DSLR SENSOR CLEANINGBasic Information for Photographers

CLEANING DIGITAL CAMERAS

• Primary Web Site Resource• www.CleaningDigitalCameras.com - This web site which as you have seen is a

comprehensive look at the entire D-SLR Sensor Cleaning subject.

• Additional Web Sites• www.WetMethod.com - An in-depth look at the "Wet Method" of sensor cleaning.• www.DryMethod.com - An in-depth look at the "Dry Methods" of sensor

cleaning.• www.BrushMethod.com - An in-depth look at using a brush to clean your sensor.• www.SensorInspection.com - An in-depth look at inspecting your sensor for

contaminants/dust and the tools used to accomplish this.  / / Under Construction \ \

• www.DustFreePhoto.com - Dust Free Photography is our HD Video training series on Cleaning Your D-SLR Sensor.

CLEANING DIGITAL CAMERAS

• We call it cleaning the sensor, but in reality you never actually clean the sensor itself, but a low pass filter mounted in front of the sensor.

• Not everyone is capable of cleaning their own sensors, we all have different strengths and weaknesses. If you have a steady hand and a good mechanical aptitude, you may well be capable of accomplishing this task successfully.

• I don't want to scare you, but if you don't do it right, you can mess up your camera. If you still don't feel comfortable after reading all the instructions, by all means don't attempt this. Take your camera to a professional.

SIMPLE CLEANING STEPS

• Inspect for dust.• Use a loupe inspection device.• Alternatively, shoot a image that shows the dust.

• Clean sensor with the camera held upside down and using blown air from a hand-held “rocket” air blower.

• Dry clean the sensor only with a sensor brush. Do not wipe a swab dry across the sensor or use any brush other than one designed to clean sensors.

• Inspect the sensor to see if the dry cleaning sufficed.

• If necessary, wet clean the sensor

• Inspect and determine if repeated cleaning using wet cleaning is needed.

CLEANING METHODS

• Sensor Swab™ and Eclipse™ - Eclipse/Methanol is the chemical of choice by the engineers and optical specialist of Nikon, Kodak, Fuji and Leica. You use a swab of one type or another, put a couple (2-3) drops of chemical on it and wipe the low pass filter.• Pros: This is the most widely used method and when done correctly will

clean the sensor 99.999% of the time. The manufacturer of these products have a guarantee against damage to the sensor. This is the ONLY physical contact method endorsed by any manufacturer. Recommended by Kodak, Fuji and Leica! Dries extremely fast.

• Cons: The chemical used here (Methanol) is flammable and cannot be shipped by air. Methanol is also illegal to possess in certain countries without a license.

CLEANING METHODS

• Sensor Cleaning Brush The term sensor brush is a generic term just like hair brush, tooth brush and scrub brush and there are multiple manufacturers of sensor brushes. Sensor Brush™/D-SLR Brush™/Arctic Butterfly™/Sensor Sweep™ - A brush used to sweep and extract the dust. The brush is energized to attract dust by blowing air through it creating a static charge, this effect is called the triboelectric effect. Dust that has attached itself with moisture, (to use Thom Hogan's coined term) "Welded Dust" or pollen, will not be removed with this method.

• Pros: No liquid required and works 99% of the time on non-welded dust. Safe for travel (OK to fly with).

• Cons: The drawback to this method is that you are using the same surface to physically touch the low pass filter over and over again. With this in mind it is very important that you keep the brush and mirror chamber free of contaminants. Does not work on "Welded Dust". Not guaranteed* by its manufacturer to not damage your sensor.

CLEANING METHODS

• Blowing - This is the method you will see described in your owners manual from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax & Sigma. They don't want you touching the low pass filter for liability reasons., None of these manufacturers use this as their exclusive in-house method to clean the low pass filters. Yes, blowing should ALWAYS be part of your ritual, but using it as your only method and hoping the dust will leave is a waste of time in most cases.

• Pros: Blowers are cheap to buy and can be carried most anywhere. This is a non- physical contact method so chances of damaging the sensor is nill.

• Cons: Will not remove pollen or dust that is attached with moisture. Dust attached with a static charge is also hard to remove with this method.

