Comments on: How to clean your dSLR sensor

By: jim

jim — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:09:09 +0000

I’m with Fernando. I just cleaned my 5D with Scotch Tape. I’ve been cleaning my lenses (filters really), MacBook screens and my Apple Cinema display with Scotch Tape for years now. It lifts everything away. After all you are not cleaning the sensor but rather the glass over the sensor.

I learned the tape trick years ago on a photo internship from an old timer.

The other beautiful thing about the tape method is there is no rubbing the sensor which means no chance of scratches.

The real trick is to use two pieces of tape. The first piece is the one that you will lay on the sensor glass. The other piece will overlap. If you just use one piece it curls and is tough to lay flat
on the sensor. The second piece adds stability to the cleaning piece of tape. If you flex the tape where they overlap so the sticky side is bowing out you can position it exactly where you want in on the sensor and lay it down. Then simply peel it up and the tape will take your dust bunny with it.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:01:40 +0000

I own a small compressor with a pressure regulator and a moisture trap which I use with a small Aztek air brush. It’s not the type used by auto spray painters, it’s much smaller than that, I use it for spraying model aircraft.
I’m wondering if that would be safe to use at say around 10-15 psi for blowing dust off the sensor? Has anyone tried this method? Any tips??

By: Vicken

Vicken — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:34:32 +0000

I use a fluide to cleane my CCD named “ECLIPSE” it’s really great and i think the solution

By: Phat Photographer

Phat Photographer — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:10:52 +0000

I second using the Giottos Air Rocket, especially since it also doubles as a blower for cleaning your lens. As for a wet clean (which I’ve only had to do once), I highly recommend using Eclipse solution. It’s made by the same folks who make the Sensor Swab, but unlike the swabs you can’t make your own.

…and Frenando – that’s pretty scary stuff! The eclipse fluid and DIY swabs can be had for ~$10. It’s more than Scotch tape but not much, and a whole lot less than repairing a sensor.

By: gudmund

gudmund — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:12:49 +0000

Just a quick comment on the last step of test shooting to confirm if the sensor is indeed clean – it’s pretty essential to stop down the lens as much as possible at this stage, f22 or thereabouts, and ideally set it to the minimum focussing distance to see any remaining dust as clearly as possible.

Increasing the depth of field by stopping down will actually bring any dust particles on the sensor more into focus too.

If you test shoot at a wide aperture with focus set to infinity, only the largest dust particles will show up, and even against a plain background they will most likely only appear as faint dark marks.

By: Haje Jan Kamps

Haje Jan Kamps — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:23:49 +0000

Holy smokes, Fernando – that IS pretty kamikaze-like!

I’d probably seriously recommend against this, to be honest :o

- Haje

By: Fernando

Fernando — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:16:34 +0000

Now without the typos!

You may not believe me but I cleaned my Canon Rebel using the “kamikaze” Scotch tape method. Use the Scotch® Magic™ Tape 810 (Matte Finish-Permanent). Make a loop with the glue side out and carefully stick to the sensor. Then, even more carefully peel it off from one side. The sensor gets perfectly clean! Try it out first on a clean mirror and check if it leaves any goo.

Warning: I said “The Kamikaze Method”!

By: Fernando

Fernando — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:14:47 +0000

Warning: I said “The Kamikaze Method”!

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:50:17 +0000

Roger, I believe the hair will be on your mirror. Remove the lens and use an air blower. Don’t use mirror lock up

By: Victor Augusteo

Victor Augusteo — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:30:19 +0000

wow! this is a really helpful tutorial. i always wondered how to get rid of the dust in my lens and this definitely be a good guidance :)

By: Roger

Roger — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:55:02 +0000

After reading your article I was wondering if anyone can help. When I llok through my view finder on my eos 1000d, I can see what looks like a hair in the top left hand corner of the view finder. It does not affect my images – no evidence that I can see.

