two more cleanings and it's worse. I gotta believe you need a semi-clean-room environment for this to work. I'm also seeing lots of fibers. No more copperhill.
jzucker wrote:
two more cleanings and it's worse. I gotta believe you need a semi-clean-room environment for this to work. I'm also seeing lots of fibers. No more copperhill.
Sounds like you're using too much fluid. One or two drops is enough.
I clean my sensor in a small room with all the doors closed, the vents shut, and the fan off. I also wear a facemask--I sneezed into the mirror box once, and if you think cleaning dust is hard...
obik wrote:
I also wear a facemask--I sneezed into the mirror box once, and if you think cleaning dust is hard...
Real sensor boogers Awesome!
OP, if you drag the pad along the sides of the mirror box, it will pull fibers loose, too. I am glad to meet someone that has worse luck fixing things than me (my troubles usually involve adapters and lenses, tho).
obik wrote:
Sounds like you're using too much fluid. One or two drops is enough.
I clean my sensor in a small room with all the doors closed, the vents shut, and the fan off. I also wear a facemask--I sneezed into the mirror box once, and if you think cleaning dust is hard...
I cleaned it 2 more times since I posted the above. I've actually got it in much better shape except for a grease smear that is at the bottom right now.
I'm using exactly 2 drops so I should be ok. One thing that is disconcerting is that the copper hill pec strips are barely wide enough to cover the swab. It comes with rubber bands but they don't really fit. The whole thing has the feel of a home-baked solution which it obviously is. With the rubber bands, I'm worried that the pad will slip and I'll end up scraping the plastic swipe on the sensor filter.
I wish I could target just the grease spot now. I'm afraid I'll end up contaminating the rest of the sensor when I'm cleaning the grease spot off.
I assume the bottom right in the picture would be the upper left of the sensor when I'm looking in the box?
shutterbug gave it good reviews. Looks like it'd be handy for lenses too. Not sure if it pushes too much air for a sensor but the shutterbug reviewer used it for cleaning his nikon sensor.
jzucker wrote:
I literally have 20-30 spots now. Healing brush works part of the time but trying to do focus stacking particularly after cleaning with copperhill is a disaster. My images now have 20-30 worms going through them. No way to clean that stuff up in post processing unless you want to spend hours on every image.
Unfortunately, I got "worm" at very first time, but after got 2 or 3 "worms", I realized that I moved Circle too far and copy not the same "tissue".Now 2 clicks ( about 1-2 sec) for 1 dust spot in bright sky or white area in others parts I let dusts contribute to the Pic patterns.
jzucker wrote:
I wish I could target just the grease spot now. I'm afraid I'll end up contaminating the rest of the sensor when I'm cleaning the grease spot off.
That's always the way it is. You get the sensor clean except for one stubborn spec and you agonize over whether you should try to get it and risk crumbing up the sensor again, or just live with it.
shutterbug gave it good reviews. Looks like it'd be handy for lenses too. Not sure if it pushes too much air for a sensor but the shutterbug reviewer used it for cleaning his nikon sensor.
I can't see how that would be an improvement over:
mco_970 wrote:
I almost always sweep mine with the air-charged brush as the final step to grab any bits of fiber or whatever... Definitely want to stay out of the oily gunk!
I do this too. Once you have loosened any stuck dust bunnies, further wet cleaning just pushes the dust about. On secondary wet cleanings, try just a single wipe, so as not to reintroduce more dust.
If the dust is just laying loose on the sensor, the charged hmethod as described by mco works well. Here is a sensible, detailed description of the entire home brew process: http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/How_to/a_Brush_Your_Sensor/a_Brush_Your_Sensor.html?page=4
This charged brush method is essentially what the "visible dust" products are about.
Mike K
First you do not need a clean room. You don't even need a very clean environment! You could probably do this in the garden or on most patios without a problem. If you're getting more dust as you're doing this then likely one of three things are happening:
1) there is a lot of particulate matter around the perimeters of the sensor and you're pulling that out and smearing it around the sensor surface.
