Okay, this is just a question "what do I do now"...
The thing is that trying to clean the CMOS sensor in my 10D I used a blower that happend to be moist inside. I stead of blowing away 2 dust grains I covered the sensor with droplets!! I know is was stupid - no need to tell me that - the question is if the sensor is dead? Can it be cleaned? will it be changed? is it very very expensive
That is really a bummer. Time to take it in I would say. Even if no damage done, might be beneficial to clean up the water spots.
I have read many posts about self cleaning of the senser but a guy I know in the local enthusiast camera store recommends that you don't do this yourself, even just using a small blower. Feels that most of the contaminants are microscopic anyway so better to wait until you can truly see the effects in pictures and then pay $40 or whatever to have it professionally cleaned.
I have had my 10D since last July and haven't thought about cleaning it.
Guess it's a little late now, but one thing I do before I use my blower is to give it a couple of squeezes pointed toward the palm or back of my hand to make sure there is no moisture in it.
Brian, I had this problem on my 1Ds sensor and so I then used a bit more liberal applicaton on the swab of the Eclipse fluid, and the spots came off. It took two applications very carefully, but I think the spots will come off. Try it, you have little to lose if it is badly spotted.
I also has spots and a lot of dust on my sensor. I used the Sensor Swab and instructions on the web site listed in photodood's post. It is easy to do, and pretty cheap too. Here is a before and after shot after the first attempt at cleaning. There were a couple of stubborn spots, but I got those off with a second cleaning.Give it a try, but follow the instructions!
Brian - I would urge you to try the Sensor Swabs that toerek mentions. I cleaned my 10D sensor with them for the first time yesterday and was amazed at the results. By all means give it a try! It was kind of scary at first but the results were very much worth it! Good luck!
If you're following the method above, but have cut up a credit card instead of using a rubber thingie, you might also want to use a microfibre cloth instead of lens tissue as it provides more of a buffer against the "jaggies" that might cut through the tissue. I've found the Canon banded cloth to be very useful for this, as the cloth is very fine and leaves no streaks.
The Sensor Swabs by Photographic Solutions are the perfect size for
the 10D sensor. When I had some tough spots caused by condensation,
the combination of the Sensor Swabs and the Eclipse solution worked well.
Spots created by moisture, however, make take 3 or 4 tries of cleaning before
they are removed, but, eventually, it will work.
I did just about the same thing with my sensor. I had a few dust specs on the sensor and THOUGHT, that a light puff of air would blow it off. Guess what... I ended up with a few small spots of saliva on the sensor. I was just sick about. I bought the Sensor swabs and Eclipse cleaning solution from Photographics Solutions (photosol.com). I applied the solution on the Sensor swab and cleaned VERY GINGERLY, and it started to get better. I then applied a little more fluid and a little more pressure, and VOILA, the spots were gone. Boy was I EVER relieved. Make sure you get those two combinations to clean your sesnor (The Photsolution Sensor Swabs and Eclipse solution, not air and saliva). That should take care of it. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE THE TWO BEFORE DOING THE PROCEDURE!
I don't think you need to worry too much. I had similar experience like Ron and left saliva marks on the sensor (actually, it is not the sensor you clean but the AA filter in front of sensor and the surface seems pretty tough). Anyway I was sweating after I did that, and I knew I made a really stupid mistake. I got the Pecpad and Eclipse fluid from the local photo store, the sales person was trying to scare me away from the inexpensive stuff I needed and trying to sell me those expensive sensor swabs. I can tell you that you don't need sensor swabs, it's way too expensive ($4.00 each). It took me a few applications to get those spots completely, and I still have Pecpad and Eclipse that can last me a long long time... Hope this helps to ease your anxiety. Just make sure your battery has plenty juice to have the mirror staying out of the way. Read the manual on cleaning.
I was cleaning the sensor this afternoon. After cleaning the sensor, the first picture I took was clean and fine, but with subsequent flips of the mirror, more grungy pieces started appearing, both on the sensor and on the mirror+prism. Is there are way to get rid of all the dirt in the mirror box?
