Digital Camera Imaging/Sensor Cleaning

[John Little]

Well, I have bought all the materials, the cleaning tools, the high priced cleaning solutions, and will be embarking on the big Nikon "No-No", this weekend.

Being fairly technical minded, I don't think I will have much trouble, but was wondering if anyone else had gone through this process with their digital camera ? Besides my warranty is out anyway's.

If I send the body in, it akes 5 weeks, and costs about $195.00 out of Denver. The cleaning systems cost me a total of $125.00.

The only other option was to buy a second body, but these are changing so fast I can't keep up with them.

Any thoughts before I "get 'er done"

John Little
Denver, Colorado

[Airport-Data]

Don't have a digital SLR myself, but a quick google found this:

http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

Hope it helps.

Ken

[John Little]

Hi Ken,

You were reading my mind. This was the article that set me out to figuring I could do this on my own.

Buying the clenaing materials instead of trying to be a re-inventor of the wheel sounded better.

We will see how well it all works.

Bottom line, the long term situation is that Digitial SLR makers are going to have to consider this in the future, as most people cannot be without their cameras for weeks on end, plus the sending it off to who knows where to take care of the dust issue.

Thanks for the info.

John Little

[Doug Robertson]

I Checked Ken's reference to the same good site you found, John, on cleaning the digital sensor with its caveats; the method and need apparently only apply to removable lens digital SLR cameras.

My pocket HP R607 digital camera has a fixed lens mount with variable 3 to 1 focal length zoom (35mm equivalent approximately 35 mm-105 mm) with protective lens slide when closed. So, the forum post does not apply to such simpler digital cameras. These pocket digital cameras have the sensor in an enclosed, protected area behind the fixed lens mount. I occasionally clean my optical lens the normal way; when the camera is on, the lens is open, extended and available for careful cleaning.
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PP ASEL

[John Little]

Hi Doug,

That sounds about right, since the D50 that I have is a D-SLR. I had some intersting results leaving Denver this morning and arriving in Las Vegas this afternoon, in that the dust bunnies are a bit more apparent here.

I was gathering that the better and less ozone prone sky's down here increase the ability to see this in the pictures, but it could also be the moisture problems cited in the article, since it was realloy dry in Denver, and there is some moisture in the air here today.

I will post the results from my efforts on Saturday. Based on what I find, and how it all turns out, then folks can decide if they want to try this or not.

John L

[Airport-Data]

It was reported Sony a100 (was Minolta) has an auto-clean function. It shakes the reflect mirror every time you turn the camera on. I am actually thinking about buy one, because I have an old Japanese version of Minolta film SLR camera with two lenes, and a100 is the only current DSLR which support Minolta mount.

Be careful and good luck.

[John Little]

I am going to look this up on the Sony site.....that sounds like a great feature to have for the digital SLR.

I wonder if it soes shake this off in a fashion like this, were does the dust wind up?

Careful will be my middle name on this situation.

Thanks for the information

[Airport-Data]

Just did a quick look. Actually a100 shakes the CCD sensor instead of mirror, during power-down. It also use the same mechanism to provide anti-shake function.

[rallyr]

I own one of the Minolta 5D models, now known as the Sony A100. They are essentially the same camera, but Sony went with a slightly higher resolution CCD but as a result they have a decrease in sensitivity. According to the reviews I have read the Sony gets noisy at high ISO settings and has a top ISO of 1600. The Minolta version has a top ISO of 3200 and very little noise. I have used the 3200 setting for indoor shooting with availably light only and it is fantastic!

I use two lenses for airport and aerial photos, both are old lenses from my Maxxum 35mm film camera. One is a 28-85mm and the other is 80-200mm. On the digital camera with its 25mm (APS format) sensor the effective image is a multiplier of 1.5.

The anti shake and self cleaning features do indeed work, at least withing limits. I did have to send my camera for warranty repair when the anti-shake sent south and stopped the entire camera from working. I wasn't happy about that, but it seems fine now and overall the camera is excellent.

Mike

[John Little]

Well the results are in.

While I did not cause any damage to the sensor, nor the imager protective cover, the cleaning process was not successful in terms of removing the dust bunnies from the array.

It merely moved them around, and in a couple of cases made some of the spots a tad bit larger than what they were. It did not leave any smears on the protective cover, and I was able to do the cleaning in low enough light that I did not weaken the immulsion surface in any way.

From the activity, you have to gauge simply by feel of how much down force pressure you have to put on the imagers protective cover, and that is very difficult to do because the holder for the fabric tip is a rigid piece of rolled paper (if you have ever seen a tootsie pop, that is what it is made of), and unless you are really, really attentive to the amount of cleaning solution on the fabric tip, it can easily begin to fold over on you, and once again the pressure sensitivity is lost.

For the first pass I followed the instructions implicitly, 1 small drop on each end of the sweep fabric tip, and then sweep the imager cover completely moving right to left in two equal strokes, insuring that you move completely over the edge of the cover. This resulted in some removing of the bunnies, so I waited about 4 hours and repeated the process with a second cleaner tip, using the same 2 drops, but with some additional pressure. Thus the results I indicated above, at which point, I decided that enough had been done, and it was not going to get any better.