2) the tools you're using are adding dust and particulates. ($ensor $wabs from a lame company?)
3) your body, hair, or cloths is shedding. I've read some studies which claim that the vast majority of small particle dust around a work area (like a desk) is debris that sheds off our bodies. I thought it was strange that someone would study dust but using a microscope over the years and now having recently cleaned many many camera lenses I find this finding to be true.
If #1 just keep on cleaning it! (remember not to put pressure!) And I would concentrate on the edge areas.
For #2 - use lens tish or Kimwipes, and Q-tips... not sensor swabs or some other gimmicky hoku$-poku$! Wrap the tissue around the other end of the q-tip you use to wet-clean with so there's no time between applying the liquid and removing it.
For #3 just take a shower. Maybe wear a hat. I use a fan that blows across my work area - keeps even very dirty environments and me from adding dust to the lens or sensor.
Manufacturer's In-House Sensor Cleaning Methods:
Only Kodak, Leica and Fuji support the consumer in using the same method that they themselves use for cleaning the low pass filter. All the others manufacturers only support the non-physical contact use of a hand blower. If Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax or Sigma, can tell that you have touched the low pass filter, your warranty is void. On the other hand, Photographic Solutions Inc., guarantees that you won't damage your camera, if you use their Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™.
Canon - Blower and a Kimwipe, held by tweezers. They do not like to use fluid but when necessary they use either 90% isopropyl alcohol or a 50/50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol and Windex.
Fuji - Photographic Solutions Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™
Kodak - Photographic Solutions Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™
Leica - Photographic Solutions Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™
Nikon - A commercial grade lens tissue wrapped around a chopstick style piece of wood with medical grade methanol. Several forums have posts where readers have been to Nikon Service outside the USA and reported seeing the technicians using Sensors Swabs and Eclipse.
Olympus - A Kimwipe held by tweezers and Olympus Proprietary Solution (dries quickly without streaks and is bio-degradable).
Pentax - A special lint free cloth (provided from Japan) folded into a small square and held with a pair of tweezers as a swab moistened with a freon derivative.
Sigma - Uses a special vacuum cleaner that was provided by Japan.
Sony - Uses Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™ by Photographic Solutions.
* As for the "Not guaranteed" statement, this is only meant to emphasize that other products of the same type do offer a guarantee and that these don't.
- Source: http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/methods.html
jzucker wrote:
I cleaned it 2 more times since I posted the above. I've actually got it in much better shape except for a grease smear that is at the bottom right now.
I'm using exactly 2 drops so I should be ok. One thing that is disconcerting is that the copper hill pec strips are barely wide enough to cover the swab. It comes with rubber bands but they don't really fit. The whole thing has the feel of a home-baked solution which it obviously is. With the rubber bands, I'm worried that the pad will slip and I'll end up scraping the plastic swipe on the sensor filter.
I wish I could target just the grease spot now. I'm afraid I'll end up contaminating the rest of the sensor when I'm cleaning the grease spot off.
I assume the bottom right in the picture would be the upper left of the sensor when I'm looking in the box?
Naw, you probably don't need a loupe. Do you have a wide angle prime? Look through it (reversed). If you do get a loupe keep in mind that you can get a dual loupe (60x and 30x) with dual LEDs for about $5 to $10 new from e-pay.
jzucker wrote:
by the way michelle, at least the fibers seem to blow out.
shutterbug gave it good reviews. Looks like it'd be handy for lenses too. Not sure if it pushes too much air for a sensor but the shutterbug reviewer used it for cleaning his nikon sensor.
Oh my goodness no, don't use that thing! Use a standard blower and if you wanna get fancy then maybe get an ionizing air-stream blower. I wouldn't use anything with fan blades - scroll type or other.
jzucker wrote:
I'm using exactly 2 drops so I should be ok. One thing that is disconcerting is that the copper hill pec strips are barely wide enough to cover the swab. It comes with rubber bands but they don't really fit. The whole thing has the feel of a home-baked solution which it obviously is. With the rubber bands, I'm worried that the pad will slip and I'll end up scraping the plastic swipe on the sensor filter.
