10d sensor cleaning

[dal451]

I have had my 10d for 6 weeks now and absolutely love it. Combined with the education that I am getting with PS7, I have been able to produce wonderful (to me) results. Here is my question/concern. The Menu option allows you to clean the sensor. The first time I did this, it took 30 seconds to a minute, and after turning the camera off and on, everything worked fine. Last night, after a father's day weekend of several hundred pictures, I did it again, but the camera continued flashing 'cleaning' for several hours, with no click to signify that it had completed the task. Any idea why?

Thanks, Dale

[Persio]

Dale,

Sorry I don't quite understand your posting but will give it a try.
Cleaning the sensor is not an automated task. You select the sensor cleaning option so that the camera gets ready for a manual operation of cleaning the sensor (you should do it carefully with a lens cleaning air blower). After cleaning the sensor just turn off the camera manually.

[Longwatcher]

Having had to clean my 10D once, I highly recommend using a hand blower with the brush detached. This worked for me.

You should only clean your sensor if you can see the dust spots in your images. Take pictures of skies to confirm - make sure you use a clean lens.

Even I thought it was some kind of automatic thing, until I read the manual fully. After that I realized it was just a method of accessing the CMOS chip to blow the dust off the sensor manually.

Just my opinion.

[dal451]

yes, I now understand that in my haste and concern that I had sucked in a boatload of dust and ruined everything, that that function just did the job, somehow. I now understand better and will most likely, if necessary, have someone with much more experience than I clean the sensor.

Thanks, Dale

[boyhowdy]

I am not having as much problem with the sensor as the mirror and the prism thing or whatever that upper plastic thing is. I made the mistake while visiting Hearst Castle of rapidly changing lenses and not being too concerned with dust (I have owned 8 previous digital cameras but NOT with interchangeable lenses). When I got home and processed the pictures, I had wonderful smudges and extra little worm type things all over the pictures. Thank God for the healing tool in PS7!!!

When I tried blowing it out before I got the cleaning kit, when I looked through the viewfinder I noticed a lot of "spots." Forget blowing on it, your breath is full of moisture!!! Anyway, I was paranoid and not sure how to clean the mirror, so I used the cleaning solution and the silicone cloth which left fuzz everywhere. I finally used the cleaning paper and the brush AND a bought one of those lens pens. The lens pen seemed to make a funny pattern on the prism thing but cleaned all the fuzz and spots out. What a nightmare!!! Is there a tried and true way to keep everything clean and a safe way to do it? I bought lens pouches for all the lenses and keep the lens cap on the front now until I put a lens on, but I am paranoid about keeping the mirror clean.

Any suggestions?

Patrick

[scottbergerphoto]

Try this site out for instructions on cleaning the CMOS sensor of the camera.

http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning