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03/07/2006 09:49:40 AM · #26 |
| I wouldn`t touch the sensor with anything. If you do what Canon say and use a blower, you can blow dust into the inside of the focussing screen. I made up a small vacum and a soft rubber tube, internal diameter 1/8" that sucks all the dust out.But beware, do it in a dust free atmosphere. |
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03/07/2006 10:12:20 AM · #27 |
Originally posted by BradP:
I use 3M Post-It Notes. |
You're a brave man! I have no reason to doubt your method at all... I just know that if I were to attempt this, I'd have such huge globs of sweat that I'd wind up dripping onto the sensor :) |
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04/19/2006 06:37:21 PM · #28 |
Is this an issue just with the 350D or are all digital SLR's equally vunerable.
All this talk of sensor dust is making me sweat !
I presume dust contamination happens when you change lenses so what is the top tip.
1. Camera pointing to the ground
2. Power off
3. Wait 20 seconds
4. Change lens
Looks like my 75-300 will never get used.
HXP |
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04/19/2006 08:54:43 PM · #29 |
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04/19/2006 09:06:53 PM · #30 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
I say go for it! But use a nice rosey blush to really bring out the color in your shots. |
HAHAHAHAHA! Good one! |
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04/19/2006 09:12:22 PM · #31 |
| I am asking just to ask, as I got my camera recently and always, always keep a lens or my cover it and don't even breathe when I change the lens. But don't you send it to a camera shop to clean the sensor? |
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04/19/2006 09:17:30 PM · #32 |
| I personally use a Q-tip and lens cleaner to clean my sensor. It takes FOREVER to work out the cleaner and a ton of Q-tips, but when I am all finished, the sensor is clean as a whistle. I clean the sensor, replace the lens, snap a few shots, clean the sensor, repeat a few times testing the camera each time I replace the lens by setting the lens to the smallest aperature, zoomed all the way out, and facing a white-ish wall. The dust shows up just fine that way and you can see from shot to shot if there is any loose dirt in there. There is a significant static charge on the sensor so it is like a magnet to loose particles and even the fibers from the Q-tips. It takes me about 2-hours total to clean the sensor, but when it's done, it's done and there is no residue that I can see. |
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04/19/2006 09:20:13 PM · #33 |
Originally posted by sammigurl:
I am asking just to ask, as I got my camera recently and always, always keep a lens or my cover it and don't even breathe when I change the lens. But don't you send it to a camera shop to clean the sensor? |
My camera shop uses that canned air to blow things out. They put a serious bruse on my lens from some of the condensation when I first bought the lens... I wouldn't trust anybody but myself and the manufacturer to do a decent job at cleaning the sensor. |
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04/19/2006 09:20:13 PM · #34 |
After having my trusty 20D oblivious to the perils of sensor dust and swapping lenses left right and center it took it's toll. Sky pics filled with huge black lumps of god knows what ! So I read some forums and heard about a firm called visibledust. ( //www.visibledust.com )
I googled and got some brushes from them and havent looked back !
Easy to use as they provide brushes cut to the size of the 20D sensor ( and sell other sensor kits too with specific sized brushes ) so you literally brush over it a few times and the dust is gone.
When you see a clear blue sky without a single dark mark on it, it's a really nice thing to see !
They arent cheap, but considering how easy they are to use and the efficiency of them I can highly recommend them for the long run. |
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04/19/2006 09:24:31 PM · #35 |
Originally posted by deapee:
Originally posted by ButterflySis:
How about this brush. $13 and made for DSLR's.
Copper Hill Images
P.S. This was featured in Outdoor Photographer. |
Thanks...if I'd do it with that brush, I'd do it with this one too I would think, and this one way free (for me or probably like a buck ... never shopped for a makeup brush so I dunno).
I don't know if I'm going to try it or not..but it's definately staying in my bag to dust off my lenses and stuff. |
Let's look at this a different way:
Is it worth risking damage to your $1500 camera to save $13 on a brush?
~Terry
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04/19/2006 09:35:56 PM · #36 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
I like the copperhill method, and have done it enough to not fear it any more, but I also have a cosmetic brush to use between the blower and the full out eclipes and pecpad drama.
There are three things to look for in a brush;
1.The right width to cover your sensor in one sweep.
2.Good quality synthetic fibers with blunted tips. The static charge that blowing across the fibers puts on the brush does the cleaning, so natural fibers aren't as good at holding the charge, plus the natural hair fibers are naturally oily, which diminshes over use, but you don't want that oil on your sensor. This is also the reason why canned air as a charger is bad, bad, bad. The propellant in the canned air will get on your brush, and then on your sensor: use an oilless compressor or a blower, or a spinner.
