Ok here's the story... I bought Dust-Want kit from Dust-Aid after photo session where I found that there was some big spot on my f16+ pictures after having changed lenses in damp environment (bush/grass).
So I tried the product 5 times on my old Nikon D80 and it worked beautifully... then I decided to use it on my Nikon D800 and this is the result! I almost got nerveous break down after seeing a "whitish" smudge (scratch?) appear. I tried again and the whitish thing did change but didn't disappear so I decided to go to my local camera store to see what they say, they wanted to try to clean it. Won't get it until Tuesday.
I don't think so. I'm not familiar with that product, but it looks to me just like what I sometimes have gotten when I overdid it with fluid on the swab I used. The sensors (actually the filter in front) are a lot more durable than people give them credit for.
DOesn't look like a scratch to me. I never had good luck w/sensor swabs. Use the visible dust stuff imho. With eclipse of course. That sorta looks like what happens if you use a bit too much eclipse lol.
What I do is set up a vacuum with the hose near the camera, turn it on so it's sucking the dust away. Then blow the sensor off a few times with a rocket blower. Then wet clean, test. If still needs more, rinse, repeat, with a new cleaning pad on the "spatula" each time. I had a lot of awful oil splatters on my D800, it was just terrible. Never had anything like that in Canon camp. Reason the D800 was so inexpensive I think they cut a few corners lol. But, after a few months there aren't spots anymore (yay).
That looks more like a poor cleaning job IMO. Try it again with pec pads and eclipse wrapped around an appropriately sized/shaped plastic/rubber spatula. :-)
Yeah, that's about what my first sensor cleaning looked like. I use the pec pads/spatula/eclipse fluid method. It does look like some kind of oil and might need more than few swipes.
Ah, I feel better knowing that it seems to be much more likely that this was just poor cleaning job on my behalf than me scratching the sensor.
I felt like throwing up when I saw this on my screen hehe...
I had exactly the same with my D800E: oil being splashed on the sensor, I bought pre-wetted swabs with eclipse fluid followed instructions exactly and got the same results as you. Took it in to a local shop for cleaning and came back just as bad(!) got a refund and finally sent it to nikon.
You'll find (if you are brave) if you try cleaning it again that the 'marks' will be in a different place.
+1 ....... something to check out .. they have made different swabs for different cameras, so I ordered one size 1.0x for my D700 and the 1.6x for my D300s -- I seriously don't know if swab size really matters .. I'd just like to find some place unless I missed it on their site, to just order the swabs .. as I have tons of solvent now .........
I had already cleaned my D700, so last night I did my D300s ..... turned out beautifully after a couple of trys .. I pretty much used to much of the solvent initially on my swab, so after working with it to get the excess out of the swab so I could wipe the sensor without so much liquid, the results are very good !!
I HAVE HAD A SCRATCHED D700 sensor before ..... not pretty ....... $1800 covered by my State Farm policy ....... amazed they didn't give me a new camera, but I guess they figured it was $650 less than a new one at the time ... I guess the tipping point is when the repair is .01 cents more than new .......
falconbach wrote:
Mark, did Nikon clean it for you? If yes, was it as new?
Nikon did clean it in the end, it came back with a few bits of dust on it though which was disappointing but dust is a fact of life. Pretty sure if there had been any sensor damage they would have told me so I am not worried.
This is exactly the 'I have a cleaning kit and gonna use it' kind of thing, the smears are classic from using too much liquid. It is difficult to clean but a little moisture and clean pads will work eventually. It's a pain though....
I use the pec pads/spatula/eclipse fluid method. It does look like some kind of oil and might need more than few swipes.