30D Sensor Cleaning

Just got my 30D yesterday. Had an XTi, and haven't had experience with having to clean the sensor.

How, when (routinely once a week, etc.) and what do you folks use to clean your sensors?

Thanks.

As needed. I can go 6 months before cleaning the sensor. Just depends on how lens change happy you are.

I feel like a bumbling idiot trying to change lenses. I am nowhere near getting it down to an art, so I think I'll be cleaning my sensor more often than most.

When it starts showing spots at small apertures.

Run this little test. It's real easy. Take a picture of a bright wall or the sky with the lens set to f/22. Set the focus to manual and depending on the target, get it as unfocused as possible. You want it blurry. If it’s the sky, focus near. If it’s a wall, focus to infinity or near depending on what’s more out of focus. Take a pic and even introduce some motion blur for good measure. Then in photoshop, bump the contrast and sharpen to the extreme and you’ll see the dust bunnies jump right out at you. Don’t panic if it looks like terrible, your just trying to see how much dust you have. If there are a few small specks, they will most likely go unnoticed. If there are many specks and some are big, it may be time for a cleaning. Check out this link and it will walk you through the whole process. "link to sensor cleaning"

gjl711 wrote in post #2955524
Run this little test. It's real easy. Take a picture of a bright wall or the sky with the lens set to f/22. Set the focus to manual and depending on the target, get it as unfocused as possible. You want it blurry. If it’s the sky, focus near. If it’s a wall, focus to infinity or near depending on what’s more out of focus. Take a pic and even introduce some motion blur for good measure. Then in photoshop, bump the contrast and sharpen to the extreme and you’ll see the dust bunnies jump right out at you. Don’t panic if it looks like terrible, your just trying to see how much dust you have. If there are a few small specks, they will most likely go unnoticed. If there are many specks and some are big, it may be time for a cleaning. Check out this link and it will walk you through the whole process. "link to sensor cleaning"

Beeutiful . Than you, and thanks for the link.

Had some dust on mine last time I went out. Yesterday, I went out to shoot some landscape shots and KNEW I needed to get rid of the dust so I just put it in "sensor cleaning" mode and blew the dust off with my little bulb thingy (without the brush attached) and taddaa...no dust spots....

As needed.

And don't worry yourself about it - I dithered for weeks before taking the plunge and cleaning the sensor on my 350D. Once it was done I wondered what all the fuss was about . . .
If you're careful and use a steady hand its a breeze - I clean mine regularly now . . .

stevieboy378 wrote in post #2955988
And don't worry yourself about it - I dithered for weeks before taking the plunge and cleaning the sensor on my 350D. Once it was done I wondered what all the fuss was about . . .
If you're careful and use a steady hand its a breeze - I clean mine regularly now . . .

Thanks. I must admit to feeling like I'm about to do open heart surgery. But, like most things, I'm sure once I've done, it will become a routine procedure.

If your looking to get set up with a sensor cleaning kit, check out Micro-tools. They have assembles several kits organized by camera at very reasonable prices. Anyway, check out this link. “Link to Micro-tools”

gjl711 wrote in post #2956324
If your looking to get set up with a sensor cleaning kit, check out Micro-tools. They have assembles several kits organized by camera at very reasonable prices. Anyway, check out this link. “Link to Micro-tools”

Thanks for the link, the site is great.

How long should it take to clean the sensor? Unfortunately I don't have the AC adapter and I keep running out of battery during the cleaning. Sometimes takes 2-3 hours or more, is this normal? How long should it take if I have the AC adapter?

rchon01 wrote in post #3202974
How long should it take to clean the sensor? Unfortunately I don't have the AC adapter and I keep running out of battery during the cleaning. Sometimes takes 2-3 hours or more, is this normal? How long should it take if I have the AC adapter?

Yikes!!! You have to be careful, but not that careful. A complete inner body cleaning including the sensor rarely lasts more the ~10-15 minutes and that’s being thorough. What is taking that long? If you start with the bulb blower and give it maybe a dozen good strong puffs of air, then a wet swab of the sensor two, maybe 4 times if it is really nasty, and that should be it while in mirror lockup.

Boy...I guess thats long. 4-6 minutes max from start to finish.
Giotto blower, sensor brush, Eclipse fluid.