How dirty is your sensor?

[toddb]

Ok, this is shot 14,021.....I've never cleaned the senor. Quit frankly, I'm scared to. I've seen many self made cleaning devices, can these be purchased? I just want to make sure I don't cause more harm then good. Has anyone had there local shop clean them and how much does that cost?

I tried both of my lens and they both showed the same spot pattern, so I guess I could say that it's the sensor and not dust on or inside the lens itself (though I'm sure a couple of them are, but not the bigger sized ones). When my 28-135IS is fully extended to 135mm, I can stop it all the way down to F/32 which really makes these dust bunny pop right out!

Not really sure what I should do here. Part of me says it's not worth damaging my sensor because I don't notice the specs on my pictures (I don't shoot the sky very often). However, I obviously have specs. I can always heal them in PS...but you know, it's best to have a good original. I know there are lots of places on the web at how to clean the sensors...but I just want to know how many people actually do??

Here is my sky shot. I tweaked it in photo shop to emphasize the spots:
http://www.toddburke.net/forumpost/sensor_dust_4021.jpg

[Jim_T]

I don't have much dust right now, but it's been as bad as the photo shows below.. It was shot last spring...

I clean my sensor with Photosol and Sensor Swabs.. If you really don't want to do it yourself, you can send it in to Canon...

http://www.mts.net/~jwt/sensor-dust.jpg

.

[DocFrankenstein]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

And I thought my sensor was getting dirty :shock: :?

[ssim]

Whoa.... those are two dirty sensors. I normally clean my sensor when I get a half dozen or so dust bunnies. I change lenses quite frequently and this happens.

I use Pec Pad sensor swabs (they ain't cheap) and their solution. I have cleaned my 10D at least 8 or 9 times and I just cleaned my MKII sensor. Takes all of about 2 mintues and is quite easy.

If in doubt take it to a Canon service centre and have them do it.

[rick barclay]

Wow, you guys are pretty ridiculous. I've had my Mark II for maybe
two months, now, and I've cleaned the sensor twice. It's really very simple
no matter what camera you own. I use one of those little squeeze ball
things that people use to wash out their ears or those of their babies.
They give a decent blast of air and they've worked fine for me.

[Ogrt48]

Whoa, how do you take pics of the sensor like that exactly?

[toddb]

Wow, that makes my sensor look really clean. Alright, I'll clean mine. Maybe that got a cleaning kit. I guess I was just afraid of using the wrong type of cloth or cleaning solution and ruining the sensor needlessly. Thanks for all your inputs. It puts my mind at rest knowing so many do clean the sensors often without issue.

[Scottes]

I actually cleaned my sensor for the first time after 9400 shots. I saw a dust bunny, finally, so I decided to clean it. I guess I'm lucky that I finally got a noticable dust bunny - but since I often zoom to 100% on pics I know it was my first that a blowing wouldn't clear.

Alas, it's not a dust bunny. And I've got two. They look like tiny little oval doughnut. One is about 8 or 10 pixels across, and the other is about 6 or 8 pixels. I'm guessing that I'll have to send the camera off to Canon, but I can't bear to do so until the end of October.


Anyway, the cleaning was quite easy following those Copperhill instructions. If you follow then I wouldn't worry about it.

[Jim_T]

Shoot the sky at f/22

You'll be surprised how much dust you really have.. The small aperture brings out the dust..

I guess I should add.. My sensor dust was CAUSED by a bulb blower !!!

I had a couple of small specks so I went out and bought a new blower. I gave the sensor a couple of good puffs and discovered there was rubber dust in the blower left over from its manufacture. That's why my sensor was so bad.. It's something to be aware of.

The dust stuck like glue and I wound up having to pick up the photosol and sensor swabs.. The system works great.. There was no dust after I cleaned my sensor..

I've had my camera over a year now.. I've only had to wet swab it twice.. I change lenses frequenlty with little regard to conditions :)

[DocFrankenstein]

Well, that explains Jim's sensor then.

I have about 10-15 specks. I just need to get the equipment.

[Scottes]

Shoot the sky at f/22

You'll be surprised how much dust you really have..

I shot a piece of white paper at f/45, and did a PS CS Equalize. The only *noticable* dust bunnies that I had were the ones I mentioned. Even at f/45 the 5 dust bunnies I had where more like dust mites - less that 3 pixels across.

I was surprised at how many dust bunnies that I did NOT have, that's for sure.

[Jim_T]

f/45 :shock:

What lens stops to f/45 ??

[toddb]

So what's the background of why these specs show up so much greater when the apature gets smaller? I usually shoot at F8 so that's probably why I never really notice.

I haven't really priced this stuff out before, but those "Sensor Swab" are expensive at 12 for $48 (http://www.photosol.com/swabproduct.htm). That doesn't even include the "Eclipse" fluid. Then they say on thier web site that PEC*PAD is not recommended for CDD, would that be true for CMOS sensors as well?

[robertwgross]

I'm still amazed by all of this sensor dust cleaning.

I use a cotton swab with a half drop of lens cleaner on it.

---Bob Gross---

[toddb]

That copperhill site has a complete kit ready to go with 100 pads, the sensor swipe, and the bottled Eclipse for about $45 after shipping....but it looks pretty easy to make a swiping tool to put the pads on. http://www.pbase.com/image/32569476

Cotton ball....really? Maybe I am being way to paranoid!

