Bad idea?

Glenn P

Folks,

Nikon D70s - I have some dust on my sensor that shows up even down around F 5.6 - 8. Not too long ago I sent it off to Nikon for a cleaning that came along with my warranty, but it took 3 weeks. Don't want to be without it for 3 weeks again. Most of the people I talk too say don't use a blower I'll probably just make it worse, although using a blower seems less dangerous than using swabs to clean it. But I sorta figure I'm going to have to have it cleaned one way or another, so maybe a blower will get it and maybe it won't. What cleaning advice do you guys have.

Thanks,

Glenn

Moogle Pepper

Use a rocket blower first, if it doesn't do the trick or the dust is that thick, get a copperhill cleaning kit! It looks scary to do, but it is really easy! You just have to follow the directions really close and then it's clean!

SloYerRoll

+1 Copperhil Method.

Initially, it's scary as hell. But if you take your time, you'll find that it's very simple and much cheaper faster than any services offered.

Art Scott

SloYerRoll wrote:

+1 Copperhil Method.

Initially, it's scary as hell. But if you take your time, you'll find that it's very simple and much cheaper faster than any services offered.

++1......I think I intially got everything out and ready to go, got my mirror locked up (in clean sensor mode from menu) and then sat there looking at q-tips, swabs and liquid for almost an hour and then noticed that the copperhill method requires you to participate by doing the dripping of cleaner on the swabs and the cleaning it self ....... so it wasn't happen'en by it self and I had read and re-read the instructions at least a dozen times.....I just dove in and it was as easy as chang'in oil in most cars and a lot less dirty...:D

I actually cleaned my sensors twice....allowing them to completely dry first just to make sure I understood how to do it.......or maybe it was to make sure "I" didn't miss ny fluff bunnies in there.........:D

Glenn P

Art Scott wrote:

++1......I think I intially got everything out and ready to go, got my mirror locked up (in clean sensor mode from menu) and then sat there looking at q-tips, swabs and liquid for almost an hour and then noticed that the copperhill method requires you to participate by doing the dripping of cleaner on the swabs and the cleaning it self ....... so it wasn't happen'en by it self and I had read and re-read the instructions at least a dozen times.....I just dove in and it was as easy as chang'in oil in most cars and a lot less dirty...:D

I actually cleaned my sensors twice....allowing them to completely dry first just to make sure I understood how to do it.......or maybe it was to make sure "I" didn't miss ny fluff bunnies in there.........:D

I guess I just need to make sure the camera battery is fully charged so there is no potential power failure while I have the mirror up and I'm cleaning it?

Thanks again.

Glenn

SloYerRoll

Glenn P wrote:

I guess I just need to make sure the camera battery is fully charged so there is no potential power failure while I have the mirror up and I'm cleaning it?

Thanks again.

Glenn

Ya, you want to make sure your battery is charged, But ppl WAY overreact to not having a fully charged battery. All the battery is doing is providing juice to the mirror servo (not allot of juice draw on that).

Just make sure your batter is at 3/4 or higher before you do this. I normally clean my sensor after a long day of shooting and my second battery is around 1/4 power and I have no problems doing this.

EphTwoEight

There's plenty of "how-to's" on the Copper Hill cleaning kit on You-Tube. Its easy.

Scott_Quier

+1 on the Copperhill method. And, yeah, the first time is a little scary. Here's a write up I did a couple of years ago (link). Since then, I think I've probably cleaned the sensors on my cameras about a dozen times. I used to do it before every major gig, but discovered that I don't usually stop down below f/8 so now I just test at f/11 and if I don't see anything, all's good. Oh, and I taught my brother how to do this and he's not had any problems either.

claudermilk

Echo. Copperhill is an excellent system & it is scary the first time.

I use a three-stage method; first the blower, if that doesn't do it, then the static-charged brush. If it's still dirty, then I finally go to the wet swab. I've only had to run through all three a couple of times--and my 20D is going on 4 years (?) old now.

Scott_Quier

claudermilk wrote:

Echo. Copperhill is an excellent system & it is scary the first time.

I use a three-stage method; first the blower, if that doesn't do it, then the static-charged brush. If it's still dirty, then I finally go to the wet swab. I've only had to run through all three a couple of times--and my 20D is going on 4 years (?) old now.

I've tried this and have always needed to do the wet step. So, anymore, if I test and find dust-bunnies, I just skip the first two steps - saves time in the long run.

But, my need to always do the wet thing may be a function of where I'm swapping my lenses. Some of this is in client homes while they are getting ready for a wedding and there may be things like perfume, hair spray, etc in the air - though I'm not in those rooms when I'm swapping the lens, but stuff does travel around.

I also tend to need to swap lenses outdoors, sometimes when the wind is blowing. You do what you have to do to get the shot. And cleaning the sensor, for me, is no longer a cause for concern - just a fact of using current DSLRs and the incorporated technology.

Glenn P

Scott_Quier wrote:

I've tried this and have always needed to do the wet step. So, anymore, if I test and find dust-bunnies, I just skip the first two steps - saves time in the long run.

But, my need to always do the wet thing may be a function of where I'm swapping my lenses. Some of this is in client homes while they are getting ready for a wedding and there may be things like perfume, hair spray, etc in the air - though I'm not in those rooms when I'm swapping the lens, but stuff does travel around.

I also tend to need to swap lenses outdoors, sometimes when the wind is blowing. You do what you have to do to get the shot. And cleaning the sensor, for me, is no longer a cause for concern - just a fact of using current DSLRs and the incorporated technology.

All good points, if it wasn't showing up in my images at F8 or 11 I'd just leave it be but I was shooting at around F5 and the first time I noticed, it was so dark I thought a couple of birds had flown into the frame undetected. Will give the Copperhill method a try.

claudermilk

Hey, whatever works, right? I'm fortunate regarding sensor cleaning in that I'm mostly at f2.8 or so, so I get to ignore dust bunnies longer than most of you.

SloYerRoll

claudermilk wrote:

Hey, whatever works, right? I'm fortunate regarding sensor cleaning in that I'm mostly at f2.8 or so, so I get to ignore dust bunnies longer than most of you.

One thing to watch out for..
The longer particles sit on your sensor. The more stubborn they become to remove.

But no need in fixing it if it isn't broken.

Moogle Pepper

Also if you go copperhill, you might get a free bag of M and Ms!

Glenn P

Moogle Pepper wrote:

Also if you go copperhill, you might get a free bag of M and Ms!

Went the Copperhill route and I didn't get a free bag of M & M's, but I did get a slinky. I'd prefer M & M's but a slinky is cool too. Oh yea, the job was so easy it was ridiculous.

Glenn