So.. I was feeling brave and I cleaned my sensor... all excited looked through my lens and the motts are all still there so.. I cleaned it AGAIN! and they are still there... :uhoh sloshed some on the lens and stuff but where are these little crittors...
What method did you use to clean the sensor? Could we see a frame?
What method did you use to clean the sensor? Could we see a frame?
James.
I used my $50 sealed perfect Sensor Swabs, not touching ANYTHING after removing from plastic. Used Eclipse .. did everything right...TWICE.. look through camera, motts still there.. MANY motts... take picture of sky...NO MOTTS!! whats going on:uhoh are motts on eyeballs??? no.. surely not...
here's another one.. can you see motts??? damed if I can...:uhoh
I used my $50 sealed perfect Sensor Swabs, not touching ANYTHING after removing from plastic. Used Eclipse .. did everything right...TWICE.. look through camera, motts still there.. MANY motts... take picture of sky...NO MOTTS!! whats going on:uhoh are motts on eyeballs??? no.. surely not...
darling, dear, lynnie:
when you are looking thru the viewfinder, you are bouncing off the mirror - so anything you *see* thru the viewfinder, is on the mirror, not the sensor. your sensor is fine - good job cleaning! next time you clean, blow with the giottos rocket blower *before* you clean the sensor, you'll get the crud off that mirror. then clean the sensor.
when you are looking thru the viewfinder, you are bouncing off the mirror - so anything you *see* thru the viewfinder, is on the mirror, not the sensor. your sensor is fine - good job cleaning! next time you clean, blow with the giottos rocket blower *before* you clean the sensor, you'll get the crud off that mirror. then clean the sensor.
good onya lynnie!
well .. in desperation I did slosh some on the mirror as well.. just to be sure.. an I don't have a blowy thingy.. is it ok to clean mirrors? or should I get a blowy thingy..can you use any blowy thing?:uhoh Andy?
well .. in desperation I did slosh some on the mirror as well.. just to be sure.. an I don't have a blowy thingy.. is it ok to clean mirrors? or should I get a blowy thingy..can you use any blowy thing?:uhoh Andy?
They may be on the focus screen instead of the mirror, get the blower and blow that off too. It is not really recomended, but I just use an old style lens brush to brush off the mirror and focus screen. FYI, most focus screens are easily removable, very easily, as in take a close look before you brush around in there so you know how to put it back in. I was cleaning a friends 1DMKI for him and the screen fell out in my hand, took me a min of to figure out which way it was suppossed to be in there.
So.. I was feeling brave and I cleaned my sensor... all excited looked through my lens and the motts are all still there so.. I cleaned it AGAIN! and they are still there... :uhoh sloshed some on the lens and stuff but where are these little crittors...
I suspect your 300D has bunnies in the viewfinders prism. I'll let Canon users address this one though...
I haven't been around these parts in a while, and just discovered this thread. I recently got a 20D and a modest quiver of lenses, and some free dust bunnies evidently thrown in at no extra charge. And thus I've been experimenting with the different cleaning methods described here with reasonable success after a few rough starts, as seems to be the rule.
My biggest frustration was doing all this blind. You try a cleaning method, reinstall the lens, take a picture and look at it on the computer, only to discover that you need to start over. Frustrating as hell. Well friends, those days are now gone, thanks to this little device.
This is a lighted 6x magnifier from Griots garage. I'd originally purchased it mainly for digging splinters out of my fingers (my other hobby is woodworking.) It turns out that it's absolutely wonderful for inspecting the camera sensor! The focal distance just makes it; you have to hold the lens right in front of the lens opening. But then the sensor snaps into view. The built in light illuminates the sensor and the dust particles really jump out at you. You can see *everything* -- specs, smudges, you name it. You get instant feedback which allows you to play around with different brushing and swabbing techniques until you get it right. You can blow, brush or swab, and know instantly how you are progressing. For me this was a huge breakthrough. I don't think I'll ever clean my sensor again without using it.
Here's a link to the item on Griots Garage's website.
