Dirty Sensor

Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
I have some pretty crappy dirt on my sensor. I've cleaned it twice now recently (today at latest) using visible dust products. I've just ordered a different cleaning fluid as I have no idea what that big black mark actually is, and I've run out of fluid now anyway.

So.....if it doesn't come clean...do I get it professionally done or buy a new camera? My shutter count is 47375


017_7244_web.jpg
 
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Ironwood

Senior Member
Looks a bit spotty Vixen, you cant very well keep using it like that. Do you have a sensor loupe to have a good look at what that is ?

I have to regularly clean my sensor on my D7100, last year I bought one of those gel sticks from Camera House in Mackay, between the Rocket Blower and the gel stick I can keep it pretty good without wet cleaning anymore.
No one offers a cleaning service here in Mackay, I would have to send the camera to Brisbane, so have always done mine myself.
 
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480sparky

Senior Member
Vixen said:
........... I've just ordered a different cleaning fluid as I have no idea what that big black mark actually is, .........
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Are you using the proper fluid for dust? Visible Dust has different fluids for dust, oil etc.

Are you first using a Rocket Blower, then a sensor brush, before resorting to a wet cleaning?
 
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nickt

Senior Member
Are we talking about that black streak that looks like out of focus birds? Ahhhh, that looks terrible, I hope its not a scratch. You should be be able to easily see that with a bright light and a magnifier. If you don't have or want a sensor loupe, I prefer wearing a cheap pair of over-powered reading glasses for tiny work. Like +3.00 power. They sell them in the dollar stores around here.
 
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480sparky

Senior Member
Just remember the image is projected on the sensor is upside-down and reversed. So whatever it is, you'll need to look in the top right of the sensor.
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
Looks a bit spotty Vixen, you cant very well keep using it like that. Do you have a sensor loupe to have a good look at what that is ?

I have to regularly clean my sensor on my D7100, last year I bought one of those gel sticks from Camera House in Mackay, between the Rocket Blower and the gel stick I can keep it pretty good without wet cleaning anymore.
No one offers a cleaning service here in Mackay, I would have to send the camera to Brisbane, so have always done mine myself.
Click to expand...

Same here. Would have to go to Brisbane...at least for me it's only a 2hr drive
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
nickt said:
Are we talking about that black streak that looks like out of focus birds? Ahhhh, that looks terrible, I hope its not a scratch. You should be be able to easily see that with a bright light and a magnifier. If you don't have or want a sensor loupe, I prefer wearing a cheap pair of over-powered reading glasses for tiny work. Like +3.00 power. They sell them in the dollar stores around here.
Click to expand...

I hope it's not a scratch too, but if it is, it happened due to the camera not me...it just appeared one day. I'll go look under my magnifying light....... didn't think of doing that
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
480sparky said:
Are you using the proper fluid for dust? Visible Dust has different fluids for dust, oil etc.

Are you first using a Rocket Blower, then a sensor brush, before resorting to a wet cleaning?
Click to expand...

Rocket blower then wet cleaning. I don't have a loupe, but can look under my magnifying lamp to see if I can see anything. I was using smearaway fluid but have just ordered some VDust Plus which is supposed to do pretty well everything from what I can see.

That big black mark has been there thru 2 cleanings now. I can't see anything on the sensor so it may not even be on the sensor. It's not on my lenses (unless it is one every lens I own ;) )....so not sure where it is

Read more: https://nikonites.com/d7100/39619-dirty-sensor.html#ixzz4kyJ7TzQs
 
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Rick M

Senior Member
That is pretty significant, like a swipe from a cleaning brush was left to dry and I'm sure it wasn't. The spots above remind me of the D600 oil splatter issue, but the concentration is remarkable. The VD products worked great on the D600 oil issue. If a good scrubbing with the VD product doesn't work, I'd try professional cleaning. I have some left for oil stains I'd send you if you like, I no longer need to clean my sensors.
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
Rick M said:
That is pretty significant, like a swipe from a cleaning brush was left to dry and I'm sure it wasn't. The spots above remind me of the D600 oil splatter issue, but the concentration is remarkable. The VD products worked great on the D600 oil issue. If a good scrubbing with the VD product doesn't work, I'd try professional cleaning. I have some left for oil stains I'd send you if you like, I no longer need to clean my sensors.
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Thanks...I'm thinking maybe oil too. I looked at photos before this attempted clean and that black streak actually is worse now after cleaning, while the random spots are marginally better, but nothing remarkable, so I think not dust but either oil or salt ( I use my camera on the beach a lot), both of which are not easy to remove. My swab was definitely not dry and I did 4 passes, so it SHOULD have cleaned it
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
480sparky said:
Whatever it is, you shouldn't need any magnifiers to see it. I should stand out like a school bus.
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It isn't though, that's the worrying thing.
I'm just waiting on the new cleaning solution, which is probably a week away now. Meantime I'm off for a week on our boat. Hopefully we'll get good enough weather to get out of the marina to the islands. Been way too windy overnight for anchoring up out in the bay lately
 
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spb_stan

Senior Member
If you have a chemical supply house in the area just get a small bottle of Methanol, a very simple alcohol. That is the only ingredient in Eclipse sensor cleaner, saves you $25 or more. It is a very good solvent and dries without residue but as with most solvent, it is flammable so don't light a match around the open bottle. Any alcohol based solvent should not be left open at all because it absorbs moisture from the air which reduces its effectiveness in cleaning without streaks and increases evaporation time. Get reagent grade Methanol for greatest purity and lowest water content. It should be cheap.
Some contaminants will not be dissolved by alcohol but will be by distilled water. If you need to use distilled water apply is with the lightly moistened applicator and clean normally and then do it again using the alcohol only. Water is absorbed by the alcohol.