3. A good brush doesn't shed fibers if it has a good ferrill, and is well made. This is expensive, but not too hard to find.
Visible dust, the makers of the specially made sensor brush claims that they coat the "surface of the fibers with special molecules charged opposite to that of dust. These charges are permanent and do not dissipate as electrostatic charges do." Which sounds like so much BS to me. If they have found a substance which never looses it's charge then they have a source of never ending energy, and we can give them the noble prize and stop relying on oil as a power source. Lots of people love their brush, but the reasons they claim their brush is better than another brush of similar size and quality is based on snake oil salesmanship and not hard science. The brushes they sell are good, but the claims of what make them special have enough pure hokum in them that I distrust all their claims. |
Regarding permanantly charged fiber... They aren't lying to you at all. Everything is made up of atoms, each atom has a specific charge which allows us to determine how well a material will conduct electricity. When they say "permanantly charged" they are not talking in terms of a battery, where a battery has a potential difference between poles; rather, they are talking about the charge of the atom makeup of the material they are using to create the brush or whatever, which in turn implies that the material has a atomic charge that allows for the static charge on the sensor to be eliminated by passing the electric current through the brush.
For instance... Copper is a better conductor than plastic, why? Because the atoms in copper are "charged" in a way that allows the flow of electrons to move freely through the the copper. Plastic, on the other hand, has atoms that are "charged" differently than the copper so that a electric current cannot move through the material efficiently.
The company doesn't "Charge" the material before it leaves the factory; rather, the atomic makeup of the material creates a better conductor of electricity than the camera sensor so the material will neutralize the charge on the sensor and allow the dust to be brushed away easier.
I could literally write a textbook on this, but if you are really wanting to know what I am talking about then there is plenty of information online regarding basic electricity principles. |
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04/19/2006 10:46:38 PM · #37 |
Here's a new link to The Pixel Sweeper tutorial. It had moved to a new URL. All you ever wanted to know about cleaning your sensor with a brush, and some other good tips.
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04/19/2006 10:55:41 PM · #38 |
Originally posted by lfordhere:
I personally use a Q-tip and lens cleaner to clean my sensor. |
What kind of "lens cleaner" do you reccommend? The last time I cleaned mine I used cotton swabs and Eclipse because I was out of those expensive swabs. Like you said, it took a while, the cotton swabs can leave little fibers on the sensor, but in the end it was really clean.
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04/19/2006 11:02:18 PM · #39 |
Originally posted by coolhar:
Originally posted by lfordhere:
I personally use a Q-tip and lens cleaner to clean my sensor. |
What kind of "lens cleaner" do you reccommend? The last time I cleaned mine I used cotton swabs and Eclipse because I was out of those expensive swabs. Like you said, it took a while, the cotton swabs can leave little fibers on the sensor, but in the end it was really clean. |
I used the lens cleaner that came with a little cleaning kit from the photo shop when I purchased my camera. It doesn't have a brand name on it; just says "Lens Cleaner". Yes, you are right about the little fibers, but they are nothing compared to some of the dust that just will not budge. A trick I found with the fibers is to bring the q-tip back onto the sensor where the fiber is and do a little swirl with the q-tip being careful not to catch the q-tip on the sides where more fibers could come off. As for the fibers that get inside the chamber, but not actually on the sensor, I use tape to get them out of there; I never put the tape on the sensor though. |
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06/17/2006 08:46:33 PM · #40 |
Originally posted by ButterflySis:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How about this brush. $13 and made for DSLR's.
Copper Hill Images
P.S. This was featured in Outdoor Photographer
Hey guys, this guy is local for me here, and I talked to him about his products (he is a customer of mine) It sounds like he is very down to earth and put together a great package of products, I am going to try on of his kits next payday, I'll let you know how it works then. My 350d came with a huge hunk of poop on the sensor, and I've let a couple float in there on my own, we'll see if I can get rid of them all! The post-its, and scotch tape scare the heck outta me! |
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06/17/2006 09:02:08 PM · #41 |
Originally posted by Michaelsink:
Hey guys, this guy is local for me here, and I talked to him about his products (he is a customer of mine) It sounds like he is very down to earth and put together a great package of products, I am going to try on of his kits next payday, I'll let you know how it works then. My 350d came with a huge hunk of poop on the sensor, and I've let a couple float in there on my own, we'll see if I can get rid of them all! The post-its, and scotch tape scare the heck outta me! |
Yeah, scared my wife too, but sometimes you get a big peice of whatever that looks like it might scratch it if you wipe it. That's more scary to me. Probably best to use a good blower though.
