Do you clean your camera sensors yourself?

pforsell

Senior Member
Do you recommend cleaning your own camera sensors and if you do what do you recommend using?

I clean all the sensors of my cameras before every shoot, or at least weekly. My way is the traditional wet clean.

I've been using a Rocket air blower + Eclipse + PecPad + Sensorswab since time immemorial. I tend to remember the first few times with D1H and D1X way back when were a bit slow, but I've developed my skill quite a bit since then. Nowadays I clean a sensor in 1-2 minutes - and get spick & span every time.

I clean 2-3 bodies at least weekly, so during the years I've done it at least 4000 times. :)
 

Texas

Senior Member
Wet clean with a looky loupe. But it is only required very rarely, two times a year, three tops. Don't do it if there is no reason to. I'm a 6 lens, 20,000 clicks per year shooter.

So far I've resisted going to the sticky swab deal since the eclipse fluid works well for me.
 
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grandpaw

Senior Member
Lots of helpful information. Is there a difference between cleaning my D500 without a filter over the sensor compared to my D600 that has a filter over the sensor. Am I OK to do both of them and are they done differently?
 

Mark F

Senior Member
Do you recommend cleaning your own camera sensors and if you do what do you recommend using?

Ive been using the Sensor Gel Stick with good results for a long time. Once in a while it requires using a sensor swab and wet cleaning. When I had the D600, it required Nikon to clean and replace :) several times. Sensor Gel Stick does a really good job with dust. Anything else like pollen, oil, needs a wet cleaning.
 

pforsell

Senior Member
Lots of helpful information. Is there a difference between cleaning my D500 without a filter over the sensor compared to my D600 that has a filter over the sensor. Am I OK to do both of them and are they done differently?

No difference. Both sensors have a relatively thick sandwich of filters on top of the silicon chip, at least the bayer matrix, microlens array, ultraviolet filter and infrared filter. The D600 also has the anti-alias filter somewhere in the stack, but usually it is the infrared filter that is the topmost one.

There's really nothing to cleaning a sensor. Whichever method or methods you choose, see a tutorial video in Youtube and then just do it. You don't need a gynecologist's hands. It takes less time than flossing and I use floss twice a day. In contrast I clean a sensor one a week. Depending on your usage pattern, shooting environments and even luck you may get away with a lot less, as some others have indicated.
 
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hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Lots of helpful information. Is there a difference between cleaning my D500 without a filter over the sensor compared to my D600 that has a filter over the sensor. Am I OK to do both of them and are they done differently?

Personally I haven't heard about any differences in cleaning sensors that have the anti-alias filter vs. the ones that don't. But whatever you choose to do, please be sure to use a rocket blower before doing any type of wet cleaning. Once you wet clean the sensor, if you notice a smudge or see there is still dust, be sure to use the rocket blower again before attempting to wet clean a second time (and every subsequent time). The video tells about that.

My D600 had a lot of oil spots that didn't come off with just the first wet cleaning. One time I had to wet clean it at least 3 times before I got all of it off. Sometimes the debris is sticky.
 

nickt

Senior Member
I use a sensor brush. It has eliminated many wet cleanings. I wet clean maybe once or twice a year. The brush is nice because I am comfortable using it pretty much anywhere/anytime if something annoying shows up while I am out. Its a nice addition to a blower. Not a replacement for wet cleaning but it will take care of sensor dust that the blower alone won't move.
 

Roy1961

Senior Member
Contributor
i did use the wet clean for a while, now on the Eyelead sensor stick as Recommended by Don K, quick and easy i think, also have the blower for dust.
 

Roy1961

Senior Member
Contributor
[MENTION=6277]Don Kuykendall[/MENTION] i am surprised you didnt attach the video clip (facebook) on the guy cleaning his cannon sensor. lol
 

captain birdseye

Senior Member
My main rules are, 1; only do it when needed. 2; use the blower first, then check. If it is only a small amount of dust blow and check again. 3; If there is still a mark proceed to wet clean, check and repeat if needed. 4; always use the mirror up for sensor cleaning mode with a freshly charged battery.
I never let the nozzle of the blower actually enter the mirror box.
When swapping a lens I blow the mirror chamber, lens mount and back element of the lens.
Even when fitting the body cap to a camera body it is as well to blow the cap and mirror box for good measure.
I hate marks on the sensor as much as I hate wet cleaning so I take great care when changing lenses and often take take two body/lens combos with me to minimise lens swapping in the field.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I clean the camera sensors in our house fairly regularly and I must be the only person on the planet who finds rocket-blowers just about useless; I wish they worked as well for me as they apparently do for everyone else. When a cleaning is needed, I start with a sensor brush which takes care of business most of the time. When I need to do a wet cleaning I use Eclipse solution and swabs; mainly out of habit and because it works really well. There is a certain amount of technique involved, I think, in getting a wet cleaning done done quickly and correctly.

