5D Sensor Cleaning

[Interpreter]

I notice that every image that I have printed from my new 5D camera has a small smudge at the centre top of the print. It has done this since new and I assume that it is an oil smudge. Up to now the area has been blue sky and I have used Photosuite to clone another area of sky over it. But the time has come to remove it by cleaning the sensor.

What I was going to do was remove the lens and leave the camera in soak overnight in a bowl of warm washing up liquid. Fairy cleans most things, so it should work on a sensor. The camera is not 'dish-washer safe' so that is out. Anyway, one of my friends, who knows about cameras, tells me that this is NOT the way to do it and has pointed me in the direction of the EOS magazine shop and suggested that I buy some of their cleaning liquid and cleaning thingies that look like cotton wool buds, but cost somewhat more - £28 for 10!

Apart from making sure that I have a fully charged battery to keep the shutter open, are there any other pitfalls to avoid? I can put the BG-E4 on it and use two batteries: I don't have the mains adaptor.

[Interpreter]

Today I cleaned my sensor.

I followed the advice of cameraclean and photographed a bright, light subject - a piece of A3 white paper using Av at f16. I downloaded the image onto my computer and converted it into a TIF file. I then zoomed in on it using MGI Photosuite Premium and made sure that the blur was still there. It was at the top centre of the image.

I then fitted the BG-E4 battery grip to the camera and inserted two charged batteries. Menu on and select sensor cleaning and the mirror locked up and the shutter opened. As the blur was caused by an oily deposit, I gently wiped the bottom of the sensor with a cotton wool bud. I wiped the bottom because I assumed that the image was inverted the same as in a film camera. The physics are the same. I blew out the compartment with a rocket blower and then switched the camera off. The shutter closed and the mirror came down.

I replaced the lens and took another photograph of the white sheet of paper. On examination the blur was gone and there was no trace of dust. My method of cleaning the sensor is not the recommended one. Normally I would not have used a cotton wool bud, but used a wet sensor wipe and Eclipse liquid, or something similar. However as this was only a single oil mark and the buds which I have are quite solid, gentle wiping with a dry bud was all that was needed. Any particles left by the bud were blown out with the rocket blower.

Cameraclean offer a sensor cleaning kit at around £22. It consists of Eclipse liquid and a number of sensor wipes of the right size for the sensor. Some dry wipes are included with the kit. Their website offers useful information on sensor cleaning.

[Bug Lady]

Thanks for that info, I have to admit that the one thing that worries me about my digital SLR is the prospect of having to clean the sensor.

The idea of a "dish-washer safe" camera had me laughing out loud, glad that you found the correct way to do things

[Interpreter]

I have a theory that most of the dust and muck is already inside the camera when it is sold. The only time that the sensor is open to anything outside the camera is during that 1/500th of a second that the shutter is open while the exposure is made. The mirror rests on seals when it is up or down. They act as dampers to prevent the mirror bouncing when it comes to rest and should keep the atmosphere away from the sensor.
Using the camera dislodges the dust and muck which is inside the camera and it drops onto the sensor. I doubt that cameras are made in dustproof conditions. When you change lenses, dust can enter the camera as far as the mirror and the use of a good blower, such as the rocket, should remove the dust from the area of the mirror and view finder.
I could very well be wrong about this, but my own camera, a 5D, came with an oily mark on the sensor, when it was new. My 350D has never suffered from dust or oily marks on the sensor and I use the same lenses on both cameras.

[mh68]

You may well be right. I`ve read of a few people who`ve had brand new unused DSLRs with sensor dust. I`ve also heard of a few people who`ve had non-DSLR type cameras (effectively a totally sealed unit compared to a DSLR body) with internal dust which eventually worked its way onto the sensor or the inner lens elements, in which case it must have been in the camera from the manufacturing stage.
It`s also possible that a lot of "dust" in the case of DSLRs is in fact small particles from the lens mounts which naturally wear if you change lenses a lot. I think it was Eeyore who mentioned a while ago about some zoom lenses sucking in dust too, so not all "dust" is caused by particles entering the body when changing lenses.

Mark H

[nightshade]

In days of yore cameras (film) came into the country with live cargoes of mites that gave strange dust speckles that could not be found,then reappeared elsewhere on the images until it was realised they were
live

[mh68]

Originally Posted by nightshade

In days of yore cameras (film) came into the country with live cargoes of mites that gave strange dust speckles that could not be found,then reappeared elsewhere on the images until it was realised they were
live

Never heard of that before - bet that caused some major confusion !!

Mark H

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by mh68

You may well be right. I`ve read of a few people who`ve had brand new unused DSLRs with sensor dust. I`ve also heard of a few people who`ve had non-DSLR type cameras (effectively a totally sealed unit compared to a DSLR body) with internal dust which eventually worked its way onto the sensor or the inner lens elements, in which case it must have been in the camera from the manufacturing stage.
It`s also possible that a lot of "dust" in the case of DSLRs is in fact small particles from the lens mounts which naturally wear if you change lenses a lot. I think it was Eeyore who mentioned a while ago about some zoom lenses sucking in dust too, so not all "dust" is caused by particles entering the body when changing lenses.

Mark H

If that's true, then my camera was made in the dirtiest, dustiest place on earth!

How Interpreter has managed NEVER to get dust onto his sensor is to me simply amazing.
EVERY time I change my lenses, I guarantee there will be dust showing.
I'm always as careful as I can be when changing, I only remove the lens when the other one is ready, I keep the camera body pointing downwards, and I do it 99% of the time in the rear of my car so there is no wind.
I just accept there will be dust, if it's just a couple of small specs that won't move with the rocket I'll put up with them, otherwise I'd be cleaning the darn thing everyday!

[HowlinWolf]

Originally Posted by nightshade

In days of yore cameras (film) came into the country with live cargoes of mites that gave strange dust speckles that could not be found,then reappeared elsewhere on the images until it was realised they were
live

This is true. The mites used to feed on the film emulsion, and could sometimes be seen life-sized on the negs or trannys. One way of removing them was to remove the lens, open the camera back, and fire the shutter a few times in the hope that they would be blown out of the camera. Another alternative was to place the camera (lens removed) into a seal-able plastic container overnight with a piece of flea collar. The chemicals in the collar were supposed to kill-off the uninvited guests.

I've used a D200 since November last year, and apart from a piece of fluff that was easily removed with a blower, I've not had any trouble with sensor dust, but as I'm usually shooting at f/2.8-f/4 then maybe I just don't see it.

All lenses will eventually get some dust inside. It's just something you have to learn to live with.

HW

[mh68]

It just shows that even if taking the utmost care, sensor dust is unavoidable, and the fact that its possible to be either very lucky, or unlucky as regards dust problems.
Reading these posts got me wondering - does repetitive sensor cleaning eventually cause damage/wear on the sensor over time?

Mark H