Sensor Cleaning - Price ? DIY?

Hi Neal….Well, if you happen to be swinging by Beijing, I know the Canon office here does if for 100Yuan=US$15 ….bit of a long way to come for a sensor clean though. Hope this message finds you well. Best, Sean.

i paid $40 plus tax at Photo Tech on 13th street here in nyc. good job…and done in an hour. canon mk ii.

The going rates around DC is 100 bucks, though I’m sure you can find better out there.

Aaron, have you (or anyone you know and trust) used any particular store in the DC area, and been satisfied?

Neal,
Pro Photo on 19th and I NW is a good place to go. Want to meet up there this week?
Bill.

PS – have you tried a blast of canned air? haha

Neal, Are these cities big & bad enough?

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?ac.ui.pn=sensorcleaning

In Phoenix/Tucson, it runs anywhere from $40-$60. I’ve paid ~$80 at Penn in DC.

OR: Just buy the Visible Dust “Arctic Butterfly & Swab” kits and do it yourself.

Greg, I just wish there was a Calumet in DC…sadly I don’t have any plans to go to NYC for a few weeks and my baby needs a CLEANING… Regrettably I don’t yet have the confidence to do it myself. Do you do your own?

Bill, the $120 quote I got was from Pro Photo. I think the guy knew what he was doing, but that STILL seemed steep to me…like maybe he saw a guy with a D3 and decided to ratchet up the price. I don’t know…don’t want to accuse. I normally would go to Strauss, but had a poor experience with them last time I needed repair.

Did you try the Penn Camera at Metro Center? Methinks it’s on E St. NW. I know it’s right by the Metro station.

Neal

I used to have my sensor cleaned on my D1H, D1X, and D2X for free at the Nikon Service Center in Seoul. Expensive stuff in North America.

Neal…I bought the stuff but haven’t used it as yet. I’m really anal with my equipp. and can see only one dust orb on prints which I zap with the clone tool. When any more show up I’ll take a stiff drink and spring into action. That guy in the Calumet photo looks like he’s using a Visible Dust Swab and some kind of air gun (not canned air). Must take him less than 2 minutes to clean the sensor …then charge $60. bucks. C’mon folks…we’re all pros here. If ya’ll have the balls to be shot at, beat up, spit on, harassed, arrested,and get the shits and worse in third world countries, then what’s a little photo chip going to do? Learn to clean the chip and change your underwear! HA!!!

PS…Don’t forget to floss!

Change underwear? Hmmm…..marginal concept! But clean sensors ARE important.

Which leads one to wonder – did Robert Capa change his underwear in Spain in 1938? I know that several well-known photogs in the last half of the 60s in Southeast Asia did NOT!

It appears I am hijacking my own thread, so I’d better behave. I thought some collective value for the community might come out of this question.

:):):):):)...

Neal,
I asked the other day at ProPhoto, for a 5D, and they told me that same price ($120), minimum. I go there often and have bought equipment from them, so I guess that’s their real price (they are super nice people, by the way). I find it ridiculously expensive … Would love to know if you find something cheaper in town…

Nacho, they did seem both nice and competent. They did a free diagnosis and saw crud that I had not been able to see at all. So I feel I owe them something to start with for their free consult. I had just never done business with them, and the price seemed high (confirmed by the info from others here).

I gues my sense of fairness will lead me to them. I hope they can give me a fast turn-around.

They are definitely nice and competent, if on the pricey side … I might bring them my camera too, although I am not crazy about spending that much.

Regarding turn-around, they told me they could probably have the sensor cleaned in a couple of days.

Neal,

At Foundry, Guy recommended Visible Dust. I haven’t tried it but it might be worth asking around. http://www.visibledust.com/

Thanks, Charlie. That seems to be the reigning vendor of sensor cleaning equipment, used by retail pros as well.

Sr. Sharko may be right…shouldn’t we just learn to do it ourselves? I have been scrupulous about changing lenses only in ostensibly clean environments (even in Mongolia, the Carribean, etc.), but somehow several pieces of mega-crud still crept into my well-sealed D3. So I guess I’d better learn ‘cause the next time I may be nowhere near a Calumet or a Pro Photo (no branches in Columbia or Mali, which are on my schedule). In fact right now I am living a couple of hours away from DC and will make a special trip into town to get this done.