I paid $29 for it a few months ago, but it looks like it's gone up to $39 now, which seems WAY too much for what it is. It's made by Eschenbach, a very good German brand. You can find other distributors who sell it as well as numerous other models. Any good lighted mirror will do as long as the focus distance is long enough so that it focuses on the sensor from outside the camera. The lighting is really the crucial part because it illuminates the dust particles like you won't believe. Besides, what's another $40 when you just spent $80 for a couple of little paint brushes. :giggle (BTW, the Sensor Brush from Copperhill is less than $20 and works great.)
That copperhill method stresses me out! I followed all the instructions on the site and with the included package. I went from dust all over, to dust on the bottom and right side of the image (not sure where that correlates to on the CCD ), to a nasty freaking spot on the bottom left, to a nasty freaking spot on the bottom left...ARGH!!!
Then I decided to really get in there and look at it and swab it until I didn't see anything suspicious. I didn't pay attention to the back and forth recommendation, just swabbed wherever.
Finally, a result I can live with. Not 100% dust free, but certainly not anywhere close to what it was.
Anyhow, I need to go unwind!
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.
Outsourcing
Man, with all the stress this causes and how hard it is to get right, you'd think someone would offer a service: FEDEX the camera to them, get back in 2-3 days clean. What would you pay?
Man, with all the stress this causes and how hard it is to get right, you'd think someone would offer a service: FEDEX the camera to them, get back in 2-3 days clean. What would you pay?
I smell a cottage industry starting up Rutt!
I know I would gladly pay someone to clean my sensor for me. I've read this thread several times; I've read everything at the Copperhill site as well and I still haven't ordered my kit nor have I ever cleaned my sensor for fear of ruining it.
Even my trusted camera store refuses to "wet" clean, they only offer to ship to Nikon (or Canon).
I've hoped that an experienced "cleaner" from dGrin might offer workshops.
It's not hard.. ha ha.. once you've done it.. Gotta get the right swabs of course and eclipse but what can happen?? NO DON'T GO THERE..
I bet you'd take more care cleaning your sensor than some 12 year old in a camera place would..AND remember in that Movie with Anthony Hopkins called The Edge? he said when trying to trap maniacle Kodiak Bear who was tracking them.. "what one man can do... another man can do"... yep, use that all the time.. good policy that is.
Clean your own sensors.. be a man... step up to the plate..
Hmmm, what would I pay? Well my local store charges $50 so I would say that it would have to cost less than that for the total job including shipping. I'm really out of the running since I've got a copperhill package anyhow (although I'm less than impressed with it to be honest).
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.
It's not like I haven't done this. Copperhill, sensor brush, the whole 9 yards. I just hate it and it always takes longer and gets worse results than I want. And while they were at it they could clean the mirror and viewfinder and inside. I'd pay for that once in a while.
Mike, if my local camera store would do it for $50, I'd be there.
It's not like I haven't done this. Copperhill, sensor brush, the whole 9 yards. I just hate it and it always takes longer and gets worse results than I want. And while they were at it they could clean the mirror and viewfinder and inside. I'd pay for that once in a while.
Mike, if my local camera store would do it for $50, I'd be there.
Just read most of the way through that. Great resource. It still doesn't quell my fears of giving the old silicon chippy a good rub & scrub. So far i've only blasted it with my large size Giottos Rocket Air bulb thingy.
Oh, and just a little fact from recent experience here with the Rocket Air... pet cats do not like their face being blasted clean with air. Not even if it made me laugh when I did it the one time. Cats just don't understand my sense of humor. Just though I'd warn people. And yes, I feel horrible about the incident. I will never do it again.
My Smugmug
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Cats just don't understand my sense of humor. Just though I'd warn people. And yes, I feel horrible about the incident. I will never do it again.
They have NO sense of humor mate. I got all the remotes on the coffee table (6 of them) enlisted the help of a small child whom giggled a lot & aimed all 6 at , what we considered to be the centre of a sleeping cats brain...it woke momentarily ..& simply yawned as if to prove me a fool !