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06/17/2006 09:18:07 PM · #42 |
this is a little off topic, but i have a piece of fibre inside my lens, on the lower element. any ideas on how to get rid of it?
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06/18/2006 07:14:41 AM · #43 |
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06/18/2006 07:54:39 AM · #44 |
Originally posted by HXP101:
1. Camera pointing to the ground
2. Power off
3. Wait 20 seconds
4. Change lens
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Hang on a sec, surely a dSLR's sensor isn't on except when you take a photo, so there's no need to wait or even power off? (I always thought that part was 'cause the static on the sensor attracts dust)
I rarely remember to turn off camera when I change (mainly non-electronic mount) lenses, and I just trust the Olympus Dust Removal to cope with that
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06/18/2006 09:24:35 AM · #45 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
There are three things to look for in a brush;
1.The right width to cover your sensor in one sweep.
2.Good quality synthetic fibers with blunted tips. The static charge that blowing across the fibers puts on the brush does the cleaning, so natural fibers aren't as good at holding the charge, plus the natural hair fibers are naturally oily, which diminshes over use, but you don't want that oil on your sensor. This is also the reason why canned air as a charger is bad, bad, bad. The propellant in the canned air will get on your brush, and then on your sensor: use an oilless compressor or a blower, or a spinner.
3. A good brush doesn't shed fibers if it has a good ferrill, and is well made. This is expensive, but not too hard to find.
Visible dust, the makers of the specially made sensor brush claims that they coat the "surface of the fibers with special molecules charged opposite to that of dust. These charges are permanent and do not dissipate as electrostatic charges do." Which sounds like so much BS to me. If they have found a substance which never looses it's charge then they have a source of never ending energy, and we can give them the noble prize and stop relying on oil as a power source. Lots of people love their brush, but the reasons they claim their brush is better than another brush of similar size and quality is based on snake oil salesmanship and not hard science. The brushes they sell are good, but the claims of what make them special have enough pure hokum in them that I distrust all their claims. |
BrennanOB is absolutely correct.
Your makeup brush not only can scratch the sensor, leave behind hairs, but also is not positivly charged to gather negativly charged particles from your positivly charged sensor.
And BrennanOB, it's not a power supply, it's physics and chemistry, and maybe even nanotechnology by now, keeping the material charged.
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06/18/2006 09:39:07 AM · #46 |
Originally posted by xianart:
this is a little off topic, but i have a piece of fibre inside my lens, on the lower element. any ideas on how to get rid of it? |
Use a piece of tape...that's what I did when I tried the makeup brush and it put more stuff on the sensor than it took off. works like a charm.
Message edited by author 2006-06-18 09:39:19.
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06/18/2006 05:05:12 PM · #47 |
the fibre inside the lens - on the upper surface of the lower element. i can't figure out how it got in there, let alone get it out...
Message edited by author 2006-06-18 17:05:29.
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06/18/2006 05:19:28 PM · #48 |
Originally posted by xianart:
the fibre inside the lens - on the upper surface of the lower element. I can't figure out how it got in there, let alone get it out... |
Might have been in there from the factory. Very likely will have no visible affect on photos. Best thing to do is leave it there, if it's not causing visible image problems. |
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06/27/2006 02:17:08 PM · #49 |
| I just cleaned my sensor with the post-it method and it worked wonders! No residue at all. I just wanted to state my experience because I was scared to do it but it did work out really well. So go ahead and try! |
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06/27/2006 02:35:33 PM · #50 |
Originally posted by deapee:
what would be the harm with the makeup brush though? It obviously doesn't scratch glass, and the protective glass cover over the CCD has to be just as hard as the lens, right?
Glass is hard...you can clean bugs off your windshield with a razor blade, i've done it hundreds of times...I don't know, I'm going to do it just because you think I'll damage something...then I'll post before/after results. |
Materials can be very funny and prior to taking my job as a purchasing agent at a prototype production facility, I used to think that a material type is a material type.
Did you know that there are almost as many different specifications and compositions of steel, all with varying properties, as their are Cameras listed on this site's list of cameras?
Did you know that there are just as many different types of Glass, plastic, aluminum, bronze, copper and many other alloys out there too?
What I am saying is, the glass on a car windshield is NOTHING like the glass at the front or back of a camera lense and those pieces of glass are likely nothing like the glass that is covering your sensor.
Glass can be soft, it can be very hard, it can have special coatings to affect it's properties that can be extremely easily scratched or otherwise damaged... You just don't know, unless you work with it on a technical level, almost daily.
My advise? Do not do what you reason will work, to save a few bucks. Do what the pros and manufacturer suggest only. Anything beyond that is taking risks you really probably do NOT want to be taking. |
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