Could anyone tell me where this “hair” might be? (ive tried cleaning the outside of the viewfinder)

By: Øyvind Nordhagen

Øyvind Nordhagen — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Oh, and seeing that others warn about this kind of compressed air; I’ve had no problems with using these cans. Just make sure you hold the can at a good distance. As the air is decompressed while it leaves the can, it cools down quite rapidly and releases moisture trapped int it during the compression stage. Holding the nozzle at about a 15″ distace from the lens mount should allow the moisture to dissipate.

The self-cleaning sensors are only so good…

By: Øyvind Nordhagen

Øyvind Nordhagen — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:45:49 +0000

I wasn’t actually suggesting you go and buy an auto painting grade compressor and filter units to do your sensor spring cleaning. That would be a little arrogant. Even though I have access to this equipment, I would still choose compressed air in a can. I was thinking more along the lines of something like this: http://bit.ly/nuLlb

By: Chandler

Chandler — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:53:55 +0000

Such an awesome page of advice! I can’t wait to read more tips from you! Much thanks to you!

By: akinoluna - a female Marine

akinoluna - a female Marine — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:13:18 +0000

Ah, the infamous dust spot in-ever-single-photo. I always forget to try and clean it until after I’ve taken dozens of photos…

By: Danferno

Danferno — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:35:23 +0000

What would happen if you did the ultrasound cleaning with the lens off the camera and the camera facing down. Would it fall off?

By: Federico

Federico — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:44:15 +0000

I’m really glad I’ve found this post! I was trying to clean the sensor of my Nikon D1X yesterday because it has a lot of dust on it… I’ll give the swabs a try and see what happens! Thank you!

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:26:00 +0000

You missed out another key tool: a sensor loupe [like this http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=602. They’ll help you see just how dirty your sensor is – I’ve had times when my sensor looked clean to the naked eye, but looking at it with a sensor loupe showed dirt and hair that I couldn’t previously see.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:16:42 +0000

I thought compressed air wasn’t recommended due to the liquid inside the can..

By: Haje Jan Kamps

Haje Jan Kamps — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:10:15 +0000

I completely agree, Kjetil, that’s why I’m not recommending it in the main article. I happen to know that Øyvind has a very good, high-end air compressor designed for spray-painting things – that’s definitely good enough. If you can get your hands on medical-grade air compressors, even better – problem is that many people try to ’shortcut’ and use the compressed-air-in-a-can things, which isnt’ usually air; it’s a gas of some sort which, as you point out, leaves residue, which will make matters worse.

Danferno: Yeah, a lot of modern cameras have self-clean, what this does is that it uses ultrasound (!) vibrations to ’shake’ your sensor. Any dust captured on the sensor will be shaken off, but the problem is that it’ll still be floating around inside the camera.

By: Kjetil G

Kjetil G — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:54:06 +0000

@Øyvind+Haje: Be careful about using compressed air. Some of them contains liquid propellants.

Does the sensor self clean tech really work?

My advice is to clean the objectives first. I had a lot of specks on my pictures and the only kit I found in the local electronic store was not meant for sensor cleaning.

I cleaned the objectives and now my pics looks good again. It was no need to wash the sensor this time.

By: Danferno

Danferno — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:38:33 +0000

Most new camera’s clean their own sensors (like SSWF on Olympus cams). Hurray for technology :D

By: Haje Jan Kamps

Haje Jan Kamps — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:24:46 +0000

Øyvind; Clean compressed air is best, of course, but most of us don’t have access to fancy air compressors like yourself ;)

By: Øyvind Nordhagen

Øyvind Nordhagen — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:18:20 +0000

I guess blowing with CLEAN compressed air while carefully holding a vacuum cleaner hose nearby the opening will aid in actually getting the dust out instead of moving it around. Keep the vacuum cleaner running and hold the hose 2″ from the lens mount (DON’T make contact with the camera body as doing so will give the camera’s internals a less than pleasing blow job..). Blow compressed air in several short bursts.