How to wet clean oil spots from sensor

I know there are many videos available on how to clean the oil spots from the D600's sensor, but since I've never done a wet clean, I'd like to be steered towards a video that is highly recommended. And since there are a number of wet cleaning products available, which ones do you prefer and why?

I'm asking because I don't know what to look for when performing a wet clean. I'd be inclined to try it myself if I knew the videos and utensils are some of the best ones out there.

What video do you recommend, and what wet cleaning product do you suggest--and if possible, please give your reasoning why you are choosing these. Your comments will help me to understand why a particular method or product is good. Since I am at 237 shutter actuations, I'm wondering if cleaning the sensor once will be enough. The spots aren't too dark (more on the opaque side), but after seeing some other forum pics, I'm guessing one cleaning might not be enough to end the oil spot inconvenience.

Thank you for any information!

Here's what I do.......

1) Get in my car
2) Drive 30 minutes
3) Give my camera to a certified Nikon repairman
4) Wait for my camera
5) Pay $50
6) Drive home with a properly cleaned sensor

This plan works great for me.

This is what I use, with the exception of the loop. This guy is really long winded, but the information is there. What do you want, he's not a paid actor, he's a camera professional.

I use the Vdust method

How to Clean DSLR Sensor and Keep Your Camera Gear Clean

BackdoorHippie said:

This is what I use, with the exception of the loop. This guy is really long winded, but the information is there. What do you want, he's not a paid actor, he's a camera professional.

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HaHa! I had run across this video before & thought that he has to be the blandest photography character out there. It's kind of a challenge to see if one can make it through the whole video without falling asleep, being bored to death, etc. Some people should not be in videos.

I know!! He's painful to watch. There's much better one with the same product out there, and the guy's done in 3 1/2 minutes, but I just couldn't find it. I figure if you have to ask rather than do your own research then you need to pay the piper!! LOL

It may just be dust and not in need of a wet clean. I'm at almost 3000 shots and have only needed to blow off dust and dry clean it once.

BackdoorHippie said:

This is what I use, with the exception of the loop. This guy is really long winded, but the information is there. What do you want, he's not a paid actor, he's a camera professional.

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Ditto on using his method and recommended products with personal success.

Good to know what has and hasn't worked from other members. I'm at almost 3000 shots and while I do not need a wet clean at this moment, I'm considering it soon.

For the Sensor Swab/Eclipse fluid cleaning method, which type of Eclipse liquid do I need for the D600? The Eclipse Optic Cleaning Fluid? I can't seem to find a list of camera's for either liquid solution. Thanks for any info. My sensor will require a liquid cleaning as the rocketblower alone didn't work. I know I need the Type 3 swabs though.

hark said:

For the Sensor Swab/Eclipse fluid cleaning method, which type of Eclipse liquid do I need for the D600? The Eclipse Optic Cleaning Fluid? I can't seem to find a list of camera's for either liquid solution. Thanks for any info. My sensor will require a liquid cleaning as the rocketblower alone didn't work. I know I need the Type 3 swabs though.

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Someone else will have to chime in as I don't have my bottle handy. However, I can say that Eclipse is 100% methanol. I know of people who have purchased a lifetime supply of "eclipse" (methanol) for pennies on the dollar. For those who simply will not believe this, here is the compositional data from the published Material Safety Data Sheet for Eclipse, Optic Cleaner, e-Wipe and Critical Optic Cleaner:
Section II Composition and Ingredient Information
Chemical Identity : 100% Methanol - CAS # 67-56-1

NVSteve said:

Someone else will have to chime in as I don't have my bottle handy. However, I can say that Eclipse is 100% methanol. I know of people who have purchased a lifetime supply of "eclipse" (methanol) for pennies on the dollar. For those who simply will not believe this, here is the compositional data from the published Material Safety Data Sheet for Eclipse, Optic Cleaner, e-Wipe and Critical Optic Cleaner:
Section II Composition and Ingredient Information
Chemical Identity : 100% Methanol - CAS # 67-56-1

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Thanks for the info!

The video shows 2 different types of fluid: Eclipse Optic fluid and Eclipse E2 Cleaning Fluid for Tin Oxide Sensors. I want to be sure I get the correct one because I don't know what the sensor is made from. Does anyone know if it would be the Eclipse Optic fluid?

You definitely don't want the Tin Oxide version. The kits on Amazon ship with the standard fluid. For the D600 (and all FX sensors) you need size 3 swabs.

I purchased the Eclipse Optic Cleaner along with the Sensor Swabs (#3 for FX) from a local camera store. I was going to buy them from Amazon but couldn't find both items in stock except for the pre-moistened swabs.

It went well--I used 2 swabs to get everything off although most of it came off with the first swab. There are only 2 cautions I will mention:

• It is really difficult to see down in there while doing it--I shined a flashlight down in there to ensure the correct contact with the sensor. So make sure you have plenty of light shining all around you.
• My swabs didn't quite cover the height of the sensor. There was a very small area (a fraction of an inch either top or bottom) that wasn't covered by the swab so I made sure the swab wass close to the top when going in one direction then close to the bottom when I reversed directions.