Had it been a bit smarter it could have easily been in on the joke...crossed its eyes & rolled on its back or just wriggled..but no...it wanted to be in control.
dust under my 20d's sensor low pass filter
just picked up my canon 20d from its first clean and I have been told that some dust has found its way under the low pass filter covering the sensor,and that it will be a major job to remove it.
this sounds like a warranty claim.has anyone else had this problem?
just picked up my canon 20d from its first clean and I have been told that some dust has found its way under the low pass filter covering the sensor,and that it will be a major job to remove it.
this sounds like a warranty claim.has anyone else had this problem?
keep us posted with an outcome mate...inside my camera looks like the Simpson !
Well I just wish someone had warned me about dust and sensors and camera internals, as a first time owner of a camera with interchangeable lenses I left the camera with the cover off sat on the table when I first got it.
As soon as I came across the subject I checked my sensor which wasn't too bad but the mirror was infected and so too the screen thing above the mirror. I tried with 2 brushes that i bought from an art shop which worked well on the mirror but I can't get the other part clean.
Jessops inform me there is a place in the city that does the whole job for £25 while you wait. So I would rather take it there than fuss over buying more expensive extra's.
Im with you Snap...i will pay someone to do it for me shortly.
I open mine anywhere anytime to get a lens on (except when there is water in the air such as waterfalls/rain etc). I have 2 or 3 spots that can only be seen at F/double figs that i rarely use. I dont think its something that should be 'overdone'. We are talking about a VERY delicate device here.
New Blowing Technique?
So, I was blowing my sensor yesterday (perhaps a poor choice of words) in preparation to brush my sensor and/or swab it, and had a bit of an epiphany. Normally, what I do is stick the nozzle of the blower into the lens mount opening -- but not too far -- and pump away for a minute while aiming the nozzle at different areas. Suddenly it occured to me that there's a better way. You should squeeze the bulb, pull the nozzle well out of the camera, and then release. Reinsert, squeeze, and pull out and release again. The idea is that if you release the bulb pressure with the nozzle still in the camera, you stand a good chance of sucking dust into the bulb only to be deposited back onto the sensor when you blow it out again. Further more, air is actually being sucked from the room into the camera body when you release the bulb pressure! So really, there's a good chance you're just recycling the dust when you use a bulb in the camera, or maybe even making matters worse.
So I tried just inserting, blowing, pulling out and releasing, and repeated that process a dozen times or more. I inspected the lens with my lighted magnifier (everybody's got theirs, right?), and all the big specs were gone. Yeah, there were still several little specs, but I know from experience they're hardly visible. I put the lens back on, took a couple of f22 blue-sky test shots, and things looked good. Sure, If I do an autolevels, I can see the small specs. But without autolevels it's spotless, which I feel is good enough. No brushing or swabbing this time.
Now perhaps it's just coincidence, but that's the first time I've gotten acceptable results with just a bulb blower. Ya'll might want to give that a try some time. There might just be something to it, and it's a heck of a lot less stressful than brushing or swabbing.
My Rocket Air blower's check valve is at the very bottom of the rocket (where the engine nozzle would be if it was a real rocket).
There's little to no chance that any particle could be sucked into the nose cone that is aimed into the mirror chamber and re-deposited onto the sensor since the check valve, if operating properly, shouldn't allow anything into the nose cone part at all.
My Smugmug
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
There's little to no chance that any particle could be sucked into the nose cone that is aimed into the mirror chamber and re-deposited onto the sensor since the check valve, if operating properly, shouldn't allow anything into the nose cone part at all.
Ho ho, guess again David. Compress your Rocket Blower and put your finger over the check-valve inlet and release. Air will get sucked very nicely into the bulb. Now put your finger over the nozzle and try the same experiment. The bulb actually fills more slowly. I claim you get as much if not more return air back into the bulb via the nozzle than you do the inlet. Now if they'd put a check valve in the nozzle, then they'd really have something there.
I just tried placing my finger over the red tip. Air sucks in the same speed either way. Nothing is getting sucked in through the top as far as I can tell.
