The commercial solution
If you’re really worried about damaging the sensor you can find
service centers that will do it for you. Some camera manufacturers will
do it for free (at least for a new camera), though of course for most
users that means shipping the camera off and waiting a week or more for
it to be returned (plus you’ll pay shipping costs). A number of camera
stores and independent repair centers will also clean sensors with a
cost somewhere in the $30-$50 range being typical. Some may do a good
job, others not so good. In general, I’d recommend doing it yourself
because it’s much faster, more convenient and in most cases cheaper.
However, if you decide not to then commercial cleaning is available.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
What’s the worst that can happen
The worst that can happen is that you scratch the sensor while attempting to clean it. If you are careful and you use professional cleaning tools this is highly unlikely. Scratching can occur if you get a small piece of grit on the tissue you use to wipe the sensor. Commercial products for sensor cleaning are made in clean rooms and are very unlikely to be contaminated. A typical book of lens tissues is certainly more likely to be contaminated. They are cheaper, but the risk of damage is higher. The sensor covering filters isn’t especially delicate, in fact it’s similar to the coated filters you’d use on a lens, but even so it can be scratched.
If you do scratch the sensor (or more accurately the front of the filter stack that covers the sensor), you’ll get a black line on every image and the filter over the sensor (or in some cases the whole sensor assembly) will have to be replaced. This is a job for the factory service center and will cost several hundred dollars for most cameras. This is clearly not desirable and for older digital SLRs it may not even make economic sense.
The worst that can happen is that you scratch the sensor while attempting to clean it. If you are careful and you use professional cleaning tools this is highly unlikely. Scratching can occur if you get a small piece of grit on the tissue you use to wipe the sensor. Commercial products for sensor cleaning are made in clean rooms and are very unlikely to be contaminated. A typical book of lens tissues is certainly more likely to be contaminated. They are cheaper, but the risk of damage is higher. The sensor covering filters isn’t especially delicate, in fact it’s similar to the coated filters you’d use on a lens, but even so it can be scratched.
If you do scratch the sensor (or more accurately the front of the filter stack that covers the sensor), you’ll get a black line on every image and the filter over the sensor (or in some cases the whole sensor assembly) will have to be replaced. This is a job for the factory service center and will cost several hundred dollars for most cameras. This is clearly not desirable and for older digital SLRs it may not even make economic sense.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wiping dust off the sensor
If the specs on the sensor are still there after a high tech brush cleaning of the sensor, the final “nuclear option” is to clean the sensor with tissue and a solvent. Again there are companies who specialize in providing materials designed for this task. One such company is PhotoSol (www.photosol.com) who have a line of solvents and tissues (Sensor Swabs) marketed under the “Eclipse” name. Again the advantage of dealing with a company which produces products designated for digital sensor cleaning is that you can get technical support from them and their products are guaranteed to cause no harm when used as specified. Cleanliness is paramount when using swabs and cleaning fluids. Use the swabs only once and use the minimum amount of solvent required to dampen the swab. Pressure is generally not needed (and may be counterproductive), so a gentle wipe across the sensor is the way to go. After one wipe check the sensor and only repeat if necessary. As I said earlier, there’s no point in trying to remove every last minute speck of dust. If nothing shows up in real images, the sensor is clean enough.
Personally, I use conventional lens tissue and methanol to clean my sensors, but again I have experience and I’m willing to take the risk. So far I’ve had no problems, but I’d recommend going the commercial product route to anyone who is at all nervous about sensor damage.
If the specs on the sensor are still there after a high tech brush cleaning of the sensor, the final “nuclear option” is to clean the sensor with tissue and a solvent. Again there are companies who specialize in providing materials designed for this task. One such company is PhotoSol (www.photosol.com) who have a line of solvents and tissues (Sensor Swabs) marketed under the “Eclipse” name. Again the advantage of dealing with a company which produces products designated for digital sensor cleaning is that you can get technical support from them and their products are guaranteed to cause no harm when used as specified. Cleanliness is paramount when using swabs and cleaning fluids. Use the swabs only once and use the minimum amount of solvent required to dampen the swab. Pressure is generally not needed (and may be counterproductive), so a gentle wipe across the sensor is the way to go. After one wipe check the sensor and only repeat if necessary. As I said earlier, there’s no point in trying to remove every last minute speck of dust. If nothing shows up in real images, the sensor is clean enough.
Personally, I use conventional lens tissue and methanol to clean my sensors, but again I have experience and I’m willing to take the risk. So far I’ve had no problems, but I’d recommend going the commercial product route to anyone who is at all nervous about sensor damage.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth and photographers used
totally mechanical cameras, it was common to have a camera serviced
every few years. The springs in the shutter assembly had to be adjusted
to keep shutter speeds accurate and various parts of the camera and lens
could need lubrication. A CLA (clean, lubricate and adjust) was something that kept a camera in top condition.
In today’s world of electronic
auto-everything cameras, we recommend only minimal cleaning, which we’ll
cover shortly. The most important thing is to try to avoid the need to
clean in the first place. Try to keep your camera away from the elements
that cause the most harm: dirt, dust, sandy grit, and saltwater spray
are the mortal enemies of most types of cameras. Keep your camera
protected if you’re on a windy beach and the sand is flying. Don’t get
too near those big waves to take the picture of your nephew frolicking
in the surf. Use your zoom lens instead.
Particularly if you have plans for a
summer vacation, family reunion, or other big event in the coming
months, it makes sense to stock up on memory cards ahead of time. Don’t
wait to buy them at airports or expensive tourist stores — if you do
that, you’ll pay much more than you would from a photo specialty store
or online vendor.
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