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10/29/2009 02:21:48 PM · #26 |
Originally posted by Mick:
Here's another website dedicated to cleaning DSLRs: Demystifying D-SLR Sensor Cleaning
The site also has some information on other methods of sensor cleaning, although they point out that the standard 'Eclipse & PecPad' method is the most widely used, even by camera manufacturers. BTW, I totally agree with what they say about the 'scotch tape' method, "Not only no, but heck no!" :) |
Aww, where's your sense of adventure? I've done the scotch tape method maybe 3-4 times with excellent results. I think once it seemed to leave a residue or retest shots so I used copperhill after and it cleaned up fine. Still, as I have no experience otherwise, I wouldn't recommend anything but Scotch Magic Tape.
Copperhill seems to leave a residue as often as not as well. Depends on how well the Eclipse dries. |
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10/29/2009 02:42:39 PM · #27 |
Well it looks a lot cleaner than it was, but not perfect. No rush now, because it's not too bad, but I'll have to try somewhere else and see if I get better results. It looks like this might cost more than I want to spend.
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10/29/2009 02:44:46 PM · #28 |
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
He wouldn't sell me the compressed air - I assumed because it was difficult to use safely. I really must download the test shot to check it properly. The problem is my hard drive is so full I'm reluctant to download anything until I make some space. |
If it looks clean hit "auto levels" in photoshop just to be sure, that really makes the dust stand out.
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10/29/2009 02:52:42 PM · #29 |
| Since we're talking about dust and I have no experience with it. Do people with an auto-cleaning sensor feel the technology actually works? Do you keep the sensor cleaning feature on or does it just drain the battery faster without much help? |
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10/29/2009 02:54:05 PM · #30 |
Originally posted by Ken:
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
He wouldn't sell me the compressed air - I assumed because it was difficult to use safely. I really must download the test shot to check it properly. The problem is my hard drive is so full I'm reluctant to download anything until I make some space. |
If it looks clean hit "auto levels" in photoshop just to be sure, that really makes the dust stand out. |
I did that. It showed a few spots, but a lot less than there were. I'll have to do something about it sooner or later, but I can live with it for now.
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10/29/2009 03:08:13 PM · #31 |
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
He wouldn't sell me the compressed air - I assumed because it was difficult to use safely. I really must download the test shot to check it properly. The problem is my hard drive is so full I'm reluctant to download anything until I make some space. |
get an external HD...like a passport...totally portable and not expensive at all...with 500 GB of storage... |
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10/29/2009 04:05:13 PM · #32 |
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
Well it looks a lot cleaner than it was, but not perfect. No rush now, because it's not too bad, but I'll have to try somewhere else and see if I get better results. It looks like this might cost more than I want to spend. |
At Copper Hill, the International Basic Kit (14mm for your 400D) is $29.95 with a shipping charge of $14.00 and it's available to anywhere outside the USA & Canada. This would provide you with everything you need to clean your camera for years. That's less than some camera shops charge for a single cleaning.
BTW, Eclipse and PecPads are great for cleaning lenses too. I even use them to clean my eye glasses. :)
Message edited by author 2009-10-29 16:10:50.
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10/29/2009 04:16:57 PM · #33 |
Or the Digital Survival Kit # 2 for $18.84+$4.86 shipping .. I just placed the order.. reading  DrAchoo's comment about scotch tape was tempting but I decided to go with the safer route..
Just wondering - Has anyone ever tried alcohol, with ultra-clean residue free swipes?
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10/29/2009 04:36:17 PM · #34 |
Originally posted by Ja-9:
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
He wouldn't sell me the compressed air - I assumed because it was difficult to use safely. I really must download the test shot to check it properly. The problem is my hard drive is so full I'm reluctant to download anything until I make some space. |
get an external HD...like a passport...totally portable and not expensive at all...with 500 GB of storage... |
500 GB is sooooo yesterday. the 1 TB drives are now less than USD$100, and some are going for USD$84.99.
Message edited by author 2009-10-29 16:38:17.
