Is it best to clean your cameras censor by yourself or get it done professionally?

Also anyone know how much approximately would someone charge to do it professionally?

What tools are best to use to do it yourself?

I would never clean the sensor myself as there is too much damage that can take place if something goes wrong. If and when the sensor gets so bad that it has to be cleaned, that's when I send it in and have someone else take liability.

**Edit** I say never, but there may come a day when I change my mind because of the costs of someone else doing it are too high..... LOL So if in the future I post a thread about me cleaning my own sensor, and you're (whoever) digging up as much info as possible to make me look like a fool...... Well this is my waiver!

I do it myself with eclipse swabs and solution. It's quick and easy but usually takes me like 5 or 6 swabs per cleaning.

no hesitation. Eclipse fluid and pec pads.

http://www.copperhilli​mages.com/index.php?pr​=tutorials

I use Visible Dust products (magnification loupe, arctic butterfly, swabs, sensor cleaning fluid). The only Visible Dust product I don't like is their blower. The large Giotto Rocket Blower is my preference there. Visible Dust products are very expensive though; I'm not sure how many professional cleanings it would take for it to start paying off.

The lighted magnification loupe is a necessity for me, to actually see the dust clearly on the sensor. I initially start with the Rocket Blower and see if I can dislocated the dust that way. Then comes the Arctic Butterfly brush. Finally, stubborn dust might need to be swabbed off using the Visible Dust sensor cleaning solution and their sensor swabs (get the swabs perfectly sized for your sensor). Using those materials here are my two words of advice: 1. Always take a light touch; 2. Touch the sensor only; avoid contact with the sides of the sensor compartment as there may be oils or other debris that might contaminate your sensor cleaning materials). You're never actually touching the sensor, but a film that's over the sensor.

I've cleaned my sensor several times. It's very safe and easy (if you use high quality materials like Visible Dust). There are even video lessons on how to do it at Kelby Training.

I suppose it's possible I could do some damage to the sensor, but every time I walk around with the camera I'm putting it at a much greater risk (like the risk of falling and dropping the camera on a hard rock or something). So, put things in perspective: just using the camera is riskier than carefully cleaning its sensor using top-grade sensor cleaning products.

Here's a link by a Nikon user, but it's exactly the same for Canon cameras too:
http://www.bythom.com/​cleaning.htm

Been cleaning my dSLR's for about 6 years now. Eclipse and swabs. Would never consider being without my camera for a job that only takes 15 minutes and less than $10 at the most....

http://www.photosol.co​m …?idproduct=2&id​category=4
http://www.photosol.co​m …?idproduct=4&id​category=2

Can be done with two swabs with an understanding that 99% clean is good enough.

Being a rocket scientist.... not necessary. Having patience & common sense... mandatory.

you can send it to canon service center in Irvine CA to clean for about $30 or take it there yourself if you live in southern california.

I've cleaned my 1Ds ii before and I was really scared, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.

That said, I don't know that I got the technique quite right because there was less sensor dust when I was done, but a few spots clearly remained. I have been tempted to take it in to a camera shop and pay for cleaning by someone who really knows what they're doing, but haven't got around to it yet. In my case the spots are not that visible under most circumstances and when they are obvious they are easy to correct.

Canon Irvine is $30. I took a camera to a local shop and it was $65. The last time I took my 1dM3 to Canon, it wouldn't work when I got it back. It acted like water got inside the camera. I notified canon, but the situation cleared up in a day and it has been good to go. Since then, I clean my own sensors. I use the Eclipse copperhill system.

Cheers, Steve

koala yummies wrote in post #14702194
It's better to take an exposure to ensure the dust is gone, as opposed to physically looking at the sensor, as the output image is what you are concerned with.

It's not about doing one as "opposed" to the other. It's better to do both. Physically examining the sensor during the cleaning process offers a preliminary confirmation. Once the sensor appears clean, then go take an exposure (out of focus sky/wall @ f/22) as a final confirmation that it's clean.

AlanU wrote in post #14701549
no hesitation. Eclipse fluid and pec pads.

http://www.copperhilli​mages.com/index.php?pr​=tutorials

Ditto.

It's so easy and feels good knowing that you can clean the sensor yourself (if you're a DIY kinda person). Then when you pull up the images at full res you will be happy at how spotless the images are.

Also, there are several YouTube videos that walk you thru this process.

You should at least know how to do it and have the equipment on hand.
I got some trash on a sensor in the middle of an outdoor shot. I got in my car (away from the wind) and using a dslr brush and magnifier I was able to get the sensor clean and resume work.

koala yummies wrote in post #14702965
Sure, you can do that. There's really no need to though if you just check the actual output of the sensor once it has been cleaned. Leaving the shutter open while physically looking at the sensor with the camera open increases the possibility of yet further dust after cleaning. Slapping a lens on and checking the output does not.

That's like vacuuming a room blindfolded and then taking a picture to see if you did a good job. If it works for you, great. But, cleaning my sensor and then spending a solid 3-4 seconds examining it through loupe works very well for me.

As long as you are careful, you can clean the sensor cover by yourself. Just don't apply too much pressure on the cover glass. The ones in the 1D mark II and II n are fairly thick, around 3.5mm. But the ones used in the Mark III, IV and the 1DX are only 0.3mm thick. They shatter quite easily if there is too much pressure.

One of my students that I taught (she shoots Nikon) didn't check to make sure that the pad was clean. She blamed it on the beach shoot (lots of sand obviously) and swore up and down that sand blew on the sensor while she changed the lens. Shutter travel is oriented to the shortest travel. The ugly scratches and gouges were on the long side of travel. Guess she wasn't really listening to me at all!

One of the reasons why the newer Canon models use a much thinner cover slip is due to the ultrasonic cleaner built in. Much easier to move a 0.3mm thick cover than it is to move a 3.5mm thick one.

Take your time, use as little pressure as possible and make sure the pad is FREE OF GRIT and DIRT before you start!

I never clean my censor ; they can usually take a shower all by themselves. Besides, they are usually critics- and I don't care for critics either.