I would recommend investing your money in a cleaning kit, and paying someone to teach you how to
clean a sensor if you have to, but, LEARN how to do it. Learn how to fish.
A rocket blower might be involved, but this is not rocket science!
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Giottos-Rocket-Air-Blower-Review.aspx

Get some swabs, eclipse fluid that you can take with you because Murphy’s law dictates
that the odds of a sensor getting dirty increase exponentially with the distance from a camera store.

I bet you can find a nice LS member willing to clean the sensor with you or someone to let you
watch as he works on his own gear.
A few beers AFTER the cleaning the sensor might just be the incentive needed, but, going out without a
kit is – to me – like going mountain biking without a pump, diving naked, etc.

I know I was shaky the first time around, but being able to do this now, brings me peace
of mind instead, and is part of the routine (like topping batteries and formating cards).

See if you can do it with an older camera to start with before you start playing with the D3.
The only issue here is that swabs come in different sizes for APSC and FF, so get one each as it is pocket
change after all, and you’ll probably end up cleaning friends cameras (who’ll buy dinner in return).
Not being held hostage by dust bunnies is pretty priceless.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/sensor-cleaning.shtml

Looks like you came to the same conclusion as I was typing.

Last tip: eclipse fluid is VERY VERY volatile, so when you are done using it, make sure you put the cap back on the bottle REALLY tight, and some extra gaffer is a good idea, otherwise you may find an empty bottle next time around.

The Luminous Landscape article (a little old but apparently somewhat updated) has a few points I had not considered:

The Eclipse fluid needed is flammable (it’s methanol). So, legally, one cannot fly with it. I suppose that one answer would be that if you carry a small enough quantity, you won’t inflict much of a risk on your fellow passengers (at least by comparison with thousands of gallon of jet fuel already on board), thus complying with the spirit if not the letter of the law. I am sure that some women’s cosmetics are almost as flammable, but they are allowed. Putting the fluid in a 3 oz./100 ml bottle which goes in that little plastic bag with your shampoo might be a way. But, hey, I won’t be the one to suggest that you break the law!

A logical conjecture in the article is that one should only change lenses with the camera turned OFF. This reduces the charge on the sensor and might well reduce its attractiveness to floating particles . Makes sense to me, and the cost is nil.

Also making sense is the writer’s conjecture that the sensor is more charged up after a series of fast shots (for example, shooting in continuous mode). The solution is not to change lenses when you’ve just done that, or at least to realize that there is a greater risk at that time and seek a place that is less likely to have debris floating around in the air.

Geez! Always something new to learn in this digital world!

Strewth Neal -120 dollars for a clean ccd !! I got mine cleaned in the UK for the equivalent of $50.
Tried to clean it myself with eclipse fluid-just made it worse! Dunno why as I used to use sensor swabs and eclipse before with no problems. Probably because I was in too much of a hurry-it’s not something to rush.

Changing lenses with the camera switched off makes sense to me-also pointing the camera downwards when fitting lenses. Using a blower first around the mirror box before blowing on the ccd seems to help too-keeping the camera lens mount pointed downwards all the time.

Worst cleaning job I had to do was after an airshow-smeary blobs on the ccd. Not sure if that was oily vapour off the jets or what, but it was a bugger to remove!

I have had oily deposits get on the sensor once, and the first pass did indeed make things worse. Just stay calm, and do it again with a clean swab. Didn’t work? Do it again! I had to repeat the drill 5 times, but it finally came off. Just don’t rub, be patient and it will come off.
I was really worried until I saw a Nikon tech at work, and realized that I could be a lot more “aggressive” than I initially was.
BTW, I don’t know if it is the case in the US, but at the repair center in Paris, Nikon cleans sensors free of charge during the first year of ownership (or at least, used to, bring invoice), and only charge 25 euros after that. In case someone is traveling, or you have a Nikon center where you can drop off gear nearby, look into it, they might do it too.
I am not worried about flying with 3oz of eclipse, but it goes with checked luggage. I didn’t buy any air/CO2 self propelled gas system for that reason though, and use a rocket blower (plus it never goes empty).

I’ve always wanted a Rocket blower. I could have had a lot of fun with it in the third grade. This is now my chance to get one! It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.