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10/29/2009 04:55:45 PM · #35 |
Originally posted by vikas:
Just wondering - Has anyone ever tried alcohol, with ultra-clean residue free swipes? |
High-purity methanol should work okay, although you'll have a hard time finding any methanol as pure as Eclipse. Eclipse supposedly contains less than 1 part per million (ppm) of contamination (although I've seen it listed in some places as 5ppm).
I considered trying "Super Methanol" (with residue listed as 10ppm), but someone ( kirbic I believe) talked me out of it. At $36.00 per liter it is a lot cheaper than Eclipse, but definitely not as pure and would no doubt leave much more residue.
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10/29/2009 05:14:37 PM · #36 |
I personally use the Arctic Butterfly ( //www.visibledust.com/ ). Its basically a brush on a motor and you spin it to charge the bristles on the brush. You make a single pass across the sensor and the static then makes the dust adhere to it and then you spin it again to fire the dust away. I also use a sensor loupe to see the dust because a) its friggin' dark in there b) even a tiny tiny dust mote can show up in your pics. (The loupe lights the interior and magnifies the sensor.)
Compressed air is a big no-no. The propellant will leave residue on your sensor. At least from what I have been told.
Message edited by author 2009-10-29 17:33:12. |
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10/29/2009 05:32:00 PM · #37 |
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Since we're talking about dust and I have no experience with it. Do people with an auto-cleaning sensor feel the technology actually works? Do you keep the sensor cleaning feature on or does it just drain the battery faster without much help? |
We own a Pentax K100d and a Canon Rebel xti. The Pentax has no auto cleaning mode and the Canon does. I use a blower on the both every time we get ready to go shoot and haven't had a issue. Does the "auto sensor cleaning" work? I haven't had issue with either camera so I would say it's just another "feature" the manufacturers have created to get a higher price. Sensor cleaning is too easy though. When I bought my kit (less than $20) the salesman opened my camera and cleaned it to demonstrate how to use the kit. But blowing out your camera before and after (if you change lenses during your shoot) is the cheapest effective way to keep the dust to a minimum IMO. |
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10/29/2009 07:26:25 PM · #38 |
The auto-cleaning feature works for me.
I had a non-auto-cleaning body and it had dust on it every time I turned around it seemed. With my 40D, which I've had for about two years now, I haven't had a problem with dust at all. The camera does a quick clean when I turn off or on the camera and I do an auto-clean on demand every now and again. The on-demand cleaning is more thorough than the quick clean.
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10/29/2009 07:30:46 PM · #39 |
Originally posted by Ja-9:
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
He wouldn't sell me the compressed air - I assumed because it was difficult to use safely. I really must download the test shot to check it properly. The problem is my hard drive is so full I'm reluctant to download anything until I make some space. |
get an external HD...like a passport...totally portable and not expensive at all...with 500 GB of storage... |
I have one, but I hate not having my photos on the computer. Right now a lot of my photos are only on the external HD with no backup. Aside from that, I always worry that something will go wrong when the external HD is plugged in, especially at this time of the year when thunderstorms are a regular occurence. My photography is definitely going to suffer until I replace this miserable computer (80GB HD).
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10/29/2009 07:54:12 PM · #40 |
Originally posted by AperturePriority:
The auto-cleaning feature works for me.
I had a non-auto-cleaning body and it had dust on it every time I turned around it seemed. With my 40D, which I've had for about two years now, I haven't had a problem with dust at all. The camera does a quick clean when I turn off or on the camera and I do an auto-clean on demand every now and again. The on-demand cleaning is more thorough than the quick clean. |
My camera has auto-cleaning too, but I didn't know about the on-demand cleaning. I just tried it, but it seems so quick I doubt it's more thorough on my camera (maybe that only applies on the more expensive models). I then took another test shot and it doesn't look too good at all. I'm going to a technology show tomorrow, so maybe the Canon stall will be able to help me out better than this guy did.
The prices mentioned in this thread for cleaning kit look so much better than what I was quoted yesterday - everything in South Africa is so expensive, and they guy told me that using his swabs would work out at the equivalent of about $13 per cleaning.
