Sensor : DIY Cleaning or Not?
 

Afternoon folks,

I am on my first DSLR which is a Canon 40D.

A month ago I changed lenses whilst photographing a daffodil indoors which was a huge mistake as I now have pollen on my sensor.

The dots show up when using long exposures at small apertures.

Using a Rocket Blower does not shift the dust/pollen.

Devon Camera Centre once told me they could clean my sensor for about £30ish. This is a bit pricey for me but I am anxious about the idea of cleaning my own sensor. I could also ask Mifsuds (down in Brixham) for a quote.

Is it safe to do so myself and what product should I use or should I take it in for a professional cleaning?

Regards,
Andrew.

This is something i have looked into as i had some dirt on my sensor, i cleared mine by repeatedly doing the image cleaning function my nikon has. pollen is really sticky i guess and this wont work. Im still not sure about cleaning the sensor myself. The experts say to only use the swipe pads recommended by the manufacturer, and i believe they are about £24 for two which you can only use once. thinking about it, £30 seems reasonable to get a pro to do it. whats £30 against the cost of a new camera if you mess it up, because thats what it amounts too.

Hi Andrew, pollen is very sticky and difficult to remove. I do clean my own sensors, but the kit needed to clean them yourself is not cheap and you must use the correct fluid for your sensor - My D100 uses Eclipse One and the D3 and D700 use Eclipse Two - there have been reports of Eclipse One damaging D3 sensors. This LINK I regard as the "Bible" on DIY cleaning. I use fluids and swabs when necessary and a rocket blower or Arctic Butterfly most of the time. If you follow my link you will see these are not cheap solutions. On this occasion I would go for a professional clean if I were you. Then I would save for a rocket blower which should see you through most problems in future.

Thanks for the good feedback Lee and Andy. Looks like a trip to the camera shop tomorrow or Friday then.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

Photographic Solutions, who manufacture Eclipse and E2 announced last year that Eclipse was every bit as safe as E2 and as a result were stopping manufacture of E2 <<<LINK>>>

Thanks Clive - I missed that - shows how often I need to buy the stuff :).

I stopped using eclipse approx 12 months ago in favour of the Sensor Clear pen, much cheaper and IMO superior and far easier to use.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenspen-LENS...3442129&sr=8-1

When this happened to my 40D i asked my self a question.

Take the risk and end up with a potential £...hundreds bill to repair the sensor

Take it to a pro and get it cleaned for £30

I chose the latter........................

I regularly have to wet-clean my sensor - for the first 18 months or so, I got away with blown air, but as the camera has aged, with frequent use in hostile conditions and having taken some very heavy knocks too, dirt has been shaken around inside the shutterbox, so I now have to wet clean it every 3 or 4 months. I use the Green Clean wet and dry swabs mainly.
It isnt really that hard to do, but it still gives me the willies thinking about the cost of replacing the 1DsII sensor.
The really annoying bit of 'dirt' however isnt on the sensor at all - a midge managed to get itself inside one of my lenses whilst it was attached to the camera last summer, and is occasionally visible in images still!

I owned the first Apple quicktake and the next, a Canon 10D, 300D, 450D, and others, my sons have many and I have NEVER cleaned a sensor.

People worry too much these days, pay attention to how pros work, they would be cleaning them every few minutes, until it REALLY needs it use dust removal in paintshop/photoshop