I have the largest of the three sizes of the Giottos rocket.
My Smugmug
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Comments
James.
http://www.jamesjweg.com
here's another one.. can you see motts??? damed if I can...:uhoh
darling, dear, lynnie:
when you are looking thru the viewfinder, you are bouncing off the mirror - so anything you *see* thru the viewfinder, is on the mirror, not the sensor. your sensor is fine - good job cleaning! next time you clean, blow with the giottos rocket blower *before* you clean the sensor, you'll get the crud off that mirror. then clean the sensor.
good onya lynnie!
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
buy a giottos rocket blower
yeah, it's ok to swab the mirror, but i don't do it, the blower (first) then swabbing the sensor's been all i've ever needed.
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
James.
http://www.jamesjweg.com
Hey ya'll,
I haven't been around these parts in a while, and just discovered this thread. I recently got a 20D and a modest quiver of lenses, and some free dust bunnies evidently thrown in at no extra charge. And thus I've been experimenting with the different cleaning methods described here with reasonable success after a few rough starts, as seems to be the rule.
My biggest frustration was doing all this blind. You try a cleaning method, reinstall the lens, take a picture and look at it on the computer, only to discover that you need to start over. Frustrating as hell. Well friends, those days are now gone, thanks to this little device.
This is a lighted 6x magnifier from Griots garage. I'd originally purchased it mainly for digging splinters out of my fingers (my other hobby is woodworking.) It turns out that it's absolutely wonderful for inspecting the camera sensor! The focal distance just makes it; you have to hold the lens right in front of the lens opening. But then the sensor snaps into view. The built in light illuminates the sensor and the dust particles really jump out at you. You can see *everything* -- specs, smudges, you name it. You get instant feedback which allows you to play around with different brushing and swabbing techniques until you get it right. You can blow, brush or swab, and know instantly how you are progressing. For me this was a huge breakthrough. I don't think I'll ever clean my sensor again without using it.
Here's a link to the item on Griots Garage's website.
Lighted Magnifier
I paid $29 for it a few months ago, but it looks like it's gone up to $39 now, which seems WAY too much for what it is. It's made by Eschenbach, a very good German brand. You can find other distributors who sell it as well as numerous other models. Any good lighted mirror will do as long as the focus distance is long enough so that it focuses on the sensor from outside the camera. The lighting is really the crucial part because it illuminates the dust particles like you won't believe. Besides, what's another $40 when you just spent $80 for a couple of little paint brushes. :giggle (BTW, the Sensor Brush from Copperhill is less than $20 and works great.)
Link to my Smugmug site
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
Let us know how you make out!
Link to my Smugmug site
That copperhill method stresses me out! I followed all the instructions on the site and with the included package. I went from dust all over, to dust on the bottom and right side of the image (not sure where that correlates to on the CCD
Then I decided to really get in there and look at it and swab it until I didn't see anything suspicious. I didn't pay attention to the back and forth recommendation, just swabbed wherever.
Finally, a result I can live with. Not 100% dust free, but certainly not anywhere close to what it was.
Anyhow, I need to go unwind!
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
Man, with all the stress this causes and how hard it is to get right, you'd think someone would offer a service: FEDEX the camera to them, get back in 2-3 days clean. What would you pay?
I know I would gladly pay someone to clean my sensor for me. I've read this thread several times; I've read everything at the Copperhill site as well and I still haven't ordered my kit nor have I ever cleaned my sensor for fear of ruining it.
Even my trusted camera store refuses to "wet" clean, they only offer to ship to Nikon (or Canon).
I've hoped that an experienced "cleaner" from dGrin might offer workshops.
Moderator of: Location, Location, Location , Mind Your Own Business & Other Cool Shots
I bet you'd take more care cleaning your sensor than some 12 year old in a camera place would..AND remember in that Movie with Anthony Hopkins called The Edge? he said when trying to trap maniacle Kodiak Bear who was tracking them.. "what one man can do... another man can do"... yep, use that all the time.. good policy that is.
Clean your own sensors.. be a man... step up to the plate..