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10/29/2009 08:07:03 PM · #41 |
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Since we're talking about dust and I have no experience with it. Do people with an auto-cleaning sensor feel the technology actually works? Do you keep the sensor cleaning feature on or does it just drain the battery faster without much help? |
I've had a 40D for about two years. Until this thread, I never knew you could turn off the self-cleaning sensor function. At any rate, I don't think I've cleaned my sensor manually more than a couple of times in that two year period. With the old 20D, I used to clean the sensor about every third outing, and even then, it seemed like I spent about ten minutes on every shot cloning out dust bunnies with photo shop. Boring. Boring. Boring.
I did take a few shots the other morning with the lens stopped down to around f/22, f/27, etc. and then I did notice quite a bit of dust on the sensor. I'll get around to cleaning it one of these days, but since I shoot mostly at around f/8 and f/11, the dust is hardly noticeable, even in the sky. A couple of clicks in Photoshop and it's gone.
So, all of that means that IMNSHO the self-cleaning sensor is a true boon to those who are willing to use it. |
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10/29/2009 10:33:32 PM · #42 |
in a few more months 1TB will be so yesterday as well. I know a person that works on a marketing team, She told me that they are getting word that Western Digital will be passing on info to them soon for advertising a 5TB HD.. No word on release dates but she is guessing early next year.
Originally posted by AperturePriority:
Originally posted by Ja-9:
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
He wouldn't sell me the compressed air - I assumed because it was difficult to use safely. I really must download the test shot to check it properly. The problem is my hard drive is so full I'm reluctant to download anything until I make some space. |
get an external HD...like a passport...totally portable and not expensive at all...with 500 GB of storage... |
500 GB is sooooo yesterday. the 1 TB drives are now less than USD$100, and some are going for USD$84.99. |
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10/30/2009 12:05:51 AM · #43 |
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
Right now a lot of my photos are only on the external HD with no backup. |
How expensive are recordable CDs or DVDs there? Seems to me you are courting disaster ... |
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10/30/2009 12:21:00 AM · #44 |
I'm not going to elaborate much on this episode, but if you do use the "dust off' air in a can stuff, be careful to not set it next to a can of bug spray that looks almost like it. Bug spray cleans off nicely with a q tip and alcohol.
I usually just breathe on the sensor to fog it, then gently wipe it in one direction. The fog is pure condensed water. I haul my camera in my work truck to fields and packing houses, so the air where I travel is always full of dust unless it's raining.
While we are talking about cleaning sensors, make sure that you always start with freshly charged batteries. One of my nephew's pals trashed a shutter when the batteries quit and the shutter closed on the swab.
Redneck sensor cleaning is to set the shutter at 1/30, remove the lens and hold the camera face fwd out the car window at 60 mph and click the trigger. The possibility of catching a bug makes it exciting.
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10/30/2009 12:23:05 AM · #45 |
Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:
Redneck sensor cleaning is to set the shutter at 1/30, remove the lens and hold the camera face fwd out the car window at 60 mph and click the trigger. The possibility of catching a bug makes it exciting. |
LOL -- I guess that would make it a true 1:1 macro shot ... |
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10/30/2009 01:27:54 AM · #46 |
Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:
I usually just breathe on the sensor to fog it, then gently wipe it in one direction. The fog is pure condensed water. |
What do you use to wipe it?
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10/30/2009 06:12:45 AM · #47 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
Right now a lot of my photos are only on the external HD with no backup. |
How expensive are recordable CDs or DVDs there? Seems to me you are courting disaster ... |
My computer doesn't have a DVD writer and the CD writer is broken. I bought an external writer, but my computer is so messed up it takes forever to write a handful of photos, let alone hundreds. I know I'm looking for trouble, but I really don't want to spend money on a machine that's ready for the rubbish dump.
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10/30/2009 06:21:10 PM · #48 |
I suppose I should have known what to expect - the guy at the Canon stall told me to take the camera to Canon and pay them to clean it. As a one off I might do it some time, but I still need to be able to do it myself when the need arises. If I can't find something at a decent price, I might just have to try online.
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