My 40D is Two Weeks Old and I'm a Little Disappointed

harrydog wrote in post #4019495
A Rocket blower probably works better. Also, where does the dust go after it is shaken loose? It's still in there, ready to adhere to the sensor again, isn't it?

Good point. But I think the point is that it is off the sensor and off your pictures. I think a rocket blower with the body pointed down would work well, until you get some welded dust. I think the AB 724 works well as well, but does little or nothing to welded dust. The Sensor Cleaning Kit from Canon, works well, again nothing for welded dust. But nothing beats a good wet cleaning. It is analogous to a "sponge bath" vs actually taking a good shower with a loufa!

To add, no method works if you get the problem I got on my Rebel XT, whereas a strand of hair was in between the low pass and the sensor. That would take Canon to take it apart and remove it. Hopefully without them introducing more alien particles.

I posted and update with some semi-good news. For those interesed, please check out the bottom of my original post.

To answer a queston, I did not own the Scope Sensor before I picked up the 40D. I will, however, scope any new body I pick up in the future. If I'm buying locally, I will insist on scoping it at the store, and if it's dirty, I'll ask for another body. The shops in this area have a lot of really cool and savvy folks working there and I can't imagine them not letting me scope a body if I'm going do spend the kind of money I would need to upgrade from a 40D.

I'm going to call Canon right now and discuss this with them and find out if I my experience falls within the norm and also if I can get them to clean my camera while I wait. They are about 1 hour and 45 minutes north of me. I'll keep the group updated.

Thanks again,

Michael

M24 wrote in post #4016212
then I shot some blue sky at f22 and f32. Well, the good news is that most of the junk is gone, except those same 4 or 5 blobs in the low right-hand corner.

You're probably aware of this, so forgive me if I restate the obvious - the lower right corner of the picture is the upper left corner of the sensor...

-js

number six wrote in post #4020687
You're probably aware of this, so forgive me if I restate the obvious - the lower right corner of the picture is the upper left corner of the sensor...

-js

Thanks, yes, I am. I've checked all four corners very carefully with the scope and see nothing. It must be some dried liquid. I'm going to take the camera up to Irvine at some point and have them check it out.

-Michael

M24 wrote in post #4020702
Thanks, yes, I am. I've checked all four corners very carefully with the scope and see nothing. It must be some dried liquid. I'm going to take the camera up to Irvine at some point and have them check it out.

-Michael

Your original post comments are interesting:

If you do an Advanced Search, type in my name, and use lubricant as the search word in the text of posts, it will return eleven threads on this topic.

Lately someone else has twigged to the lubricant and wear debris components of "dust".

Dust might be a misnomer.

Misnomer or a generic term for "stuff on your low pass filter"

Earlier today, I spoke with a tech at the Canon service center in Irvine. It turns out that its location is more like 2+ hours from me so finding that kind of time to go up there is a bit of a challenge.

First off, the tech told me that every camera is checked before it leaves the factory and if the sensors are dirty, they don't ship them. He claimed that it could not have left the factory that dirty. It may be a company line, but the truth is I didn't own the scope before I bought the 40D and started shooting with the camera, so I'll not devote any mental energy toward that until I buy another body, which may be a 1D Mark III, but that's another story.

I spoke with the tech for about thirty minutes, he was very professional. When I told him that I had taken perhaps 2000 shots within the first two weeks, he was not surprised. He agreed that it is entirely possible that the parts within the camera may be "breaking-in" or "wearing-in" and could have been partially responsible for so much dust in under two weeks. His comment, however, was not that two weeks was the issue, but that 2000 plus shots had been taken. He was very insistent that I bring the camera in for a look-see, but said that if I tried to clean a sensor with swabs and fluid myself, I would void the warranty. I'm not sure if the service center could ever tell if I did or did not clean it myself, but we'll see. The tech also reminded me that in SoCal, we live in a very dry and dusty climate and that they see dirty sensors all day long. One other thing the tech said was that their inspection would determine if there might be some parts that are wearing incorrectly that could be the cause of the problem, so again he implored me to bring it in.

I did ask the tech how they clean sensors and he would not reveal their methods to me, other than to say that what they do is entirely different than any third party company like Delkin or PhotoSol could provide an average Joe like me.

At the end of the call, I told the tech that at this time, I could not see much anything with my scope, but was seeing ten or so blobs at f22 and beyond. He said that those types of spots are usually dried liquid, which would lead me to believe that PhotoSol's E2 might not be the way to go with a 40D. Perhaps Delkin's solution is better? Has anyone out there used Delkin's solution? They claim it will work on any sensor in any DSLR.

To sum it up, the tech said that I have a very high-end camera with a high fps rate and should take advantage of the 1 year warranty, which includes free cleanings. Of course, assuming that I or some local shop has not already tried to clean it. I wonder if they can tell if the end user or local shop has swabbed the sensor? Any thoughts there?

I would like some instant gratification on this issue, but we all know that's not reasonable. I'd love to drive to Irvine tomorrow, but I cannot.

Given that my sensor is at the moment, mostly clean and that I don't see the blobs below f22, I'm going to shoot for a few more weeks and see what develops.

I posted some images in my original post. Based on those I feel that I have a good copy of the body, would anyone disagree?

