Sensor cleaning

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Geoffc

Senior Member
I'm not someone who gets too hung up on dust on the sensor as most of my pictures visit Photoshop/Lightroom and it's very easy to remove them, however I think my D800 is now due for another clean. I have cleaned it before using a Rocket Blower and Visible Dust swabs / fluid which are OK. As I now need to buy more swabs I just wondered what other people are using as they're not cheap. The annoying thing is that I have FX and DX bodies which means different swab sizes and double the cost.
 
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Silven

Senior Member
Geoff I use the Sensor Scope kit. Made by Delkin Devices. It comes with the special denatured alcohol and lots of assorted swabs in all sizes. Also a vacuum and a magnified LED lit scope light. Makes cleaning it super easy. I was deathly nervous the first time I used it and it was all for naught. It worked beautifully and everything went smooth. I bleeping hate spots on my pictures!! CS6 or not it's just a pet peeve of mine.
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Silven said:
Geoff I use the Sensor Scope kit. Made by Delkin Devices. It comes with the special denatured alcohol and lots of assorted swabs in all sizes. Also a vacuum and a magnified LED lit scope light. Makes cleaning it super easy. I was deathly nervous the first time I used it and it was all for naught. It worked beautifully and everything went smooth. I bleeping hate spots on my pictures!! CS6 or not it's just a pet peeve of mine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I've actually ordered the visible dust stuff now but will look at this next time.


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papa2jaja

Senior Member
I also have a D600 and hence quite a bit of experience cleaning the sensor. I've tried different swabs (and liquids), for me the VisibleDust Swabs worked best.
 
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Debashish Banerjee

New member
Hi everyone,

i recently bought a D800E. I was very happy with the results which i was getting until recently i started getting lots of black spots
and sparkling color spots ont he images when zoomed at 100%. Now, all over the internet D800E has been penalised or listed as it may produce
moiring (i am not sure of spelling) and false color due to the the filter thing. However, i havent noticed any of these things.

Now, those spots i am getting concerned me as they increased day by day specially during the longer exposures
ranging anywhere between 25 secs and 3 mins ...ofcoarse any longer than this is also producing more spots in the images.
Also i noticed Nikon has given me a poor CF card slot, which is fragile and damaged straight out of the box, the dealer and service people
arent changing it for free an d charging me money for its changing, saying it doesn't come under warranty.

I gave my sensor for cleaning today and i am expecting a better result as their technicnian confirmed me the spots are purely because of the dust on sensor.



Is there any way i can get my model replaced ? any idea?
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Debashish Banerjee said:
Hi everyone,

i recently bought a D800E. I was very happy with the results which i was getting until recently i started getting lots of black spots
and sparkling color spots ont he images when zoomed at 100%. Now, all over the internet D800E has been penalised or listed as it may produce
moiring (i am not sure of spelling) and false color due to the the filter thing. However, i havent noticed any of these things.

Now, those spots i am getting concerned me as they increased day by day specially during the longer exposures
ranging anywhere between 25 secs and 3 mins ...ofcoarse any longer than this is also producing more spots in the images.
Also i noticed Nikon has given me a poor CF card slot, which is fragile and damaged straight out of the box, the dealer and service people
arent changing it for free an d charging me money for its changing, saying it doesn't come under warranty.

I gave my sensor for cleaning today and i am expecting a better result as their technicnian confirmed me the spots are purely because of the dust on sensor.



Is there any way i can get my model replaced ? any idea?
Click to expand...
My D800E gets dust on its sensor from time to time and I clean it. If you force the CF card in the CF slot it will damage it, you do not explain what damage was done to it.
 
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Debasish banerjee

New member
Cf card when inserted reads Err. First when I took it to the Nikon dealer he said that the card is not supported. TYPE 1 card is supported and sold me a 8 GB cf SanDisk. But that also showed same error. Then I took to nikon people. They inspected and said the pins are damaged.

Now either the dealer did it or it came faulty. But I am at poor man's position

Sent from my SM-N900 using Tapatalk
 
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Debasish banerjee

New member
Regarding the spots, I learnt that sensors tends to overheat and cause hot pixels. But I don't know whether it is of any concern when it comes to printing the images in larger sizes...

Can you explain to me about it ?

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aroy

Senior Member
Most of the sensors overheat in hot climate. In fact the recommended upper limit for ambient temperature is 40 degrees centigrade (page 350 of D3300 manual, check you manual under Technical Notes), and 85% humidity. Thus in hot and humid climate like India, especially the Southern Region in general and the Northern Region in summers, the camera is operating well beyond recommended specifications.