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
Mike, if my local camera store would do it for $50, I'd be there.
a link
http://cleaningdigitalcameras.com/
Longitude: 145° 08'East
Canon 20d,EFS-60mm Macro,Canon 85mm/1.8. Pentax Spotmatic SP,Pentax Super Takumars 50/1.4 &135/3.5,Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumars 200/4 ,300/4,400/5.6,Sigma 600/8.
Just read most of the way through that. Great resource. It still doesn't quell my fears of giving the old silicon chippy a good rub & scrub. So far i've only blasted it with my large size Giottos Rocket Air bulb thingy.
Oh, and just a little fact from recent experience here with the Rocket Air... pet cats do not like their face being blasted clean with air. Not even if it made me laugh when I did it the one time. Cats just don't understand my sense of humor.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Had it been a bit smarter it could have easily been in on the joke...crossed its eyes & rolled on its back or just wriggled..but no...it wanted to be in control.
just picked up my canon 20d from its first clean and I have been told that some dust has found its way under the low pass filter covering the sensor,and that it will be a major job to remove it.
this sounds like a warranty claim.has anyone else had this problem?
Longitude: 145° 08'East
Canon 20d,EFS-60mm Macro,Canon 85mm/1.8. Pentax Spotmatic SP,Pentax Super Takumars 50/1.4 &135/3.5,Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumars 200/4 ,300/4,400/5.6,Sigma 600/8.
Moderator of: Location, Location, Location , Mind Your Own Business & Other Cool Shots
As soon as I came across the subject I checked my sensor which wasn't too bad but the mirror was infected and so too the screen thing above the mirror. I tried with 2 brushes that i bought from an art shop which worked well on the mirror but I can't get the other part clean.
Jessops inform me there is a place in the city that does the whole job for £25 while you wait. So I would rather take it there than fuss over buying more expensive extra's.
I open mine anywhere anytime to get a lens on (except when there is water in the air such as waterfalls/rain etc). I have 2 or 3 spots that can only be seen at F/double figs that i rarely use. I dont think its something that should be 'overdone'. We are talking about a VERY delicate device here.
So, I was blowing my sensor yesterday (perhaps a poor choice of words) in preparation to brush my sensor and/or swab it, and had a bit of an epiphany. Normally, what I do is stick the nozzle of the blower into the lens mount opening -- but not too far -- and pump away for a minute while aiming the nozzle at different areas. Suddenly it occured to me that there's a better way. You should squeeze the bulb, pull the nozzle well out of the camera, and then release. Reinsert, squeeze, and pull out and release again. The idea is that if you release the bulb pressure with the nozzle still in the camera, you stand a good chance of sucking dust into the bulb only to be deposited back onto the sensor when you blow it out again. Further more, air is actually being sucked from the room into the camera body when you release the bulb pressure! So really, there's a good chance you're just recycling the dust when you use a bulb in the camera, or maybe even making matters worse.
So I tried just inserting, blowing, pulling out and releasing, and repeated that process a dozen times or more. I inspected the lens with my lighted magnifier (everybody's got theirs, right?), and all the big specs were gone. Yeah, there were still several little specs, but I know from experience they're hardly visible. I put the lens back on, took a couple of f22 blue-sky test shots, and things looked good. Sure, If I do an autolevels, I can see the small specs. But without autolevels it's spotless, which I feel is good enough. No brushing or swabbing this time.
Now perhaps it's just coincidence, but that's the first time I've gotten acceptable results with just a bulb blower. Ya'll might want to give that a try some time. There might just be something to it, and it's a heck of a lot less stressful than brushing or swabbing.
Link to my Smugmug site
My Rocket Air blower's check valve is at the very bottom of the rocket (where the engine nozzle would be if it was a real rocket).
There's little to no chance that any particle could be sucked into the nose cone that is aimed into the mirror chamber and re-deposited onto the sensor since the check valve, if operating properly, shouldn't allow anything into the nose cone part at all.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Link to my Smugmug site
I have the largest of the three sizes of the Giottos rocket.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky