Sensor cleaning

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  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    So when i get a DSLR...

    i will have to clean the thing inside...start using raw & look through the viewfinder instead of the LCD screen to shoot with eek7.gif

    This is getting deeper & deeper.
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    Humungus wrote:
    So when i get a DSLR...

    i will have to clean the thing inside...start using raw & look through the viewfinder instead of the LCD screen to shoot with eek7.gif

    This is getting deeper & deeper.
    You may also have to use Photoshop or Elements or paintShopPro to get the best out of your shot.

    Dunno what the 20D or D70 are like, but the 1D and mkII provide a rich basic material that still needs to be shaped into an excellent photo. Things like saturation, contrast, sharpening need to be done to make the shots sing.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    You may also have to use Photoshop or Elements or paintShopPro to get the best out of your shot.

    Dunno what the 20D or D70 are like, but the 1D and mkII provide a rich basic material that still needs to be shaped into an excellent photo. Things like saturation, contrast, sharpening need to be done to make the shots sing.
    OI....sid







    over here mate....dont take anything i say too seriously
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    Humungus wrote:
    OI....sid







    over here mate....dont take anything i say too seriously
    rolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gif










    Like that?naughty.gif
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • MitchellMitchell Registered Users Posts: 3,503 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    Why? ear.gif
    From what I have read, the CCD still has an electrostatic charge even with the camera off. Brushes and blowers alone will generally just push the dust around and not really remove them. The eclipse solution and the pads can decrease the charge by wetting action and help to dislodge/remove the dust.

    mitch
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,939 moderator
    edited February 5, 2005
    fish wrote:
    Same here, so far. Do me a favor, please? Go shoot the sky at your smallest aperture, process with autolevels and lets see the result. Don't blow off your sensor first. Just curious...
    15390777-M.jpg

    They are there. No bout-a-doubt it.

    Ian
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited February 5, 2005
    Mitchell wrote:
    From what I have read, the CCD still has an electrostatic charge even with the camera off. Brushes and blowers alone will generally just push the dust around and not really remove them. The eclipse solution and the pads can decrease the charge by wetting action and help to dislodge/remove the dust.

    mitch


    Michael Reichman has reviewed using Eclipse Methyl Alcohol solution and Sensor Swabs and has a good description of the technique on the Luminous Lancscape. He lso recently reviewed the Visible Dust removal Brushes from Canada. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/visible-dust.shtml

    I have cleaned my sensors with Eclispe and Sensor Swabs several times without incident, but from what I am reading on the web the brushes from visibledust.com are more effective and certainly seem safer than scrubbing your antialiasing filter with a firm pressure on a Sensor Swab.
    Reichman is very emphatic that the VisibleDust brush is his preferred method at this time. There have been extensive discussions of sensor cleaning in the forums on his website, much of it led by Didger who put a big scratch on the sensor in his 1D with a sensor swab and Eclipse. He was not a happy camper. Go to visibledust.com I own three of their brushes.
    One yuo use the Visibledust brush it will be very rare that you will need to use Eclipse and Sensor Swabs unless you sneeze into you DSLR while cleaning the sensor :D
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    BTW, I mentioned I bent down the sidewall around my sensor with a swab. Looks like when I had the AF calibrated canon fixed that (though I know that didnt cause the miscalibration since the af was off before that). Now the mirror mechanism is broke of course, but that's another matter alltogether.
    Richard
  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    Mitchell wrote:
    From what I have read, the CCD still has an electrostatic charge even with the camera off. Brushes and blowers alone will generally just push the dust around and not really remove them. The eclipse solution and the pads can decrease the charge by wetting action and help to dislodge/remove the dust.

    mitch
    Theoretically, the Sensor Brush also neutralizes the charge to remove the dust.

    And FWIW, CCD = A charge-coupled device (CCD), is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to one or other of its neighbours. CCDs are used in digital photography and astronomy (particularly in photometry, optical and UV spectroscopy and high speed techniques such as Lucky imaging).
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    ian408 wrote:

    They are there. No bout-a-doubt it.

    Ian
    thx for taking the time. oh, and blbl.gif
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited February 5, 2005
    BTW, I mentioned I bent down the sidewall around my sensor with a swab. Looks like when I had the AF calibrated canon fixed that (though I know that didnt cause the miscalibration since the af was off before that). Now the mirror mechanism is broke of course, but that's another matter alltogether.
    Richard
    What a drag, Richard. Now's a good time to upgrade to a 20D. :D
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    Mitchell wrote:
    From what I have read, the CCD still has an electrostatic charge even with the camera off. Brushes and blowers alone will generally just push the dust around and not really remove them. The eclipse solution and the pads can decrease the charge by wetting action and help to dislodge/remove the dust.

    mitch
    According to the dry brush kids, the canned air you blow on the brush deals with that. Lots and lots of canned air. Seemed to work for me.

    I'd hesitate to recommend against a method without having tried it myself.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    fish wrote:
    What a drag, Richard. Now's a good time to upgrade to a 20D. :D
    If I do upgrade (I should say when, since it's just a matter of my gathering together the money), it will be to a 1D. In the mean time, some super nice FM'er has offered to lend me his spare 10D while my rebel's being fixed so I don't miss the games I was going to shoot :Diloveyou.gifthumbbowdown.gifsuperbiggrinbounce2.gifclap
    Richard
  • piercepierce Registered Users Posts: 66 Big grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    And FWIW, CCD = A charge-coupled device (CCD), is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors.
    FWIW, the Canon DSLR's mostly use CMOS rather than CCD sensors. Now, CMOS sensors got a bad reputation because the worst of the cheapest tv cameras and webcams use CMOS sensors that aren't as good as CCD, however the high end sensors in the Canon 10D, 300D, and 20D are, as everyone should know by now, awesome.
  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    pierce wrote:
    FWIW, the Canon DSLR's mostly use CMOS rather than CCD sensors.
    I never said they did.

    Nonetheless, they both gather and accumulate charges, therefore they are both susceptible to ESD and have similar dust attracting properties.

    In a CCD device, the charge is actually transported across the chip and read at one corner of the array. An analog-to-digital converter turns each pixel's value into a digital value. In most CMOS devices, there are several transistors at each pixel that amplify and move the charge using more traditional wires. The CMOS approach is more flexible because each pixel can be read individually. (from how stuff works)



    Hey pierce wave.gif
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • Aaron WilsonAaron Wilson Registered Users Posts: 339 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    How offten should the lense be cleaned? How does dust get inside? Does dust get in during lense changes or will dust get in even if you dont change a lense?
    www.dipphoto.com
    All feed back is welcomed!!

    http://www.dipphoto.com/

    :lust :lust
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    as needed
    How offten should the lense be cleaned? How does dust get inside? Does dust get in during lense changes or will dust get in even if you dont change a lense?

    after a day outside, changing lenses, i shoot the sky at f/22 before the light's gone. then i check in photoshop, do autolevels on that shot, you'll see if you need to do a cleaning :D keep in mind, that *alot* of stuff you'll see in that f/22 sky pic with autolevels will not show up in most pics.

    the other indicator is if you see lots of spots in the skies of your landscape pics.
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    How offten should the lense be cleaned? How does dust get inside? Does dust get in during lense changes or will dust get in even if you dont change a lense?
    As Andy said, changing lenses. The site owner, Baldy, once wrote that when he got his D60 and 70-200 f2.8 IS, he was never going to take the lens of the camera, so as to keep the dust motes away. lol3.gif
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    Often, dust is on the sensor when you buy the camera too. I have dust on my sensor right now, but I don't care since I don't shoot f/22...heck, I don't shoot f/16. I'll clean it when it gets covered in dust (yes, this happens for me, I change lenses a lot).
    Richard
  • luckyrweluckyrwe Registered Users Posts: 952 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    Remember to clean the inside of the rear lens cap, dusts gets there too, then goes from there to the lens and from the lens to the sensor. Sheesh, sounds like sensorily transmitted disease! :uhoh
  • Aaron WilsonAaron Wilson Registered Users Posts: 339 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    when are they going to invent a self cleaning camera? They do that with ovens but not at first!! lol
    www.dipphoto.com
    All feed back is welcomed!!