With long exposures, the sensor heat builds up, and in hot Indian summers may damage it self. The only recourse is to cool the sensor some how. For long exposures on tripods here is what can be done to cool the camera
. A fan to blow air across the camera - basic cooling
. A fan blowing through a peltier cooler - best as now you are blowing cold air
. A fan blowing across a bag of ice - same as above, but requires no power

As the camera is weather sealed, any air blown will not get inside to cool the electronics, so you have to cool the camera casing. In case the rear LCD is on during long exposures, it will not only eat up batteries, but also heat up. So cooling the LCD will help.
 
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aroy

Senior Member
Regarding CF card.

You have to be extremely careful while inserting the cards. Any way now that the contacts are bent, live with it till your camera goes for any other repair. At least you have an SD card to fall back on.

In order to prevent such failures, I usually never take the card out, but use the USB to transfer the images to computer. USB2 is reasonable fast, takes about 5 minutes to transfer 16GB data. But D800/E has USB3, which should be at least six times faster.

If you are in India, then monitor the major e-retailers : Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal. You will get excellent deals for 32GB SDXC Sandisk cards. As I do not need very fast speed I got 45mbps 32GB card for around Rs.2,600/. 95mbps card is about twice as expensive. Current prices
SanDisk SDHC 32 GB Class 10 - SanDisk: Flipkart.com
SanDisk SDXC 32 GB Class 10 - SanDisk: Flipkart.com
Sandisk Extreme HD Video SDHC 32 GB 45MB/s Class 10 Memory Card for Camera - Buy @ Best Price in India | Snapdeal.com
Amazon.in: Buy Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I 32GB Class 10 Memory Card Online at Low Prices in India | SanDisk Reviews & Ratings
Amazon.in: Buy Sandisk Extreme 32GB CompactFlash Memory Card Online at Low Prices in India | SanDisk Reviews & Ratings

CF cards are more than twice the cost of SD cards. I have yet to figure out why. (May be they are used in pro cameras and are sturdier in build). That is why my personal preference is for a body with two SD cards, instead of one SD and one CF.
 
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Debasish banerjee

New member
Thanks Mr aRoy. For your super insight on the subject. I just got my d800e cf slot fixed by Nikon people. They charged me Rs3833 including spot cleaning from sensor and related minor cleanings.
I hope to have a better output now

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Debashish Banerjee

New member
aroy said:
That is what the forum is for Debasish. By the way where are based?
Click to expand...

SIr, i am based in kolkata. The nikon people before delivery also told me one interesting fact that the interior of the camera had been inspected to have found water laden moisture. They told pretty strongly to me that it must have come in contact of water for this thing. Also , a leak of battery was noticed as some sulphur kind of rust was found near the battery compartment. I was shocked.

I know the body is weather sealed and of coarse i am not a mad person to submerge my machine in a bucket of water ... nikon people told me that ti could be most likely from sweat. now thats something weird and i didn't argue further.

I will test out the machine tonight again with long exposures to see if any thing improvement has been done.
 
A

aroy

Senior Member
Debashish Banerjee said:
SIr, i am based in kolkata. The nikon people before delivery also told me one interesting fact that the interior of the camera had been inspected to have found water laden moisture. They told pretty strongly to me that it must have come in contact of water for this thing. Also , a leak of battery was noticed as some sulphur kind of rust was found near the battery compartment. I was shocked.

I know the body is weather sealed and of coarse i am not a mad person to submerge my machine in a bucket of water ... nikon people told me that ti could be most likely from sweat. now thats something weird and i didn't argue further.

I will test out the machine tonight again with long exposures to see if any thing improvement has been done.
Click to expand...

Seems that you have been passed off a body used/misused by some one. That is why I either buy from a trusted Nikon Dealer or from the Internet.

Any way now that is past. Enjoy your camera.
 
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crycocyon

Senior Member
When did you get the camera, and is there a return policy? Is it an authorized Nikon dealer? If it is then they are required to take it back under warranty. That kind of thing is inexcusable.
 
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Debasish banerjee

New member
It's from a camera store they say that they are authorised dealer. I have warranty too.

But there is no return policy on the device they said. Nikon india and US policies vary in some terms and conditions they said.

I don't know... i just want my lovely Cam to work fully

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