The dirt does not look like any normal dirt. Is this photo of the sensor itself or by the sensor? If it is on the sensor itself, it should be visible with the unaided eye.
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
spb_stan said:
If you have a chemical supply house in the area just get a small bottle of Methanol, a very simple alcohol. That is the only ingredient in Eclipse sensor cleaner, saves you $25 or more. It is a very good solvent and dries without residue but as with most solvent, it is flammable so don't light a match around the open bottle. Any alcohol based solvent should not be left open at all because it absorbs moisture from the air which reduces its effectiveness in cleaning without streaks and increases evaporation time. Get reagent grade Methanol for greatest purity and lowest water content. It should be cheap.
Some contaminants will not be dissolved by alcohol but will be by distilled water. If you need to use distilled water apply is with the lightly moistened applicator and clean normally and then do it again using the alcohol only. Water is absorbed by the alcohol.

The dirt does not look like any normal dirt. Is this photo of the sensor itself or by the sensor? If it is on the sensor itself, it should be visible with the unaided eye.
Click to expand...

I don't have a chemical supplier nearby. I DO have a bottle of ethanol in my cupboard tho. To be honest I've always bought & used sensor cleaner because I obviously don't want to ruin my sensor. I didn't know you could use water on it either, so thanks for that info.

I'm not quite sure what you are asking about the photo. It's a photo taken by my camera. Like I said, I cannot see anything on my sensor even with a magnifier but there are still spots on my photos, so obviously still dirt on the sensor and my eyesight can be pretty crappy at times sadly
 
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spb_stan

Senior Member
Ethanol is not a good substitute for the simpler molecule of Methanol, that evaporate much faster and cleaner since it is less hydroscopic. The surface of the sensor has a filter, not an AA filter, which works by shifting phase of the light passing through it to reducing aliasing by acting as a high Q low pass filter but a protective surface made of the same material as AA filters:LiNbO3 . It is pretty tough, just a little softer than class with a hardness rating of 5Moh (about the same as tooth enamel) and normal window glass is about 5.5Moh. Not many things that are airborne are harder except blowing silica sand which is much harder (7Moh or about 4 times harder than glass) and can scratch the filter surface. With careful cleaning, it is pretty hard to scratch the sensor but it helps to use a new clean swab with each usable because if it sits around you never know what particles stuck to the swab. Probably the most common source of scratches befalls photographers shooting surfing competition...blowing sand,wind and moisture.
Water will not hurt the surface of the sensor but it could easily get into the electrical connections under the sensor so use of water should be limited to damp, not dripping wet swabs. Unless it is filtered distilled water there is a possibility of leaving water marks (mostly salts) so it is best to clean with alcohol before the water fully evaporates.
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
spb_stan said:
Ethanol is not a good substitute for the simpler molecule of Methanol, that evaporate much faster and cleaner since it is less hydroscopic. The surface of the sensor has a filter, not an AA filter, which works by shifting phase of the light passing through it to reducing aliasing by acting as a high Q low pass filter but a protective surface made of the same material as AA filters:LiNbO3 . It is pretty tough, just a little softer than class with a hardness rating of 5Moh (about the same as tooth enamel) and normal window glass is about 5.5Moh. Not many things that are airborne are harder except blowing silica sand which is much harder (7Moh or about 4 times harder than glass) and can scratch the filter surface. With careful cleaning, it is pretty hard to scratch the sensor but it helps to use a new clean swab with each usable because if it sits around you never know what particles stuck to the swab. Probably the most common source of scratches befalls photographers shooting surfing competition...blowing sand,wind and moisture.
Water will not hurt the surface of the sensor but it could easily get into the electrical connections under the sensor so use of water should be limited to damp, not dripping wet swabs. Unless it is filtered distilled water there is a possibility of leaving water marks (mostly salts) so it is best to clean with alcohol before the water fully evaporates.
Click to expand...

Thankyou Stan. That is a very good explanation of why and what and very useful. I DO use my camera on the beach a LOT and while I try to be very careful there are often stray grains of sand in my lens mounts etc so totally possible one has gotten inside. I DO blow the processor pretty well before I use a swab and i DO use a clean swab every time and I DO blow that swab to remove any loose fibres etc before using it...so I think I am doing things rightly. I have found salt spray can be quite hard to remove from my lenses, so if any has managed to get into the camera onto the processor I imagine it would be just as hard to remove ( I've found water to be the best thing for it on lenses).

I figure I just try it again when my new solution arrives, and maybe I will try to source some methanol for future use also. If that black streak remains tho I have no idea. Maybe time for a new camera. It's a good excuse anyway :D
 
Vixen

Vixen

Senior Member
Sooooooo.............new sensor cleaner did not work. Made it worse in fact. Think I'll try alcohol next although it may be some time until I can get some
 
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spb_stan

Senior Member
When you say it made it worse, in what way? Did it smear or grow in the direction of your swab movement? Or did it grow in all directions? If it streaked in the direction of swab movement, that is a pretty good sign it is just stubborn viscous contamination but it just expanded in size without showing signs of smearing, it could be surface damage.
 
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