So the game plan is to purchase an additional Nikon D80 body (un upgrade to the D50), then use the existing lens sets, and then send the D50 in for a professional cleaning which will take about 6 weeks out of Denver, then keep it as the spare body going forward, and then as they get dirty send them in on a rotating basis so that I always have a camera available.

So, if I use the standard manner to deem something of value, this one was a "2" Thumbs Down.

The process is painless enough, but nowhere near worth the roughly $160.00 (plus shipping) expended to try and make it happen, and the results did not come close to meeting any expectations.

Best,

John Little

[Doug Robertson]

Perhaps this suggestion is outrageous in its simplicity, but would a clean dry turkey baster gently squeezed dislodge the dust bunnies with just a bit of air pressure?
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PP ASEL

[John Little]

Hi Doug,

Actually your suggestion is not outrageous at all, as that was very close to my first attempt to clean the sensors protective cover. I used a very low volume air blower from a new and clean dust blower that we are all used to in the old camera day's, but without the duster on the end.

Thre is a syndrome with digital cameras that they call "welding" of the dust to the surface in which, if I understand the science right, the dust is held tightly due to static electricity.

While the liquid cleaning worked on some of the bunnies, others are locked onto the surface so tight they just won't come loose.

I talked with several factory folks in the business this evening here in town, and they admitted that they and the manufacture's are catching haites about this issue, and that even the very high end pro's are complaining loudly, because they do change lenses often, and that this issue is the next thing that should be addressed by the makers of dSLR's.

Otherwise they tell me "find the lens I like, and stick it on the camera, and don't change it if you don't have to".

[Doug Robertson]

Hi John,

$160 for a sensor cleaning kit sounds unreal; I commend you for the purchase, trial and sharing your results here. If one can afford it, the answer may lie in having a dedicated digital camera body for each lens, like in the old optical SLR days, to protect the digital sensor from dirt, dust, lint, etc. Then there would be no worries about spots in your pictures.

I still have a 1970s vintage working pair of same make/model optical SLR bodies with a 55mm F1.7 macro lens on one and a 28mm F2.8 wideangle on the other. I found I rarely used the 70-150mm F3.5 macro-zoom, or the motor driive with intervalometer and adjustable burst function. But, I don't lug all that weight around anymore, which included filters, lens hoods, tripod, spare film cans and batteries and a lightmeter, even though the bodies were aperature-preferred automatics.

Now I just use a single pocket 3 to 1 ratio zoom digital about the size of a pack of king size cigarettes. Always available, and can take about 200 shots per Li-ON battery charge. Of course, I cannot get good closeup shots of airliners in flight with that rig-but specialize in GA, warbirds and vintage aircraft, which are my real interests. The shirt-pocket digital has simplified my life, and no development or printing costs. Incidentally, 99+% of my shots are outdoors wearing sunglasses using the optical finder, not the screen. I wouldn't have a digital camera without that optical finder-but the trend is away from that with ever larger screens, which don't work for me in sunlight wearing prescription dark sunglasses.
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PP ASEL

[John Little]

When I am taking short trips, and I cannot predict whether I will get to an airport in the area, I still carry my small Nikon Point and Shoot Digital Camera, and it still takes great shots.

But I am the same as you, I do not like a camera without a viewfinder. I also wear glasses, and trying to view a scenary image through the LCD on the back in the sulight is not just difficult but dogone impossible (plus by the time you wrangle it all around, what you wanted to take a picture of has moved on) .

Also the other problem is that the Viewfinder on the point and shoots give the proper width and length of the final images view....the LCD's in most camera don't in most cases.

Per you last message, I have 18 lenses, and as I told the Nikon Rep, I cannot afford 18 different bodies, UNLESS Nikon was willing to give me a a buy one body and get 10 bodies free deal......< >

You probably know how that went over.......

[John Little]

It has only been 7 hours and 33 minutes, and I am already suffering from seperation anxiety.

The pains began as I filled out the paper work that the dealer handed me, as I carefully re-packaged my D50 into it's original box.

I carefully removed the Lens, took out the SD Card, and then the battery, removing the eyepiece hood, and placing them in a seperate bag, and then placing the original body cap back on the camera, wrapping the camera in the anti-static plastic wrap, and then sandwiching it between the foam packing materials, and then slipping it back into the shiny gold Nikon box that I first purchased the camera in.........

......then this tender moment was completely shattered with the words, $175.00 please, will that be plastic or cash, and we will see you back here in about 5 weeks !, also remember there are no guarantees that the camera will come back as clean as new, but we will ship it back to the factory, and they will do the best they can.

I pause to look in the camera case at the dealers store.....hmmmm there is that D80 I have read about, and the newly lower priced D200...........oh well, that will have to wait for a few more paychecks.

Now were the heck did I put my 8080s at ??.....Sams Club is going to have a field day with me for the next few weeks (40 rolls of 24 exposure ought to just about do it) !!