cleaning if you really must.... The first 2 are very easy to do and low risk. Wet cleaning is where it gets messy. I highly doubt most if you will screw up the sensor in a wet clean, but probably the biggest concern as I've seen on forums is leaving streaks behind. Anyone can wet clean, but can you guarantee it's gonna clean up the mess?
 
DLeRium said:
ITO really? Interesting. we definitely use ITO in the solar industry. This gives me some good info to work with. I can experiment on stuff at work! LOL

Anyway, the Hogan article is good if you read his cleaning stuff. Definitely work in the order he talked about. Blower then a brush if you need, and wet cleaning if you really must.... The first 2 are very easy to do and low risk. Wet cleaning is where it gets messy. I highly doubt most if you will screw up the sensor in a wet clean, but probably the biggest concern as I've seen on forums is leaving streaks behind. Anyone can wet clean, but can you guarantee it's gonna clean up the mess?
Click to expand...


If you do it properly and only use 1-2 drops of e2 fluid, it's impossible to streak.
 
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