Jake, thanks for the info and the video. It's been very helpful!

Oh...and the camera store said the one type of liquid has been discontinued.

After cleaning the sensor about 2 weeks ago and taking a few hundred additional photos, I checked the sensor again. There is one spot on the upper left which looks like dust--definitely not anything like the light colored small spots I saw before I cleaned the sensor. It's still located on the upper left side of the photo. So my question is: does the sensor reverse the image? When looking through the front of the camera at the sensor, would this spot be on the upper left of the sensor, or on the lower right? I want to use the rocket blower but want to be sure I get my aim in the correct area. Thanks for any help!

One additional thing I remembered is that for these last few hundred shots, I used the Quiet shutter mode. I wonder if that makes a difference in regard to the oil problem. Does anyone know?

I've put @500 shutter actuations on my D600 since the last time I checked the sensor (nothing showed up at that time) so I was surprised to find this so soon. Overall I have 1692 total shutter actuations, and I already cleaned my sensor once in the past. There have been very few lens changes since I last checked the sensor.

This time the spots are much darker and much more numerous than they were the first time. There are MANY more spots than just what's in this cropped section, too.

What f stop was the above shot at?

Rick M said:

What f stop was the above shot at?

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It was shot at f/32 because I was an idiot. Usually I shoot in aperture or shutter priority so I completely forgot to switch to manual for this. I was more focused on my shutter speed and didn't pay attention to my aperture. I haven't done too many low light photos and simply wasn't thinking...

So anyways...I decided to give the sensor another cleaning. I did it the same way as the first time. The blower helped remove some dust, but the first swab wasn't enough to remove all the spots. Attached is what my first swab looked like afterwards. The small blob on the top right wasn't there before the cleaning--at least I certainly never saw it when I glanced at both sides of the clean swab.

After using 2 swabs, I am still left with a small spot on the top left corner of the sensor as well as another one on the bottom right corner. They are something I can try to clean on another day. Perhaps I will scrub a little like Rick M said he did in another thread...

I attempted another sensor cleaning today since yesterday's cleaning didn't remove all of the spots. Yesterday I *thought* there were only 2 spots remaining. I was wrong. Actually I was VERY wrong--either that or the darned shutter continues to spew out more oil when I take test images (and I really scrutinized yesterday's last test shot).

I started off by blowing the sensor with a Rocketblaster (at least 30 puffs) then used the Sensor Swab with 3 drops of the Eclipse fluid. Instead of cleaning once in each direction, I went twice in each direction. Using a flashlight to take a quick peek inside, I saw a small lint fiber left behind from the swab. In fact, every swab I've used so far has left one or two small fibers inside the camera. So another 20-30 puffs of the rocketblaster, and away I went with camera in hand to do another couple of test shots.

Guess what?!! There were more than just those 2 spots on the sensor. I SWEAR after the cleaning yesterday, there weren't dark spots left on my sensor like I saw today--I thought there were only a couple of light ones. So back I went again using the blower for another 30 puffs and a clean Sensor Swab. This time I made sure not to only go back and forth just once--I removed the material from the Sensor Swab and turned it inside out (without touching the part that wipes the sensor). I replaced it on the wand, added a couple more drops of Ecplise fluid, and swabbed back and forth once again. Took a peek inside and found another fiber of lint...I was beginning to expect this...more rocketblaster puffing, and off I went AGAIN to take a couple test shots. After all, I had this thing licked this time, wouldn't you think?!! :congratulatory:

Nope. I'll spare you the blow-by-rocketblaster blow. :encouragement: In all, today I used 5 Sensor Swabs (and that's NOT counting the two I used yesterday). There are at least 7 VERY faint spots showing on the sensor. And they are very, very light--not nearly as dark as they were initially.

I will echo Rick M's frustration that he recently posted as I'm going to have to find different material to use for the stubborn spots. In all honesty, I'm not sure I will buy more of the Sensor Swabs. I decided to keep the wands from the swabs (after removing the material) because I can reuse them with different and hopefully lint-free material. I measured the originial material used on the Sensor Swab. It is 1-7/8" x 2-7/8". The material is thicker than a tissue but not quite as thick as a baby wipe. It was folded over lengthwise making it about 15/16" x 2-7/8". Then it was wrapped over the end of the wand and rubber banded.

Somewhere either online or on this forum, I read about some type of wipes (Pec Pad maybe) that I might check out to use over top of the wands; however, I'll have to try a Q-tip covered with a microfiber cloth moistened with Eclipse to work on the tough spots first. And I came across something that said the Eclipse fluid is highly refined methanol and is supposed to be a higher grade than is even used medically (whether or not that is true, I don't know). I'll keep using the Eclipse.

So stay tuned. It may be a while before I attempt another cleaning. The spots are so light that they shouldn't be an issue unless the shutter decides to splatter more dirty oil....