fao david K re dust on sensor

[gio67]

took the plunge today and got the giotti rocket blower, with shaking hands i blew the sensor clean , what a difference, at least i think so, thanks for the advice , so glad i stumbled on this site

before




after

[David Kilpatrick]

To test, shoot a white sky at about f16 - you will see dust, with even the cleanest sensor! Do not panic about small dust spots at f16 on a white sky, that is the only time they would ever show. But it helps you spot big dust particles or hairs etc.

What happened to me in Alicante last summer was that I was using my 700 and must have changed the lens either during a safari park trip (dust) or when the air was full of particles from burning statues (festival). Anyway, suddenly my sensor was covered in dust. I was lucky and found a photo shop 50m from the hotel with a Jessop blower brush in stock, threw away the brush bit, repeatedly blew the air for a few minutes in case any moulding particles or powder were in the rubber bulb, then blasted the sensor (it's so much weaker than a rocket blower!). Result: dust gone. My regular blower is a Hama Dust Ex, a bit like the Rocket. But it's getting old, I see the rubber is starting to perish. Need to replace.

David

[gio67]

To test, shoot a white sky at about f16 - you will see dust, with even the cleanest sensor! Do not panic about small dust spots at f16 on a white sky, that is the only time they would ever show. But it helps you spot big dust particles or hairs etc.

David

ha ha, ignorance was bliss david, this little guy perseveres ,even after another clean out, when i checked with your f16 guidlines ,

is he a major threat

[David Kilpatrick]

I wouldn't worry about that one spot. It will be against the ground or whatever in most shots, and f/8 you won't even see it.

David

[gio67]

I wouldn't worry about that one spot. It will be against the ground or whatever in most shots, and f/8 you won't even see it.

David

breathes a sigh of relief, i thought i was going to have to take a hammer and chisel to the sensor
thanks

[springm]

To eliminate blower resistant spots I have good experience with sensor film (http://www.sensorfilm.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). It's not for the faint-at-heart, because painting the filter glass above the sensor with a liquid at least needs some overcoming, but the results were better than with the pec pad/eclipse method. For dried liquid spots (don't know how I managed to get those on the sensor) probable the combination of wet cleaning plus sensor film should do it.
At least my cameras sensor was already dirty when I bought it... It also seems to me that ultrawides like the Tamron 11-18 make more dirt visible than medium-to-long lenses.

[Javelin]

that link isn't proper

http://www.sensor-film.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Javelin]

I've seen this method before for cleaning optics and what I remembered of it was that it smelled like solvent. this is addressed in their faq the other stuff is disolved in acetone this stuff is water soluble. I wonder though if it really does come off completely without any kind of resedue Also while it's drying what is the moisture doing to the rest of the parts in side the mirrorbox. also this is the only cleaning method i've see that shows someone putting steel tweezers in there. takes hours to complete and used unfiltered compressd air to blow out the camera... bet he's gets dirty viewfinder pretty often

[springm]

Re. solvent: you can by sensor film (sorry for the incorrect link) in dry form and have to dissolve it in water - so I don't *think* there is a solvent included here.

Drying should be done with open shutter and a paper cloth to protect the camera against dust - when you slightly warm it like with a lamp bulb, water will evaporate and should leave the mirror box. Steel tweezers are not recommended, better use plastic ones. However, if the film is applied correctly, it certainly protects the AA filter against the tweezers.

The only doubts I have are about the mechanical impact on the SSS mechanism.

The method itself works with good results, tested by myself and quite a number of others who recommended this method to me in the german http://www.sonyuserforum.de/.