    http://www.dipphoto.com/

    :lust :lust
  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2005
    when are they going to invent a self cleaning camera? They do that with ovens but not at first!! lol
    Already exist. Olympus E-1.
    Richard
  • wmsnyderwmsnyder Registered Users Posts: 56 Big grins
    edited February 7, 2005
    fish wrote:
    I just turned the body upside down, gave it a big honkin' blowjob with the Giotto rocket, snapped a sky shot, and boom! All the spots are still there. umph.gif

    Another suggestion that I have used successfully is a foot pump like you use to inflate a raft or air mattress.
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,939 moderator
    edited February 7, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    FWIW, my experience is that using a blower just rearranges the dust. I've tried many times, including with the addition of a hand-held vacuum cleaner. I've since concluded that the sensor itself has to be wiped down. I've used the dry brush method once, and it seemed to work.
    Not if you go to the gas station :D

    Only kidding. But based on fishy's feed bag, I went ahead and ordered
    one of the visible dust thingies. More when it arrives.

    Ian
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2005
    wmsnyder wrote:
    fish wrote:
    I just turned the body upside down, gave it a big honkin' blowjob with the Giotto rocket, snapped a sky shot, and boom! All the spots are still there. umph.gif

    Another suggestion that I have used successfully is a foot pump like you use to inflate a raft or air mattress.
    Have you done a test shot afterwards? If you think about it, you're pumping in air that also has dust motes, and moving things around in there. But you're not actually removing anything. At least, that was my frustrating experience. That's why I bought the Sensor Brush stuff, which worked well.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,939 moderator
    edited February 8, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    Have you done a test shot afterwards? If you think about it, you're pumping in air that also has dust motes, and moving things around in there. But you're not actually removing anything. At least, that was my frustrating experience. That's why I bought the Sensor Brush stuff, which worked well.
    There's a definte art to blowing dust off the sensor. Doesn't always work but I think done properly, it definetly gets rid of most of the visible mots.

    Ian
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • wmsnyderwmsnyder Registered Users Posts: 56 Big grins
    edited February 8, 2005
    ian408 wrote:
    There's a definte art to blowing dust off the sensor. Doesn't always work but I think done properly, it definetly gets rid of most of the visible mots.

    Ian
    Check out the following web site for info on cleaning your sensor.
    http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2005
    wmsnyder wrote:
    Check out the following web site for info on cleaning your sensor.
    http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/
    Yup, that's the 'wet' method. I'm happy with the dry, so far anyway.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    Yup, that's the 'wet' method. I'm happy with the dry, so far anyway.

    Glad to hear that, since I've got a $90 brush on its way to me umph.gif


    Waxy, can you show us yer dust? Obviously it's dark outside, but you should be able to get the same effect by shooting something of consistent light color, like a wall at f22, then autolevels, and let's see it (just out of curiosity, of course...and no cheating with the clone brush :lynn)
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2005
    fish wrote:
    Glad to hear that, since I've got a $90 brush on its way to me umph.gif


    Waxy, can you show us yer dust? Obviously it's dark outside, but you should be able to get the same effect by shooting something of consistent light color, like a wall at f22, then autolevels, and let's see it (just out of curiosity, of course...and no cheating with the clone brush :lynn)

    2 things. One, I'm at work and will be for another two hours. Long day. 2/ It's been over a month since I cleaned the sensor, so whatever shot I made wouldn't be a fair representation of the cleaning. I'd have to clean it first, then show you.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
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