Best way to remove this

hark

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This is a SOOC unedited jpeg only resized for the forum. I found this piece of debris on my sensor over a week ago and used a rocket blower to try to remove it. Obviously the rocket blower didn't work. I will try it again, but if it doesn't come off, I am hesitant to do a wet cleaning--only because it's rather large and I don't want to risk scratching the sensor with something so big. Any suggestions? :confused:


008 resize.jpg
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Wet cleaning.

DO NOT be afraid of wet cleaning. You really have to work hard to screw up the sensor. Actually, it's not the sensor you're cleaning, but the glass filter that's on top of it. Again, DO NOT be afraid of wet cleaning.
 

hark

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Wet cleaning.

DO NOT be afraid of wet cleaning. You really have to work hard to screw up the sensor. Actually, it's not the sensor you're cleaning, but the glass filter that's on top of it. Again, DO NOT be afraid of wet cleaning.

I just don't know how sharp of an object it is. I did a wet cleaning on my D600 so I'm familiar with how to do it, but boy am I hesitant to try it with this.

I'd suggest trying one of the Sensor Gel Stick cleaners.

You just "dab" the sensor and the sticky stuff on the wand pulls off the schmutz.


Now this seems like a possible solution. *If* the thing is large enough to see with the naked eye, perhaps this wand will be able to remove it. Then I could do a wet cleaning of the entire sensor with my regular swabs. Hmm...gotta see if I can find this somewhere! ;) Thanks, HF!
 

hark

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Wet sensor cleaning it is to get those stubborn dust.


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Glenn, don't you think this is larger than a particle of dust? It looks more like a dust bunny than a piece of dust! ;)
 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
You can fix it with the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop :cool: But seriously, sensor cleaning is a way of life in the DSLR world. After I paid a local shop $100 7 years ago to clean the sensor on my D100, I decided that I'd learn how to do it myself. Since then, I've done it myself. Ain't no big thing.
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
Glenn, don't you think this is larger than a particle of dust? It looks more like a dust bunny than a piece of dust! ;)

I just cleaned the sensors for my camera since this post came up. I bought my cleaning kit about 4 years ago. I'm not sure if the solution expired but it quickly evaporates and it doesn't leave any residue. It could be a dust bunny and they are all irritating.
 

Englischdude

Senior Member
hi hark,
sensor cleaning is really no big deal. if there was dirt on the front of your lens would you hesitate to take a lint free cloth and clean it off?
There are many posts here about sensor cleaning, follow just some basic do's and dont's and you will be fine. You will not only solve the immediate problem you have but will also save a ton of money in the future and become even more familiar with your camera. For cleaning my sensor I use the sensorwand and eclipse solution.
Just do a sear here about sensor cleaning, Im sure you will find all you need to know.

Let us know how it goes.
 

hark

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hi hark,
sensor cleaning is really no big deal. if there was dirt on the front of your lens would you hesitate to take a lint free cloth and clean it off?
There are many posts here about sensor cleaning, follow just some basic do's and dont's and you will be fine. You will not only solve the immediate problem you have but will also save a ton of money in the future and become even more familiar with your camera. For cleaning my sensor I use the sensorwand and eclipse solution.
Just do a sear here about sensor cleaning, Im sure you will find all you need to know.

Let us know how it goes.

Yes, I know how to do a wet cleaning and did it multiple times when I had my D600. It is one thing to remove debris from the front of a lens--you can see what you're doing and can possibly flick off the debris. In this case, I'd have to drag the cleaning wand (moistened) all the way across from one side to another. Since I don't know if this piece of debris is a sliver of wood or something rather sharp, I am hesitant.

I couldn't do anything last night because the battery wasn't charged enough to allow me to raise the mirror. I will take a look today and see if the thing is visible to the naked eye. ;)
 

BackdoorArts

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Don't be afraid. Hard, sharp particles are not what usually finds its way into your camera - unless something is falling apart inside. You're sweeping side to side, not scrubbing. The swab should pick it up just fine.
 

Horoscope Fish

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Yes, I know how to do a wet cleaning and did it multiple times when I had my D600. It is one thing to remove debris from the front of a lens--you can see what you're doing and can possibly flick off the debris. In this case, I'd have to drag the cleaning wand (moistened) all the way across from one side to another. Since I don't know if this piece of debris is a sliver of wood or something rather sharp, I am hesitant.

I couldn't do anything last night because the battery wasn't charged enough to allow me to raise the mirror. I will take a look today and see if the thing is visible to the naked eye.
Possibly relevant to your interests: the Carson Sensormag. I have one and it reeeally lights up your sensor for a good, magnified, visual inspection of the sensor. Build quality could be better but it was well worth the $20 I dropped on it. Use one and you could see this "Thing" in all its LED-illuminated, fully magnified beauty before launching your assault.

"Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted."
~ Sun Tzu
The Art of War​

Good luck to you!

*snappy salute*
...
 

hark

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Don't be afraid. Hard, sharp particles are not what usually finds its way into your camera - unless something is falling apart inside. You're sweeping side to side, not scrubbing. The swab should pick it up just fine.

I know ultimately I will clean it--just apprehensive! ;) This piece of debris is much larger than what I've cleaned off in the past. When I used the rocketblaster the last time, I assumed it would remove this. Have you encountered something this large, Jake?

Possibly relevant to your interests: the Carson Sensormag. I have one and it reeeally lights up your sensor for a good, magnified, visual inspection of the sensor. Build quality could be better but it was well worth the $20 I dropped on it. Use one and you could see this "Thing" in all its LED-illuminated, fully magnified beauty before launching your assault.
"Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted."
~ Sun Tzu
The Art of War​

Good luck to you!

*snappy salute*
...

Thanks kindly, HF! :cool: I just ordered this, and with Prime shipping it should arrive Monday! I've looked at several of these loupes but all were much more expensive. This one appears as though it will work quite well! ;)
 

Marcel

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I just want to share a little experience I had about sensor cleaning. I had a quite large bunny and did a wet clean with no change. I then thought about something. Since I was using a 28 wide angle for the dust test (white wall), I tried another lens 50mm, to my surprise, the dust bunny was gone... Ah I said to myself, let's have a look at the lens. Then I found a piece of dust on the UV filter. I cleaned the filter and the sensor got clean all by itself.

So, just make sure you eliminate all other possible causes BEFORE getting to work behind the shutter. :)
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
Could that possibly be a scratch and not dust? I am embarrassed to say that I scratched my sensor/filter in two places doing wet cleaning. Got too aggressive. The marks looked like yours and showed up in more photos than just dust. When the D600 went back to Nikon to do the free shutter replacement, I paid the full freight ($1k) to replace the sensor/filter stack. It could have been done cheaper somewhere else, but since the camera was already in the shop...
 
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hark

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Could that possibly be a scratch and not dust? I am embarrassed to say that I scratched my sensor/filter in two places doing wet cleaning. Got too aggressive. The marks looked like yours and showed up in more photos than just dust. When the D600 went back to Nikon to do the free shutter replacement, I paid the full freight ($1k) to replace the sensor/filter stack. It could have been done cheaper somewhere else, but since the camera was already in the shop...

I don't think it is possible for it to be a scratch because I haven't yet ever done a wet cleaning on my D610...only on my D600. Sorry to hear about your experience. When my D600 was at Nikon for repair they scratched its sensor, and all they did during that repair was a wet cleaning. I know there are filters on top of the sensor, but Nikon wound up replacing the sensor at their own expense. That's one reason why I am hesitant to do too much.
 

hark

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I just want to share a little experience I had about sensor cleaning. I had a quite large bunny and did a wet clean with no change. I then thought about something. Since I was using a 28 wide angle for the dust test (white wall), I tried another lens 50mm, to my surprise, the dust bunny was gone... Ah I said to myself, let's have a look at the lens. Then I found a piece of dust on the UV filter. I cleaned the filter and the sensor got clean all by itself.

So, just make sure you eliminate all other possible causes BEFORE getting to work behind the shutter. :)

I keep the front and rear glass blown off with a rocketblaster, but I will take a close look to see if there is anything stuck on the rear. I scrutinize the front almost every time I take out my camera so I don't think it is on the front.
 

Marcel

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I keep the front and rear glass blown off with a rocketblaster, but I will take a close look to see if there is anything stuck on the rear. I scrutinize the front almost every time I take out my camera so I don't think it is on the front.

I'm quite sure it's not the case on your lens since I think the picture you posted was taken with a 105 if I remember correctly. Dust on a lens or filter will usually show up more with wide angle lenses only because of the extended depth of field that makes the dust almost in focus.
 

hark

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I'm quite sure it's not the case on your lens since I think the picture you posted was taken with a 105 if I remember correctly. Dust on a lens or filter will usually show up more with wide angle lenses only because of the extended depth of field that makes the dust almost in focus.

Well I just took a look at the rear glass of my 105mm--and there WAS a visible piece of debris stuck on there! Initially I didn't see it until I shined a flashlight on it. It wouldn't blow off during the first couple of attempts which might be why it stayed stuck on despite the rear glass being blown with a rocketblaster in the past.

I will be using this lens to take more flower shots so I'll see if that resolved the problem. Thanks Marcel! :cool:
 
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