Sensor Cleaning with air-pressure good? Bad?

[DeeplyDigital]

Hi all,

today my 20D's sensor got cleaned in a local camera shop with
high powered air pressure - I felt/ feel uneasy about it.

Does anybody know if this is bad and to be avoided?

Thanks,

Julia
-

[DocFrankenstein]

Yes it is...

What's the point of asking if it's been done?

How "high powered" was it?

[IncompletePete]

Yea, only use a small handheld blower, definitely not a pressured air blower, can do a lot of damage!

[Ballen Photo]

Hi all,

today my 20D's sensor got cleaned in a local camera shop with
high powered air pressure - I felt/ feel uneasy about it.

Does anybody know if this is bad and to be avoided?

Thanks,

Julia
-

I couldn't say without knowing how they did it, and what their success rate is. This would have been my FIRST question to them before I would even THINK about letting them do it. Just because they own/work in a camera store doesn't mean they always know what they're doing. I've seen examples of this first hand. :shock:
How is your camera now that they've cleaned it?
-Bruce

[gramps]

Yea, only use a small handheld blower, definitely not a pressured air blower, can do a lot of damage!
I was in the Canon Service Center the other day and saw what they use. It is a black rubber "squeeze bulb" made by Giotto, it is commonly refered to as a "rocket blaster".

[spearce6]

I've always had success with a cheap rubber air blower.

I've not yet had to resort to physically touching the sensor with anything after more than a year with my 10D - and I do use it often and make lens frequent lens changes outdoors.

A camera packed safely in a bag is never going to give you great images!!

[Miika]

Pollen (of pine) doesn't go away with rocket blower - on the other hand it probably is not a good idea to swap lenses nor use the blower when there's pollen or other small dust particles in the air.

I took my 10D to Canon service. I'm very satisfied with the results. Price was reasonable, and you can even book a cleaning appointment - no waiting!

High pressure air blower is not recommended.

Miika

[DeeplyDigital]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your replies. The camera seems fine, I was out shooting a demo with iso 3200 (again!) and the pics look normal.

The shop I went to has the main franchise (or something) for Canon in Ireland, and I thought maybe they can help. Because if I don't clean the sensor myself the camera has to go to the UK and it would be weeks before I'd get it back. So I jumped at the chance to have it cleaned, as it was filthy.

I don't think I'll do it again though, now I have time to order a rocket blower via the internet.

Scary!
-

[Andy_T]

The shop I went to has the main franchise (or something)
for Canon in Ireland, and I thought maybe they can help.


Good thing they didn't rub it down with Black Bush :lol:

Best regards,
Andy

PS: No offence intended, really! I love Ireland :wink:

[Bruce Watson]

Regular compressed air "dust off" products are not recommended.

It is not a factor of the force of the air, but that the can may shoot out some contaminants such as the propellant.

This ends up on your sensor. Bad news.

However, many photo shops now sell photo grade C02 cartridges which emit only pure gas.

They work, but make sure they are designed for camera work, don't use the type commonly used in air guns and such.

HTH,

Bruce

[DeeplyDigital]

Andy,
soooo hinterwaeldlerisch sind sie nun auch wieder nicht.
They used Guinness instead because of all the vitamins.


Bruce,
thanks, I know there is pure canned air available, but the
nozzle comes extra and they didn't have it in stock...

The machine the guy used they also use for cleaning
(I think) the insides of lenses.

My 10D didn't have a speck of dust in it after a year of
changing lenses, I hope the 20D is not prone to attracting
dust. Maybe this was a once off emergency.

J.
-

[John_T]

Apparently if you change lenses with the camera turned on, there may be a slight electrostatic charge on the sensor which may attract dust, so it is better to change lenses with the camera off.

My 20D came pre-spittle speckled out of the box, which makes me wonder what they use at the factory... :roll:

[Tom W]

Hi all,

today my 20D's sensor got cleaned in a local camera shop with
high powered air pressure - I felt/ feel uneasy about it.

Does anybody know if this is bad and to be avoided?

Thanks,

Julia
-

If its air pressurized from an ordinary air compressor, then it is certainly a bad idea. I use an air compressor in the garage on occasion - the air is contaminated and often contains byproducts of the compressor lubricants, along with rusty water mist from condensation that builds inside the air tank.

Now, if the camera shop has some type of clean air system specifically designed for this purpose, it might be OK, though I wouldn't want too much pressure in there. You may wish to send an e-mail to Canon tech support for their input.

In the meantime, if possible, use the ordinary Giotto Rocket Blower to clean out the sensor area. Its usually plenty powerful for loose stuff, without causing damage.

[DeeplyDigital]

Yes, I have been changing lenses a lot with the camera On,
but even more so during the year with the 10D.

It might have come with some dust - not surprising as they
'made so much wind' about the 20D before it was released.

Indeed, the sound of the air compressor was a bit unnerving.
Sounded too strong for my liking.

Great idea to send an email re. this type of sensor cleaning
to Canon support, I'll do that right away.

Maybe that was the shop's revenge for not buying the 20D
from them - I ordered from continental Europe and saved
almost €500 or US$ 650 (sixhundred and fifty) AND had
it before anybody else here

J.
-

[defordphoto]

Personally, I don't think it makes a difference if the camera is on or not when you change lenses, but I have made it a habit to shut to camera off when changing lenses or cards.

1. The sensor is not exposed when you change a lens.
2. The camera shuts itself off when you pop the lens off anyway.
3. If dust floats into the camera when the lens is off the camera, as soon as you take a photo, your sensor is exposed and the dust can go where it wants.

Dust is just something we have to deal with. Even with film cameras dust was an issue. The advantage to digital is that we can click dust off a photo quite easily, so it really is not that big of a deal.

Should you regularly clean your sensor? Absolutely not. If there is not reason to be sticking things inside you open camera, don't go there.

[Persian-Rice]

The sensor is also electronically charged when its on, so it will actually be a dust magnet.

BTW RFM I got the Giottos, awesome stuff, good for lenses and other misc camera components. I even tried blowing it in my dogs face when he gets annoying and it shuts him up too. I love it :D

[pmarz]

RFM you should get a commision on Rocket Blower sales, picked one up from B&H per your suggestion. The blower is good but I could not get all the dust off my 20d. I finally got up the nerve to use Eclipse and Sensor swabs. This worked perfectly using 2 swabs. A little expensive but worth it and it beats sending out the camera and having it come back with more dust as happened to me with the 10d.

[DeeplyDigital]

You may wish to send an e-mail to Canon tech support for their input.


Answer from Canon tech. support (rough translation)-

It is not advisable to clean the sensor with an air pressure device.

Depending on the amount of dirt on the sensor a rubber blower
should suffice, in case it is really filthy it is recommended to have
it cleaned by an authorized service partner

original
Eigentlich ist die Reinung mittels eines Druckluftgerätes nicht empfehlenswert.
Je nach Grad der Verschmutzung reicht es aus einen Gummiblasebalg zu nehmen,
bzw. bei schwergradiger Verschmutzung ist es empfehlenswert, diese von einem
authorisierten Servicepartner entfernen zu lassen.

So there.

J.
-

[imagesense]

Which rocket blowr works best - the large size or small? Is there that much of a difference?

Lou