Sensor cleaning

[jwhite]

I really need to clean my 5D's sensor. A lot of dust specks and blowing it with an air blower doesn't really hep much. What do you guys normally do for sensor cleaning?

1) Do it yourself? (How hard is it?)
2) Local camera shop?
3) Send it in to Canon.

I've always been a little scared at doing it myself because I don't want to screw up the sensor. I called my local camera shop and it seems rather expensive. Plus it would take upwards of a week or so. I figured for that price Canon would be a better choice?

Jason

[TheWengler]

Just do it yourself. It's pretty easy. I think Thom Hogan has an article on it.

[cdifoto]

I use www.copperhillimages.com. They sell a kit and give you a nice little process to follow.

[shoey]

I do it myself.

2 best purchases ever;

1. Arctic butterfly
2. Sensor Pen

I don't use the blower on the sensor now, it was putting more dirt on than taking it off. I give it a few quick swipes with the Arctic butterfly, then if i have any stubborn grease spots i use the sensor pen.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Photography-Tips/Sensor-Cleaning.aspx

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/LensPen-SensorKlear-Review.aspx

http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=1

[BBPhoto]

Do not fear. Sensor cleaning is easy and extremely safe. In fact it is much harder to damage a sensor than most people believe. I know people who clean their sensors with q-tips and alcohol on a regular basis with no complications. Not that I recommend that method of course. Check this site out. It goes into pretty much every method around:

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/methods.html

Keep in mind that methods such as blowers sensor brushes, arctic butterfly, etc. will remove particles very effectively as long as they are not bonded. Bonded particles such as pollen, etc. often (but not always) need to be cleaned using a wet method such as sensor swabs or my favorite, Sensor Film. This product gets my sensor absolutely clean in 1 cleaning every time.

http://www.sensor-film.com/

Good luck!!

[adam75south]

http://www.lenspen.com/

i don't own their sensor cleaner, but i do own the lens pen and it's awesome.

their sensor cleaning stuff has some sort of magnifying glass with a light so you can see the specs as you clean them.

[jwhite]

Thanks all! Sounds like I will be doing it myself. Kinda wished I would have asked sooner and got it cleaned a long time ago. Oh well.

Jason

[cdifoto]

I paid Canon to clean my sensor once and they did a worse job than I did on my first go at it. Needless to say that was a lot of time and money wasted.

[dr4gon]

I paid Canon to clean my sensor once and they did a worse job than I did on my first go at it. Needless to say that was a lot of time and money wasted.

lol that sucks. how much was it?

[cdifoto]

$45 I think. Between shipping and cleaning it was out of my hands for about a week and a half. It takes me less than 5 minutes to clean a sensor after a little practice.

[Csae]

That sensor film thing looks mighty interesting.

My local cam store charges me about 65$ i think for a FF clean, they did a pretty good job though, 2 - 3 days i think, only 50$ for a normal sensor.

But theres a free special running at another store, hope they won't crap it out just cuz its free.

[BBPhoto]

That sensor film thing looks mighty interesting.

My local cam store charges me about 65$ i think for a FF clean, they did a pretty good job though, 2 - 3 days i think, only 50$ for a normal sensor.

But theres a free special running at another store, hope they won't crap it out just cuz its free.

I'm telling you Csae... you won't regret it. I was unsure when it first arrived but after a cleaning or two I became quite comfortable with the process. You'll get about 100 cleanings from the bottle so once you factor in exchange and shipping that comes out to about 40 cents per cleaning and your camera never leaves your house. Pretty good deal as far as I am concerned.

[cdifoto]

And since it's less expensive AND faster, you can be OCD about it.

[Csae]

OCD ?

To be honest i don't get my sensor cleaned very often, i aim my camera downards when switching my lenses and its made a huge difference in terms of sensor dust.

And im clumsy, but i'd have to admit out of all the ideas so far, that seemed like the most interesting one. Might give it a try.

[forno]

Easy peasy, I di mine on a cloudy day so there was lots of difuse light which meant you could angle the camera to pick up all the particles

[jwhite]

How often do you guys clean? I've had my 5D for 2.5 years without a cleaning.. :eek: Think its time for one. I was thinking maybe every 6 mo or something. Guess it depends on how often you change lenses.

[cdifoto]

Every couple months for me usually. Unless I was into something extra dirty.

[FLiPMaRC]

Maybe I haven't been paying that much attention, but I haven't seen any dust in my photos. I've had my camera for 1.5 year now. It's either I've been lucky, or really careful when switching lenses, or the integrated sensor cleaning system really does work :D

[cdifoto]

Either that or your shooting style isn't one that shows it in the first place. It takes a LOT of filth to show up at wide apertures.

I clean my sensor a little more regularly because I have to stop down for groups and when shooting with flash in the sun. A couple swabs of the sensor before a gig is WAY faster than cloning afterwards.

[FLiPMaRC]

I guess it might be high time to do the dust test image. I need to Google the proper procedure :)

[Csae]

2.5 years is a long time, you might have something pretty sticky at that point.

Last was about 6mo to a year ago for me, i guess it depends how often you change your lenses.

If i did a shoot and i see alot of dust spots, i like to do a ref shot where i circle all the spots, so when i need to fix a picture i can just jump straight to the right spots.

[FLiPMaRC]

Either that or your shooting style isn't one that shows it in the first place. It takes a LOT of filth to show up at wide apertures.

I clean my sensor a little more regularly because I have to stop down for groups and when shooting with flash in the sun. A couple swabs of the sensor before a gig is WAY faster than cloning afterwards.
Guess you're right :p The most I usually stop down to is f/8 for group shots. Shot this at f/22 with my monitor showing a plain white background. Then did auto levels in CS3.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4070064768_c89a21a6c7_b.jpg



I use www.copperhillimages.com. They sell a kit and give you a nice little process to follow.Will be ordering the Basic Kit with 14mm sensor swipe :) Thanks Don! :cool:

[jwhite]

Will be ordering the Basic Kit with 14mm sensor swipe :) Thanks Don! :cool:

How do you know what size to get? Is one for full frame cameras?

I'm afraid to see what mine looks like at f/22 against the sky.

[FLiPMaRC]

How do you know what size to get? Is one for full frame cameras?

I'm afraid to see what mine looks like at f/22 against the sky.

They have a chart for your camera model here: http://www.copperhillimages.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=3

[Csae]

Ton of vignetting for a f22, guess thats the monitor?

[FLiPMaRC]

Ton of vignetting for a f22, guess thats the monitor?

Have no idea. This is the directions I followed. (http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/inspecting.html) Their results are the same.