:-))

Cleaning one’s own pro sensor with anything but a blower is as smart as doing one’s own eye surgery. Talk to anyone at any DSLR factory repair center and ask about invalidated warranties if you have an argument with what I just said. Nothing kills sensors faster and better than DYI swab cleaning.

Want a clean sensor? Turn the stupid camera off before changing lenses because charged sensors attract dirt.

Is it OK to load film in a camera these days, or should we go back to 1888 when Eastman Kodak would let you press the shutter and do the rest?
Nikon sells a sensor cleaning kit in Japan but nowhere else. I wonder if they gave up on us for fear we cannot follow instructions, and will toss the camera to dry with the cat in the microwave. There will always be someone asking their 5 year old to hold the mirror up with pliers.
Nikon teaches model specific classes in Paris. From what I have been told, used to be that the last half hour was spent cleaning sensors.
Nikon released a firmware for the D2x a year ago to include mirror lock up withOUT external power supply for sensor cleaning.
They sure make it easy on us when it comes to voiding the warranty.

Anyway, Stoop, you are right about the warranty thingy, the folks who make sensor swabs know about it too:
=========
Photographic Solutions, Inc. guarantees that it’s Sensor Swab, BrushOff, Eclipse or E2 products will cause no damage to the CCD or CMOS sensor when used in accordance with the instructions provided by the camera manufacturer and/or Photographic Solutions website (PS). If it is determined that these products caused physical damage to the sensor, PS will reimburse the camera owner for the full cost of repairs upon presentation to PS of proof of purchase, camera manufacturer’s repair invoice and the damaged sensor. This warranty applies to all cameras and in any country.
===========
Anyway, remembered a good article on sensor cleaning:
http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

This is Neal’s thread, so I won’t even make an attempt at writing a disclaimer of liability.
Do whatever you feel the most comfortable with, I personally think DIY is the way to go.

Wow, Olivier! That article by “Thom,” or I should say PhD dissertation, is terrific.

BTW, I recall that after I got my D200 I went to a lecture by the regional Nikon rep to a hotel ballroom full of pros and serious amateurs, and he spent some time talking about how you needed to plug the camera into a separate power supply when you went into lock-up mode to clean the sensor. He also talked quite a bit about cleaning the sensor (even had a PowerPoint that showed the cover over the sensor). I don’t recall a lot of “do not do this” rhetoric. So Nikon USA obviously knows people are cleaning their own sensors and presumably incorporates some protection into the product.

The sensor is indeed a critically sensitive part of a camera, and any activity around it is bound to put it at risk. And given the presence in the US population of some statistically significant number of ding-a-lings (who can do many unbelievably dumb things), and the product liability principles of the US legal system, I can see why Nikon disclaims any responsibility when people start cleaning sensors.

But, Stoop, the people who are cleaning lenses for money – even at Nikon factory-authorized repair facilities – are human beings too. I suspect they are no more careful than would be the typical owner of a pro-level DSLR which set the owner back several weeks’ worth of income. I am now convinced that in the end a pro ought to be able to clean their sensor with minimal risk if done with care. But that is not a warranty. Anyway, I ain’t liable for anythin’ said on this thread! (how did we get into that anyway?).

But today I am driving into DC to separate myself from a C-note plus to let Pro Photo do it…at least this time. Ouch!

BTW, Will, I like Penn Camera too and have done a lot of business with them. But I went into Pro Camera because I needed something Penn did not have and that’s how we got started on this saga (I knew I had sensor crud beforehand but no idea how much!)

Neal, I don’t mean to sound pessimistic at all, and I would expect a shop who charges a benjamin to do a top notch job – but – since I have had a so-so experience with Nikon the first and only time I had a sensor cleaned (that’s when I started doing it myself), I’d suggest you bring your laptop with you when you go get the camera, then shoot white paper at f/16, grab a cup of java and open the files in PS to adjust levels and make sure everything is gone.

One last piece of advise, because I don’t remember seeing this in any article. When you clean the sensor area with a blower, dust can migrate to the focusing screen or mirror, which kind of spoils the view, and can become a PITA to clean. If the techs are testing the sensor condition with the camera in remote control mode, attached to a computer, it is pretty easy to miss that. So make sure you don’t come back with new dust specks in the viewfinder.