SENSOR COATING TRIVIA• First, don’t be put off by Nikon’s disclaimers (both Fujifi lm and Kodak endorsed user

cleaning that touches the sensor if done properly). The Lithium Niobate filter over the Nikon sensors is somewhat diffi cult to scratch if you use the right tools• On the MHOS Scale of Hardness table that ranges from talc at 0 to diamond at 10, Lithium

Niobate is a 5, the same as Apatite, and a bit lower than Orthoclase and Quartz; Fujifi lm and Kodak don't identify the material they use [nor does Nikon on the latest cameras], but it seems just as durable). While it's possible to scratch the fi lter surface, it's also not at all easy to do if you're using the right tools.

• Nikon currently uses filters that have a special additional coating on them ( Indium Tin Oxide, or ITO for short).• This coating is there to help the fi lter "shed" dust more easily (it essentially blocks some

of the static charge that can build up and attract the dust). As with any coating, it is possible to damage it, and when you do so, the fi lter essentially needs to be replaced.

• When ITO first became known, it was perceived that an ITO-coated sensor was easier to damage than a non-ITO one. In theory, that's probably true, but in practice it doesn't appear to make any difference. Photographic Solutions dropped their special ITO-only cleaning fluid and now has gone back to Eclipse as their only sensor cleaning solution. Photographic Solutions honors their "no sensor damage" guarantee regardless of whether you clean a non-ITO or ITO fi lter with Eclipse.

CLEANING PRECAUTIONS & TIPS

• Ensure you are working with a camera on a fully charged battery or alternatively, use your camera’s AC adapter so that you are ensured no power interruption

• Find a clean environment to accomplish your sensor cleaning – do it indoors in an area free of dust, pet dander, etc.. Make sure you are not underneath a air conditioning output vent or where anything can fall down into the camera when its open and exposed. Do not clean your camera sensor outdoors. If you need to clean in the field, locate a good clean environment.

• Take your time. Identify a time when you can work uninterrupted and without rushing yourself. Leave yourself 20 – 45 minutes time.

CLEANING PRECAUTIONS & TIPS

• We would STRONGLY recommend staying away from the "Hurricane" brand of blowers as there has been numerous reports of this brand of blower spewing particles of rubber onto the sensor.

• Do Not use just any brush to clean the sensor, make sure you buy one that has gone through some rigorous testing and is backed by a reputable firm. There are some people out there that will go down to the local five and dime and buy some brushes then try to sell them out of their garage/internet or on eBay for the purpose of cleaning sensors. They have nothing to lose when YOU screw up YOUR sensor with their inferior items.

• Do Not use air compressors or canned air when cleaning optics. You might get lucky some of the time, but both will release unwanted moisture under certain circumstances. This is why we highly recommend the use of foot or hand powered blowers.

CLEANING PRECAUTIONS & TIPS

• Follow the instruction for putting your camera into its "CLEANING MODE". If you try using bulb or a long shutter speed to access the sensor, it is energized and generating static electricity which attracts dust. Attempting to clean the sensor without using the cleaning mode may result in the shutter closing on your cleaning utensil resulting in an expensive repair. There is also the possibility of damage by too much light if sensor is energized and exposed to direct bright light.

• Do Not Cut the Pec*Pads as this will cause them to lose their lint free status as cutting will cause fraying. If you do attempt to cut one, make sure you fold the cut end in so that it is not exposed.

CLEANING PRECAUTIONS & TIPS• PRECAUTION: The #1 issue consumers are having with the "Brush Method" is the brush

leaving smear marks on their sensor. This is caused by a contaminated brush and there are 3 main ways a brush becomes contaminated:• By Canned Air. I have yet to see any canned air that is contaminant free 100% of the time

and this is why we (www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com) do NOT recommend any type or brand. Sure some have a lesser potential to spew contaminants than others. A hand blower like a Giotto's Rocket or better yet, a foot pump like a Sevylor have 1000 times less chance of contaminating your brush and they are much cheaper.

• By a Dirty Mirror Box. Your mirror and shutter mechanisms have been oiled & greased as they do have moving parts. Sometimes this lubricant travels to places in the mirror chamber that can be accessed by the brush when trying to clean the sensor. To eliminate this, you need to clean the mirror chamber with a product similar to Eclipse™ on a Chamber Swab™ or Visible Dust's Chamber Clean. Cleaning the mirror chamber first before using a brush for the first time is mandatory on the Canon 1D, 1Ds, 1D Mark II and 1Ds Mark II cameras due to the type of paint Canon used in this area on these models.

