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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / August 2006cleaning sensors [again]
Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets worse!!! What the hell am I doing wrong???????? I did this before on my D70 with swabs that seemed too wide, this time the swabs seem too narrow on my new D200 (type 2 D1 & 10D). I mean there were times before when stuff got glued but now I'm just pushing new dust around. Much worse that before I tried cleaning. I've used half a $50 pack of swabs now!!! HELP  SignaturePaul Furman http://www.edgehill.net/1 Bay Natives http://www.baynatives.com >Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I >reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets >worse!!! What the hell am I doing wrong???????? Probably technique. I don't use a wet cleaning solution yet since my sensor hasn't become very dirty. I just use a strong blower bulb and a nylon brush to remove the dust. I don't get it 100% clean, but it's good enough. If or when I get something more annoying stuck on the sensor, I'll use a wet swab and follow the basic directions from a site like this: http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/index.html Yeah I got canned air & a cheap makeup brush & that did it. >>Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I >>reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/index.html SignaturePaul Furman http://www.edgehill.net/1 Bay Natives http://www.baynatives.com > Yeah I got canned air & a cheap makeup brush & that did it. WAY TO GO!!!! I was looking on-line at the "special cleaning brushes" being sold to clean sensors (at $40 (US) a pair), and they looked REAL familiar to me. A few hours later, while shaving, I reached into the medicine cabinet, and there they were!!! Quarter inch wide, angle-tipped synthetic brushes.... 2 for $2.99 at the local Drug store. NOTE TO EVERYBODY!!!! You do need to clean them with boiling water to get the "sizeing" out of them as it makes them able to streak the sensor if the humidity is high. Once cleaned, they are identical to the expensive brushes sold as "sensor cleaning brushes". Larry Lynch Mystic CT >> Yeah I got canned air & a cheap makeup brush & that did it. > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Larry Lynch > Mystic CT I haven't had much luck with brushes, but you can also get them as a set on eBay at a cheap price. >>Yeah I got canned air & a cheap makeup brush & that did it. > > WAY TO GO!!!! I think my problem was too much loose dust in the chamber so the cheap brush with compressed air was a necessary first step before using swabs to just smear the dust around & glue it on. PS I messed up & sprayed liquid from the canned air onto the sensor and it caused no problems. The lesson is that I think all this paranoia is overblown. I do worry about using my 'rocket' bulb blower because it sits in my dusty bag and is probably full of dust! Hence the more powerful canned air. And the static charged brush absorbs dust from all surfaces of the chamber keeping things tidy. I didn't even need to go back to the swabs after doing this. > I was looking on-line at the "special cleaning brushes" being sold to > clean sensors (at $40 (US) a pair), and they looked REAL familiar to me. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Larry Lynch > Mystic CT SignaturePaul Furman http://www.edgehill.net/1 Bay Natives http://www.baynatives.com > PS I messed up & > sprayed liquid from the canned air onto the sensor and it caused no > problems. The lesson is that I think all this paranoia is overblown. How often have you heard of someone who gets away with a risky activity just once and decides that must prove it is not risky after all... Mike. SignatureIf reply address = connectfee, add an r because it is free not fee. >>PS I messed up & >>sprayed liquid from the canned air onto the sensor and it caused no >>problems. The lesson is that I think all this paranoia is overblown. > > How often have you heard of someone who gets away with a risky activity just > once and decides that must prove it is not risky after all... Heh, I'm not recommending this. The liquid covered about 1/4 to 1/3 of the sensor in the corner where it could have wrapped around under the glass shield. With a full can of compressed air it'll spray liquid tilted up or down so test angles against a safe surface to find the proper safe angle. The canned air is very powerful compared to a rocket blower and I'd assume guaranteed clean so I think it's worthwhile using plus I think the canned air is necessary to get a proper static charge on the brush so it's handy in the process. >plus I think the canned air is necessary to get a proper static charge >on the brush so it's handy in the process. You don't need to use canned air to statically charge a nylon brush. Any strong airflow through the nylon bristles will cause static, even from a blower bulb. A can of compressed air is a lot faster, that's all. In fact, almost any other material will cause the nylon bristles to build up a static charge. You could even wipe the bristles across a desk top to charge it, but you'd likely get too much gunk on the brush doing that. :-) >I think my problem was too much loose dust in the chamber so the cheap >brush with compressed air was a necessary first step before using swabs That's the way I look at it - get the chamber clear of dust and there's nothing to stick to the sensor. Dust will always find a way in there, but when you think about it, the shutters are closed 99% of the time, so it's not like an open window. >The lesson is that I think all this paranoia is overblown. Bingo! I