my first copperhill wet clean

toadlet

I have had the copperhill cleaning wet cleaning kit for some time now, but haven't used it until today. I bit the bullet after gradually getting more and more dust etc on the sensor. The camera since it was bought 3 years ago hasn't been cleaned.

I read and re-read the instructions and to my suprise it wasn't as painful as I had imagined. I did some test shots at f32 and there are still quite a number of dust spots when you do levels. But f16 down is quite clean and maybe just a few very light marks when levels are dragged in somewhat. In the 'real world' I hardly shoot above f16 and never draw levels in to the same degree when checking for dust.

Below is a sky sample at f16 with levels drawn in. There is a marked improvement compared to when I cleaned. Acceptable for a fist clean?

Sam

No.

toadlet

Sam wrote:

No.

Thanks for your detailed reply....I don't have any 'before' tests but it is a marked improvement on the amount of crud that was on there before. I did some real world tests and the dust doesn't show up at all, and it it does it is only a few spots at f16+. There will only be more dust in there again when it comes time to change lenses again I reckon!

pathfinder

I think it may be good enough. Mine are usually lots worse than that.

If you don't see the crud in your images, and you don't spend more time than you want cloning out dirt spots, just forget about them until you do.

The less cleaning the better in my opinion. Trying to make a sensor cleaner than necessary is an invitation to trouble.

DAMHIK

toadlet

pathfinder wrote:

I think it may be good enough. Mine are usually lots worse than that.

If you don't see the crud in your images, and you don't spend more time than you want cloning out dirt spots, just forget about them until you do.

The less cleaning the better in my opinion. Trying to make a sensor cleaner than necessary is an invitation to trouble.

DAMHIK

Yes, well I tend to err on the edge of obsession with things like this, so might 'walk away' as may make things worse by attempting to do it again, in the pursuit of perfection....

Scott_Quier

toadlet wrote:

I have had the copperhill cleaning wet cleaning kit for some time now, but haven't used it until today. I bit the bullet after gradually getting more and more dust etc on the sensor. The camera since it was bought 3 years ago hasn't been cleaned.

I read and re-read the instructions and to my suprise it wasn't as painful as I had imagined. I did some test shots at f32 and there are still quite a number of dust spots when you do levels. But f16 down is quite clean and maybe just a few very light marks when levels are dragged in somewhat. In the 'real world' I hardly shoot above f16 and never draw levels in to the same degree when checking for dust.

Below is a sky sample at f16 with levels drawn in. There is a marked improvement compared to when I cleaned. Acceptable for a fist clean?

Cleaning a sensor is a lot like most things - don't fix it if ain't broke. If you don't shoot any more stopped down that f/f16, then that's the point at which you would test the cleaning. If the dust you see if the "clear blue sky" is as you have shown here and if those same dust bunnies don't show up when shooting "real life" photos, then I would have to say you've done well enough.

When I'm doing the cleaning thing in preparation for a job (where I KNOW I won't be shooting above f/8), I test at f/11. If there are any there, then I do clean it up a bit until I don't see anything.

I think Richard's verbose response may reflect more on his standards of clean and his needs than on your "real world" needs.

with PF: "The less cleaning the better in my opinion".

pathfinder

Scott_Quier wrote:

Cleaning a sensor is a lot like most things - don't fix it if ain't broke.

When I'm doing the cleaning thing in preparation for a job (where I KNOW I won't be shooting above f/8), I test at f/11. If there are any there, then I do clean it up a bit until I don't see anything.

I think this is a very perceptive way to approach the issue of sensor dust myself.

The replacement of the anti-aliasing filter is "only" about $300 for a 5D, so if one has a mis-adventure with cleaning, it is not the end of the world. But it does make your wallet lighter enough, that one needs to carefully evaluate how pristine their sensor needs to be.

A few dust motes in the sky are easy to clone out in the RAW processing these days, so I tend to not obsess about dust motes like I once did.

I shoot less at f16, and more often at f8 also, because modern lenses are significantly sharper two stops smaller than their maximum aperture ( typically f5.6 to f11), and less sharper at f16 and smaller ( for typical DSLRs anyway). Marc Muench and Dave Porter talked specifically about using only the sharpest apertures in modern lenses at the shootout in Moab..

Richard

Scott_Quier wrote:

I think Richard's verbose response may reflect more on his standards of clean and his needs than on your "real world" needs.

I think you might have meant Sam .

Scott_Quier

Richard wrote:

I think you might have meant Sam .

Ooops - so sorry. Happened before the first cuppa of the morning.

Sam

Sorry if I answered your specific question with a specific answer, but I couldn't think of anything else to add.

I still can't think of anything else to add. For me it ain't good enough. Them little dark spots gotta go.

To elaborate further, if I can see dust it ain't clean.

Even if I were going to shoot at F 2.8, I would still continue cleaning, but of course if your happy with this then by all means stop cleaning.

Is that better?

Sam

jdryan3

Twin sons of different mothers