• By Human Skin. DO NOT touch the fibers of the brush with any part of your skin, no matter how recently you washed. There are natural oils on your skin and these show up as smears on your sensor. If you are reading this after the fact (you already touched the fibers of the brush against your skin) you need to wash the brush before using it on the sensor.

INSPECT YOUR CAMERA SENSOR• Inspect the sensor:

• Use a sensor inspection device• Pick it up and turn the lamp on• Place it over the lens mount and look at the sensor

• Shoot a test image• Take your camera out of it's cleaning mode• Re-attach the lens• Re-insert the media• Set the camera settings for shooting a test image• Shoot the test image• Pull the media out of the camera• Insert the media into your computer• Open the file just shot with PhotoShop• Change the settings of the image (levels) with Photoshop to be able to see the dust spots• Remove the lens from the camera• Put the camera in it's cleaning mode• Now clean (please remember that the image in Photoshop is vertically flipped from when you are

looking at your sensor.) 

INSPECT YOUR CAMERA SENSOR

• Using a sensor inspection device is preferred over having to shoot test images, you will save an enormous amount of time when cleaning your D-SLR Sensor with a inspection device.  If you don't have one yet, I highly recommend that you go out and buy one now, you won't regret it.

• It doesn't matter how good your eyes are, they are not good enough to do the job on their own. Dust particles that are smaller than what you can see with the naked eye, can affect your images. The higher the power of the inspection device, the smaller the particles you will be able to see. In most cases a 5x is sufficient.  

MATERIALS & CLEANING STEPS

• The Materials• Many of the instructions we’ve seen describe using the SensorSwabs from Photographic

Solutions. The products of Photographic Solutions have made the process of swabbing your own sensor a possibility. The SensorSwabs come in three different sizes to match the sensor width.

• Pec*Pads, also from Photographic Solutions, are the wipes of choice—soft, absorbent, and lint free, they stand out as one of the safest wipes you can buy. We’ve yet to find anything that matches the Pec*Pads for cleaning optics.

• Eclipse™ , yet another product of Photographic Solutions, is by far the preferred cleaning solution. Sensor Clean™ is another suitable solution and is Travel Safe but doesn't dry near as fast and sometimes leaves a film that needs polished off.

• Traditional solutions for cleaning optics, like isopropanol and denatured alcohol, may dry too slowly. As a result, they can leave a residue on the optic—a residue you have to clean off using a dry tissue. But you should never wipe the sensor filter with anything that’s dry. Although you aren’t as likely to damage the sensor with a moist swab, you will very likely cause damage with a dry swab. Eclipse™ contains methanol. So it dries almost instantly—nearly as fast as you wipe it on. There’s no residue, and you never have to touch the sensor with a dry tissue.

MATERIALS & CLEANING STEPS

• The Materials (Continued)• What else do you need? You need some type of air blower (we’ll describe the procedures

for blowing off the sensor, as well as the recommended air blowers, in a moment).

• The first step—locking up the mirror and shutter• Follow the instructions for your camera. Read the manual.

• The second step—blowing off the sensor• Blowing off the sensor is a recommended first step in cleaning. It’s also a safe step that

should not cause damage as long as you’re using a proper air blower and technique. You probably won’t completely remove the dust—the air blower may just get the larger, looser chunks. But those larger bits of dirt are what you want to remove. When you later swab the sensor, a large piece of grit dragged along by the swab could scratch the sensor filter. A scratch on the filter has a worse effect than the dust; the scratch may refract the light, causing a light spectrum to appear in the image. This first step of blowing off the sensor should remove any foreign material that could cause damage.

MATERIALS & CLEANING STEPS

• The third step—using one of the many sensor cleaning brushes• Essentially a brush with extremely fine and soft bristles that have no coatings.• You use compressed air (or CO2, or a very strong foot pump) to charge and clean

the bristles. You must clean and charge the edge of the brush with air after every pass across the sensor.

• Light dust (in dry climates) is held onto the sensor by surface tension and static buildup, and what you're trying to do is break that bond and transfer the dust to another surface (the brush).