The cleaning process is the same whether the camera in question has an AA filter or not.
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
Lots of helpful information. Is there a difference between cleaning my D500 without a filter over the sensor compared to my D600 that has a filter over the sensor. Am I OK to do both of them and are they done differently?
No, they both have a covering, but the D500 is one layer and the D600 is two thin layers with a slight path change on the top layer and a compensating reverse deflection on the bottom layer that limits bandwidth to eliminate aliasing. You have no access to the sensor itself but the transparent cover is a rather hard material which on Moh scale is just a little harder than window glass, which is pretty hard.
So cleaning is not as dangerous to sensors as most think, we seldom think about damaging a mirror or plate glass window that is much more expensive to replace than a sensor. The problem with cleaning a sensor is working space and how fine of dirt can impact the results. With window glass, if it looks clean to the naked eye, it is. But with a sensor, dirt we can't see with an unaided eye can be seen in photos because we view images magnified many times so see spots, streaks, and specks easier.
I use methyl alcohol and add a tiny amount of glycol as a wetting agent. It is available from any chemical supply house for very little, even regent anhydrous methyl alcohol is only about $7 per 1000ml bottle. That will last a whole camera club about 5 years of cleaning daily. With the drier versions, there is less water so less of an issue with streaks. The glycol slows evaporation so it gives a few more seconds working before it dries. You can buy the same thing in tiny bottles in camera stores for 100 times as much per ml but its total composition is exactly the same. Probably the biggest rip-off in photography. You can get the wiping sticks from optical supply shops for supplies for maintaining optical equipment. I use small disposable sponges with a stick handle, about 10 for $2 and intended to clean quartz x-ray machine optical ports. The ones I get are about 3/4" wide and 1/4in thick.
That said little of my work is stopped down to deep depth of field range so seldom see spots. If you are shooting f/8-16 often you need to clean your sensor a lot more because you will see spots.
If you suspect dirt on the sensor and use Lightroom there is a great tool to find them. Turn on the Spot removal tool at the top right side in Develop mode. At the bottom edge of the main image viewing window, you will see an easily overlooked checkbox labeled Visualize Spots and then slide the little slider just to the right of the checkbox until you see spots and hazy area start to appear on the blacked out image. Then it is easy to delete them while in that mode.
 

editorial_use_only

Senior Member
I must be the only person on the planet who finds rocket-blowers just about useless; I wish they worked as well for me as they apparently do for everyone else.

It depends. If what you are dealing with is welded on dirt then a blower won't help. That happens to me often, so often that I consider the blower a "will I get lucky" option. But it's also the easiest, simplest, quickest to try and it's basically costless. Get a good one, I like the Giotto big one. I had a freebie little bulb that was as useless as you describe, and the Giotto does seem to work better for me. There's also a bit of technique to using the blower. I find best results are from holding the camera mount-side down, then blowing up into the open box. Use your loupe to identify exactly where the debris is and try to blow at angles across it.

When I need to do a wet cleaning I use Eclipse solution and swabs

Yes, for years I had great results with Eclipse and the Photo Solutions swabs. So just a heads up, I think it was also mentioned above. From B&H etc, you apparently cannot get Eclipse fluid shipped anymore. I tried Aeroclipse and their new swabs as a substitute and could not get a smear free sensor. I switched to the Dust Patrol gamma fluid and their swabs and have had good success with that combo.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Yes, for years I had great results with Eclipse and the Photo Solutions swabs. So just a heads up, I think it was also mentioned above. From B&H etc, you apparently cannot get Eclipse fluid shipped anymore. I tried Aeroclipse and their new swabs as a substitute and could not get a smear free sensor. I switched to the Dust Patrol gamma fluid and their swabs and have had good success with that combo.
I'm a little frustrated with both B&H and Adorama, so B&H can do as they please. Neither Am-a-zon, nor Walmart, have any issue with shipping Eclipse fluid and both have free 2-day shipping.
 

grandpaw

Senior Member
I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to help me out with a lot of good information. I am convinced that I can do it myself and save money and also be able to clean my sensors as needed. I am taking a "once in a lifetime" trip in about three weeks out to Utah to see the big five National parks, Yellowstone and the Utah State Park so I opted to have my sensors cleaned professionally. I got all three of my cameras done for $75.00 and they look great and spot free. I just didn't want to take the chance now cleaning them myself before the trip but I will be purchasing what I need and doing it myself. It is nice to have access to knowledgeable people that can help me out when I need it. Thanks again and yes you have convinced me that I can and will start doing the cleaning myself.
 
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