have a couple of dust bunnies on my sensor as I write this. I'm not worried about them because most of the time they're out of focus. The only time I would endeavour to make it really clean is if a big bunny sticks in one place and becomes visible in normal shots, or if I was going to be shooting close landscapes with a lot of sky where the DOF settings would make it visible. But so far, a few good puffs of air and then the quick static brush, and it's 99% again. >I do worry about using my 'rocket' bulb blower because it sits in my >dusty bag and is probably full of dust! Easy solution - pump it several times before using it to clean it out. > And the static charged brush absorbs dust from all surfaces of the >chamber keeping things tidy. I didn't even need to go back to the swabs >after doing this. Good to hear it worked for you. "Bill" <bill@c.a> wrote in message > >Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I > >reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > very dirty. I just use a strong blower bulb and a nylon brush to remove > the dust. I don't get it 100% clean, but it's good enough. Ditto - my blower bulb actually has a removable nylon brush at the end of it and I have found that puffing it a few times adds a tiny bit of static charge to the bristles and this helps remove the dust from the sensor. SignatureMark Mostly photography... http://www.marklauter.com > Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I > reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets > worse!!! What the hell am I doing wrong???????? Don't feel bad .. it took me 4 swabs! I used a blower, a brush [around the entire interior], and then iteratively used the bush and the swabs until it was clean ... taking a test shot each time. Yes, a pain indeed. > I did this before on my D70 with swabs that seemed too wide, this time > the swabs seem too narrow on my new D200 (type 2 D1 & 10D). I mean there > were times before when stuff got glued but now I'm just pushing new dust > around. Much worse that before I tried cleaning. I've used half a $50 > pack of swabs now!!! After looking at those stupid "swabs", I would buy a $6 bundle of pec pads and rewrap the "sticks" when you ready to clean again. I think the pec pad and dowel combination will probably work perfectly. SignatureThomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1 > Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I > reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > HELP I've had very good luck, but it did take awhile to get it right. 1. Wrap the PecPad tightly around the tool, especially up at the end. You want a really nice tight surface against the sensor when cleaning. 2. Use about 3 drops of fluid and then dive right in. If you use too much fluid it's not good, and if you wait too long to start working, or work too slow, the fluid will evaporate before you finish. 3. I start on the left side at the top. Get the tool right into the corner and against the side and tip it slightly to the left as you sweep across. Use about as much pressure as when you write. Too light a touch won't clean anything. 4. As you approach the right side of the sensor straighten the tool up. 5. When you get to the edge move the tool straight down without removing it from the sensor. 6. Now tilt the tool slightly to the left and sweep the bottom half of the sensor, obviously overlapping what you just did. 7. As you approach the left side lift the tool straight up and when you hit the side lift the tool out. Any larger dust bunnies will show up if you let a light reflect across the sensor. IMHO people don't use enough pressure, or they don't wrap the pad tight enough so the pressure is nice and even on the sensor. Eventually you'll be able to clean it really clean with one cleaning, but it's okay if it's not perfect. Hope this helps According to Paul Furman <paul-@-edgehill.net>: > Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I > reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > around. Much worse that before I tried cleaning. I've used half a $50 > pack of swabs now!!! Is it possible that there is an unusual amount of dust in your work area at the time you are trying this? Other than that -- all I can do is to speculate intelligent and malicious dust. :-) Good Luck, DoN. SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- > Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I > reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > HELP Makers of those overpriced q-tips must jump for joy that neither Canon nor Nikon have seen fit to implement some kind of dust control system. > Damn, I went through 6 frickin swab sticks, 12 if you count that I > reversed them & used the inside too and the god damned dust just gets [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > around. Much worse that before I tried cleaning. I've used half a $50 > pack of swabs now!!! Get a good blower bulb and attach a long thin straw. Get the tip within a couple mm of the sensor and pump. Do this a dozen or so pumps over areas of the sensor and then take a test shot (f/16 1/15 out of focus white wall or some such while letting the camera 'pan'). I find after a couple iterations it's all fine and dandy ... and the odd tiny spec that stays is mostly lost in the image 90% of the time anyway.... Of course now that you've used a liquid, I'm not sure if the above will work... Cheers, Alan Signature-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm -- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin -- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch. |
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