• Used correctly, the Sensor Brush works very well on most dust. Indeed, in a dusty, dry environment, it's usually the only cleaning tool needed.

• The biggest issue you face with this product is keeping your brush clean (the original Sensor Brushes come in a protective case. The second biggest issue is that it can't remove dust which is welded; but that's why you bought Sensor Swabs, too.

MATERIALS & CLEANING STEPS

• Inspect your sensor• Using good lighting—an inspection loupe or perhaps a small flashlight—check

the sensor for specks of dust.• Magnifiers, such as a watchmaker’s loupe or optivisor, may help. As a matter of

fact it will help and save you time. With the optivisor you will be able to see most any dust on the sensor if any is left after a cleaning method. This save time by telling you that you really need to do some more cleaning before wasting your time on another test.

• The sensor should appear nearly clean after the blowing step; at least those larger chunks of grit you don’t want to scrape across the sensor should be gone. Smaller specks, even though they appear on the image, may be nearly invisible on the sensor. Or they may be stuck to the filter, resisting the air blower.

• That brings us to the fourth step—actually swabbing the sensor with methanol. 

• The fourth step—swabbing the sensor — AKA "The Wet Method“• Use a sensor swab. These are a simple blade-like swab that you wet with a

solution before swiping them across the filter to clean it.• Photographic Solutions produced a new version that has a full, thin, plastic

"blade" behind the cleaning material. It's now possible to maintain even pressure across the edge without it collapsing, even when very wet. The blade itself is a very soft plastic and can't really be forced hard enough to damage a sensor or filter surface.

• Basically, you only use a Sensor Swab when you have a persistent dust particle that isn't removed by blowing, in-camera shake-off, or brush, or you have what is called welded dust.

• The Last Step—Inspect you sensor and repeat step four if necessary

WHAT THE MANUFACTURERS DO

• Canon - Blower and a Kimwipe, held by tweezers. They do not like to use fluid but when necessary they use either 90% isopropyl alcohol or a 50/50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol and Windex.

• Fuji - Photographic Solutions Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™

• Kodak - Photographic Solutions Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™

• Leica - Photographic Solutions Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™

• Nikon - A commercial grade lens tissue wrapped around a chopstick style piece of wood with medical grade methanol. Several forums have posts where readers have been to Nikon Service outside the USA and reported seeing the technicians using Sensors Swabs and Eclipse.

• Olympus - A Kimwipe held by tweezers and Olympus Proprietary Solution (dries quickly without streaks and is bio-degradable).

• Pentax - A special lint free cloth (provided from Japan) folded into a small square and held with a pair of tweezers as a swab moistened with a freon derivative.

• Sigma - Uses a special vacuum cleaner that was provided by Japan.

• Sony - Uses Sensor Swabs™ and Eclipse™ by Photographic Solutions.

WWW.CLEANINGDIGITALCAMERAS.COM

• The sponsor of this site is Fargo Enterprises, Inc. (FEI) of Vacaville, Ca., USA. FEI's, CEO Curt Fargo, a Certified Photographic Consultant, has been in the photographic industry since 1975 and in the camera repair industry since 1980. First, as a camera repairman and now as the director of FEI. FEI provides many different types of services to the camera repair industry.

• The difference between this site and others is:• These instructions are written by a Certified Photographic Consultant & Professional Camera

Repairman, Curt Fargo, and Camera Repairs most published author, Larry Lyells• Developed from real world experiences and written in layman's terms• We are a regular business with a store front• With an appointment, we will even show you in person how to accomplish this task (free of

charge)• We want you to be able to clean YOUR sensor no matter where you have bought your supplies

from• We don't offer information on only one method, we offer information on ALL major methods• We don't represent any one manufacturer and we sell no advertising to help keep our information

unbiased

OTHER RESOURCES

• Cleaning Sensors by Thom Hogan• http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

• Photographic Solutions• Maker of the number one Digital SLR sensor cleaning products• http://photosol.com/

• VisibleDust – The Science Behind Sensor Cleaning• Maker of the popular “Arctic Butterfly” dry cleaning brush• http://www.visibledust.com/index.php

A VIDEO IS WORTH A THOUSAND QUESTIONS

Any Questions?

We will follow this with some videos that demonstrate the information and techniques discussed in this presentation.