I use the Copper Hill kit and it works fine for me. If you're concerned that the PEC strips are not wide enough, buy a package of them (4x4 inch squares I believe?) and cut them to the right size.
I agree that the solution with the rubber bands is clunky, but in the end I get my sensor clean with this kit while saving tons of money on sensor swabs (used to have the expensive ones from VisibleDust -- no way I'm wasting money on them again).
By the way, the cleanest room in your house probably is your shower. If the place steams up pretty good, the water vapor will catch most of the dust particles, so a few minutes after you've used the shower the air should be very clean.
Well, today I tried to clean my D7000 sensor. Actually, I haven't realized how limited is the internal cleaning system. I thought the internal cleaning system was flawless and didn't ask the seller to check the sensor. So I bought one used off the FM and the sensor was very dirty. Was kinda pissed since I had to buy the kit to clean it.
Anyways, the procedure is simple and after every single clean, the new spots appeared in different position which is very weird. So I used all 4 swabs and big spots are gone now, but there are still a few left.
obik wrote:
I would only use distilled water (not filtered, and not tap) and pure methanol (i.e. Eclipse). Tap water leaves a residue, as does the rubbing alcohol you can buy at the grocery store--I use 99% and 91% isopropyl (depending on what they had at the store) to clean the glass plates I shoot on sometimes, and it leaves a visible streaks, no matter how careful you are.
I just buy a 50% water and 50% isopropyl alcohol premixed from a drug store. Any visible streaks simply disappear when I buff the sensor with a dry Q-tip.
I have used this method for years on many different bodies and have had no problems. It is not much different from cleaning windows.
Even expensive sensor swipes can cause scratches too. I think I created a little trail of scratches on my 5D's sensor when I was cleaning my sensor once. It may have been caused by some plastic bits that came off the packing material around the individual swabs... (and perhaps me applying too much pressure)
You guys, mustbe more reluctant before rub anything if you know about the sensor's anatomy.The
least is abrasive effects, then filters cracks, then micro loupe plate crack then the sensor itself - along those the liquid can penetrate between above listed layers and destroy chemically.
@contas: What makes you say that? Have you broken a sensor yourself or do you know anyone who broke one when cleaning it?
Anyway, the words "too much pressure" are very relative. Apparently it was enough in my case to create some scratches, probably because there was some plastic debris on the swab.
Yeah, any applied pressure is too much. About the weight of a q-tip (for that much contact area) is all ya want. It's another reason I don't like swabs; they're wide and the weight is greater, and not distributed evenly. So the entire weight of them resting an a little chunk (very tiny contact area) of junk can scratch when dragged.
Bifurcator wrote:
Yeah, any applied pressure is too much. About the weight of a q-tip (for that much contact area) is all ya want. It's another reason I don't like swabs; they're wide and the weight is greater, and not distributed evenly. So the entire weight of them resting an a little chunk (very tiny contact area) of junk can scratch when dragged.
+1
@Ahamb: let try rub very gently your CORNEA by contact lens, I think that you'll understand how dangerous by apply on the sensor.
You may have gotten lubricant up on the "sensor" (actually a cover) with your aggressive blower technique, then shifted it around in cleaning. I did something similar to a 1D2 sensor that had been supposedly cleaned by an outside party. I sent it to Canon to have it thoroughly cleaned, and needed to re-send to Canon when it wasn't 100% perfect. Now it is great.
Send it in to Canon and get it cleaned, then you can start fresh and maintain it.
I've never personally cleaned a sensor, only used Rocket Air to remove dust between cleanings. If you are careful, you can clean yourself. But if I send to Canon and they scratch it, they will replace the sensor/cover -- no worries.
Real sensor boogers 
I use a fan that blows across my work area - keeps even very dirty environments and me from adding dust to the lens or sensor.