Cleaning Sensor...when/how?

[dsze]

Having my 300D for just 6 months, I haven't given much thought to cleaning until now. I'm not having any problems, but I like to keep things clean and maintained before there is a problem.

How often should one be cleaning the sensor and what is the best way to do this?

thanks,
daniel

[Ferdinand]

ok back off people, I got this one :P no need to ask him to do a search first, its standard operating procedure here.

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

[SDK^]

To see if your sensor needs cleaning take a photo of the sky @ F32 then open it in Photoshop and run Auto Levels. If it looks like this then it'll need cleaning :wink:

http://www.sdk2003.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/sensor_10D.jpg

[Cadwell]

:lol: That doesn't need cleaning... it needs excavating ;)

[angrybunny]

Hey, that looks like my windshield! :shock:

[Motorsports Photo]

I've had a D30 and a 10D for YEARS and neither of them needed cleaning. Others on this forum have needed multiple cleanings. I dont get it.

I bought the supplies just in case, but havent had to use them.

-Pete

[robertwgross]

How often do you open the camera to change a lens? How often do you do that in a windy or dusty environment?

Depending on what subjects you shoot, you may or may not see the result of dust spots on the sensor. Shoot a bright sky or a bright white wall and look carefully.

---Bob Gross---

[LazyPhotographer]

ok back off people, I got this one :P no need to ask him to do a search first, its standard operating procedure here.

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

Ferd.. you crack me up! :D

But after you gave the link to do some homework - you're supposed to give the link for the Rocket Blower.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=259157&is=REG

[hmhm]

Don't need a sky nearby to do a quick check of your sensor for cleanliness, a uniform color wall will do. Just set the room light to allow a normal exposure to be in the multiple seconds neighborhood, and take a picture of any reasonably uniform surface (I use a white wall), "swaying" the color around during the exposure to blur out any detail. The dust will move with the camera, of course.

Everybody whips out the "sensor swab" method whenever sensor cleaning is mentioned, but in my own experience, the first line of defense is to try to clear off the sensor with air. Either use CLEAN compressed air, like www.americanrecorder.com, or a big bulb blower like a Giottos Rocket. Never use regular office supply "dust off" products, they can be "goopy", and never use a bulb blower brush directly on the sensor, unless you're trying to use the sensor to clean the brush.

If this doesn't do the job, then resort to the "spatu-swab" technique. If it's the first time you've ever done this, and you've had the camera for a while, the sensor may very well be so dirty that you have to use the swab technique any way.
-harry

[Jesper]

About how often you should clean the sensor: I'd say as infrequent as possible, only if it's really necessary. The less you do it, the less risk you have of scratching or otherwise damaging your sensor. If your sensor looks like SDK's, it is REALLY bad.

To test how dirty your sensor is, try this: (1) set camera to Av mode; (2) set your camera to the smallest possible aperture (f/22 or f/32); (3) add 2 stops of overexposure using exposure compensation; (4) take a photo of a patch of clear blue sky; (5) load the photo in Photoshop and do "Auto Contrast" to make the spots more visible.

If you have a lot of spots, clean the sensor.

I've cleaned the sensor of my 10D only twice (it's about six months old now), and I'm changing lenses quite often.

[Ferdinand]

ok back off people, I got this one :P no need to ask him to do a search first, its standard operating procedure here.

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

Ferd.. you crack me up! :D

But after you gave the link to do some homework - you're supposed to give the link for the Rocket Blower.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=259157&is=REG

LazyPhotographer, I had to do something before someone tear the poor guy up to bits for not doing a search hehehehe Thanks for the blower link ;) But I thought that was a bad idea cause you might blow the dust under the AA screen? :P

[LazyPhotographer]

LazyPhotographer, I had to do something before someone tear the poor guy up to bits for not doing a search hehehehe Thanks for the blower link ;) But I thought that was a bad idea cause you might blow the dust under the AA screen? :P

Lens Changing & Blowing 101 - always turn the camera upside down and let gravity take the dust bunnies away. :D

[dsze]

thanks for all the info. and for allowing me to post this question without doing a thorough search first. I did do a quick search and didn't really find what I was looking for.

Anyway, I took a photo of the blue sky this sunny afternoon at 1/30s, f/32, ISO 100 and used PS to AutoContrast, AutoColor, and AutoLevels.

Here is what I got:

http://home.insightbb.com/~photographs/dirtysensor6.11.04.jpg

looks pretty dirty to me. what do you all think? Before I processed in PS though, the image appeared clear...none of the little black spots visable.

thanks,
daniel

[Jesper]

Anyway, I took a photo of the blue sky this sunny afternoon at 1/30s, f/32, ISO 100 and used PS to AutoContrast, AutoColor, and AutoLevels.

Here is what I got:
http://home.insightbb.com/~photographs/dirtysensor6.11.04.jpg

Yes, pretty much how my sensor looked before I'd cleaned it the first time. Here are my first before and after cleaning images (also with heavily enhanced contrast). I ordered Eclipse, PecPads and the SensorSwab from http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning . As you can see, there will still a few spots after my first cleaning, but I left them until the next time (they didn't have a visible effect on real world photos).

Before my first sensor cleaning:
http://home.hccnet.nl/jesper.de.jong/images/IMG_1500.jpg

After my first sensor cleaning:
http://home.hccnet.nl/jesper.de.jong/images/IMG_1501.jpg

[dsze]

So, is the consensus that mine is dirty enough to clean? How do I know that all of that is on the sensor? Do the settings pretty much take out of the equation; dust on the lens?

thanks,
daniel

[LazyPhotographer]

I vote use the Rocket Blower first ...

[Cadwell]

Daniel, that is undoubtedly a dirty sensor. Whether you need to clean it depends on the answer to one question. Do you see the dust in the photos you take? If the answer is yes, clean otherwise don't bother. There is no point in cleaning for the sake of it.

If you decide to clean then first try the blower technique. If that doesn't give you satisfactory results then go for one of the swabbing methods.

[dsze]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the blowing technique was bad because it would just blow the dust around inside the camera and possibly under the AA?

-daniel

[hmhm]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the blowing technique was bad because it would just blow the dust around inside the camera and possibly under the AA?


If you read enough, you will eventually know nothing for certain, having read both everything and its contradiction. :)

For what it's worth, the Canon 10D manual says "Use a rubber blower to blow away any dust, etc., on the surface of the image sensor".

The AA filter is sort of "bonded" on top of the sensor, it's the surface of the AA filter that you're really cleaning. I have heard of anecdotal reports of dirt getting between the AA filter and the sensor, but I suspect this came from the factory this way, there isn't really supposed to be "space" between the two.

Not that I have half a clue of what I'm talking about... :)
-harry

[hmhm]

Lens Changing & Blowing 101 - always turn the camera upside down and let gravity take the dust bunnies away. :D

Everybody says that, and I do it religiously, but, really, when was the last time you took a lens off a camera and saw a bunch of dust _fall_ out of it? I suppose if the lens was off for a long time, dust could "settle" on the sensor, but dust really floats around in busy air.

But I do it any way. :)
-harry

[dsze]

Alright, I've decided to order the swab stuff and the pecpads and eclipse.... I think I will blow it first though. Is the rocket the best or are other little blowers pretty comparable. I have to go into town (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc) today. Any chance they might sell a blower similar to the Rocket, anyone?

-daniel