[toddb]

To answer my own question after doing a little search:

Technical note: The dust isn't actually on the sensor surface. It's on the surface of a filter which is in front of the actual sensor itself. This is why dust shows up more at smaller apertures. Since the dust spots are some distance from the actual sensor pixels, a wide aperture lets in light which can "go around" the dust spot. It's a bit like using a large softbox for lighting. Shadows (and what shows up in the image is the shadow of the dust spot) are light and soft. At small apertures it's like using a small pinpoint spotlight and shadows are dark and hard edged. The following images show dust spots as f22 and f11. They have been GREATLY processed to show the dust spots as clearly as possible. On the straight images the spots are totally invisible at f11 and only very faintly visible at f22



http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/

[Cadenza]

When you shoot to check for sensor dust specs, does it matter
what lens to use, and what focus distance (either infinite or
as close as possible) to set?

http://www.rosings.com/pollock.jpg

[Scottes]

f/45 :shock:

What lens stops to f/45 ??

Sigma 105Mmm f/2.8 Macro.
Which is exactly why I used that lens.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Both of mine are squeeky clean right now.

The 10D had raised a healthy crop of dust rhinoceroses some time back.. and I was a little nervous about cleaning. But the shutter died so off it went to Canon.. who cleaned it spic and span as well

The MkII had some major specs too... I tired the Bulb blower.. and imagine this It worked! My last outing (7Gigabytes worth) shows ZERO dust. :)

[Jon]

When you shoot to check for sensor dust specs, does it matter
what lens to use, and what focus distance (either infinite or
as close as possible) to set?

http://www.rosings.com/pollock.jpg

Man! That is one dirty sensor!

[CyberDyneSystems]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Belmondo]

How dirty is your sensor?

With all due respect, that's a rather personal question, and is none of your business. :oops: :oops: :lol:

[toddb]

I did use a bulb blower last night and did get about 50% of the dust off....that's more then I thought I would. I think I'll go ahead and get some of the PEC*PAD and Eclipse cleaner and go at it if I can find it locally.

[Belmondo]

I did use a bulb blower last night and did get about 50% of the dust off....that's more then I thought I would. I think I'll go ahead and get some of the PEC*PAD and Eclipse cleaner and go at it if I can find it locally.
What kind of blower? I've found there to be an enormouse difference between the little poof poof blower/brushes and the Giotto's Rocket Blower.

[Scottes]

The Rocket Blower may be why my sensor is so clean. I blow out the chamber ALL the time, then run Sensor Clean and blow off the sensor. Both are done with the camera upside down, and I do this ALL the time.

[Cadenza]

Ok, so tried it and found quite a few specs. I just
cleaned my sensor for the first time and was
successful in removing about 50% of dust, after
two attempts. (The first attempt actually made it
worse!)

It is much better than before, but am I doing
anything wrong, or is it actually possible to get it
totally spot free using the coperhill method?

I improvised a bit actually. I did use Spec pads
but didn't have any Eclipse, so used Kodak lens
cleaning fluid instead.

[Scottes]

I'd say that the Copperhill method can get you to 100% dust-free, but in reality I think that it depends on you. Not only how well you can clean, but how much it matters to you. And you shooting style and subject matter are a concern, too.

Shooting the sky at f/22 is pretty uncommon. Usually there's some detail that will cover the spots. And how noticable are the spots? If you can't see them viewed at 50% then they're probably OK. If you can't see them at 2 Stops smaller that you usually shoot, then you're probably OK. If you've cleaned enough and you just wanna go shoot, then you're definitely OK. :)

But if this is your first time and you got 50% then I'd go for another 2 or 3 more swabs. You get better as you do it more.

[toddb]

What kind of blower? I've found there to be an enormouse difference between the little poof poof blower/brushes and the Giotto's Rocket Blower.

It's just a tiny little one that I got when I got that camera. Really doesn't blow much air at all. Sounds like you have to be careful of what kind of blower you get because they are not always clean inside and could be blowing in more then you started with. I'd perfer blowing dust out rather then touching the sensor....I'll have to look at this Rocket Blower.

[Scottes]

The Rocket Blower is one of the best pieces of camera gear that you'll ever get for $15.

[ron chappel]

There is waaaay too much paranoia about sensor dirtiness and/or cleaning :x

I know people that refuse to change a lens outside on a dusty day for goodness sakes! :shock:
The 2nd last time i went to a motocross (very dusty here in australia) i changed lenses all day and only a a couple more specs than i started the day with.

I have only ever felt the need to clean the sensor twice in several hundred lens changes and 8500 photos .And even then i only 'half' cleaned it-
The way i do it is to hold the camera under a powerfull worklight so that the specs show up, then pick up each of them with a folded lens tissue moistened with lens cleaner

[DocFrankenstein]

then pick up each of them with a folded lens tissue moistened with lens cleaner
Does the lens cleaner show up a blob when it dries up?

[tofuboy]

Here's a before and after shot of my sensor's grit...

http://www.tofuboy.net/upload/photos/sensor.jpg
http://www.tofuboy.net/upload/photos/sensor2.jpg

The specks actually aren't as noticable as the pictures show... actually, they're hardly noticable. After doing 'auto levels' in PS, they really showed. I just used a bulb blower I bought at a camera store and blasted some air in there... it did a pretty good job.

[ron chappel]

then pick up each of them with a folded lens tissue moistened with lens cleaner
Does the lens cleaner show up a blob when it dries up?

No surprisingly enough!
But it's important to have it only moist and not wet :shock: .Let it dry out abit first if nesessary
Replace the tissue every couple of specks