Thanks again, I'll be posting more images soon and be scoping the sensor to see if it again gets out of hand so quickly. If it does dirty-up like it did before in a short period of time, I'll make the time for the day trip to Irvine.

At the end of the day, I wish that I had purchased the body locally. I could call the very reputable company in New York that I bought it from and get an RMA and request another body, but quite frankly, I don't want to. In spite of this one frustration, I love this camera so much, I don't want to put it down! I'm guessing many folks out there would also want to keep their new toy home. I guess it is a good problem to have.

Best,

-Michael

I think in your case, I would let it lie for a while, use the camera, hope the Canon Rep had not logged call.
I think a Canon Engineer would and could recognize if a senor has been cleaned by a 3rd. party, in most cases, especially if it does leave solution blobs, I bet they don't even use a solution at all.
But I would send it in some time in the future to get it cleaned, as you will not be able to remove the blobs,

Good Luck

Post an image of your sensor so we can see what it looks like, I tke it you have looked mt my image and compared them?

M24 wrote in post #4023584
... the tech told me that every camera is checked before it leaves the factory and if the sensors are dirty, they don't ship them. He claimed that it could not have left the factory that dirty. It may be a company line...

Ok, I admit, I’m a freak and the first thing I do is run the body through a couple of tests. My very first 5~6 pics were of a focus chart. The next was of a nice blue sky. The focus pics showed just a hair of back focus and the blue sky pic showed two big blobs 6 medium blobs, and a smattering of very tiny dust specks. So this was at < 10 pics and not thousands so I’m pretty confident that if I had taken the sensor check pic first they would have already been there. That’s about as close to out of the factory as one can get. I have not cleaned the sensor yet as I will give it some time to break in, but a cleaning is in my very near future. As to the focus issue, the DOF is split about 40% 60% just a hair behind. I might try the focus adjustment if I start noticing it in real pics. My first real field outing is this weekend, kind of a shake down photo-op.

That's complete utter BS. If Canon checks its work, I wouldn't be sending my camera back to them for the third time! It came in the first time and after they were told exactly what the problem was they missed it. Sent it in a 2nd time and whole camera came back busted. That is the line of bull stuff they tell us to gain our confidence in sending the factory our cameras.

As for the liquid spots, unless you have been sneezing inside your camera or live in a humid area, that should be lubricant from the mechanical parts inside the baffle. If you ever cleaned a piece of metal or plastic covered by fingerprints (oils) with Denatured Alcohol, you will notice that alcohol dissolves oils. So the best way to clean it is with E2 or Eclipse. Either fluid is for the most part alcohol. The former using Ethanol and latter using Methanol. The Delkin solution is alcohol-free, but is water based. Anyone who ever washed their car will noticed that water tends to leave spots. VisibleDust's Sensor Clean is also alcohol free and tend to work better than the Delkin. The Delkin swabs, at least the ones I have tend to smear liquid. I found this to be true whether I use the Delkin liquid or the Eclipse with them. VisibleDust's method is probably the most expensive if you consider the fact that you need two swabs per revolution. You need a wet one and then follow through with a different colored dry one. By far the best solution for cleaning the sensor has been using Photosol swabs with Eclipse or E2 (depending on your application). The Copperhill or similar method is a close second, I find that pec pads can sometimes leave fibers when swabbing. But it is also by far the most economic means, you can swab 25 times and replace the pecpad each time and it will only cost you 25% of what one Photosol swab would cost you.

My clean regiment:

Rocket Blower
Inspect the sensor, if dust is visible, I will determine whether or not I can remove the dust by wet or dry cleaning. By judging the type of dust. If it is a liquid spot, then see wet cleaning. If it is loose fibers and dust, see Dry Cleaning.

Dry Cleaning

Take the AB 724 spin it for 10-15 seconds to charge it up.
Brush the sensor horizontally one way, stop flip the brush over, spin for 5 seconds, then wipe the opposite direction.
inspect with Sensor (Sensor Scope) if there is dust, repeat or re analyze the type of dust. If no dust, then I'll take a pic of a solid white wall and check with auto levels in PS. If it is clear then I stop, if not back to clean again.

Wet Cleaning

Take the spatula Sensor Wand and Pecpad fold per instructions. I drop 1-2 drops of Eclipse on one side from the top of the pec pad and wait for capillary action to bring the liquid to the tip. Swab the sensor horizontally in one direction, flip it over and swab the opposite direction and up from the last position.
Inspect with Sensor Scope, repeat if necessary, test with a solid white obeject with auto levels applied. Repeat if necessary.

When I first got my 400D I was also getting paranoid about dust. The more you try to clean it, the worse it seemed to get and expensive with swabs! Then I realised how often do I shoot blue skies at f/22! Once I had the sensor reasonably clean I left it and for the last 6 months only use a blower, never once has a photo bothered me with dust even at f/16. Reminds me of the rainbow effects I would see on my DLP projector, simply because I was always looking for them! My advice, give it a good clean and then just enjoy taking photos! Take reasonable care changing lenses (do it quick, replace caps quick, always turn off the camera when you change lenses and have a blower handy. I always hold my camera upside down and prepare my lenses to change over as quick as poss.