Dust - Camera sensor cleaning

[Dave]

Hey guys, I know several members are into photography with a few owning SLR's. Recently there has been a lot of dust on my camera sensor which was a pain editting my recent Dublin shots and despite my best cleaning efforts, have been unable to remove any of it.

So I am considering sending it away for a sensor cleaning and perhaps at the same time, a general service.

Have any of you guys ever dealt with dusty camera sensors and if you have ever sent your camera away, where to and at what cost?

Anybody know of any photo maintenance places within Belfast or Northern Ireland? I'm sure everybody must have had some sort of dust problem on their SLR's as it can be quite a problem!

Regards,

Dave

[casper]

Suffer occasionally from dust but not to the point were it's causing me problems. The only places I can think of is Calumet or Black & Lizars
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/
http://www.blackandlizars.com/

I'm sure you know that shooting at F5.6 or lower reduces the chance of dust showing on your image and when changing lens always turn the camera off.

[vortex003]

I've read other posts on various forums and the average price seems to be around £100 for cleaning a sensor at a Canon outlet,although there may be a cheaper service locally?

Quite expensive if you ask me

[Angry Turnip]

I have cleaned the sensor on my camera a few times and it worked very well-I won`t pay anybody £100 to clean a sensor; after all it`s a fairly simple job.

I have bought kits to clean the sensor for approx£15-£18 and have had no problems-you just have to follow the instructions with your camera and be patient:It is a bit fiddily but it`s not a difficult job.

Best way to avoid dust is to be careful when changing lenses-turn the camera off and hold the camera body down slightly when offering up the lens.

[Dave]

Thanks for your replies guys.

Thanks for the links Casper. Unfortunately for me, I never go below F7.1 so cleaning is required

Turnip pointed out, £100 is extremely pricey for a simple cleaning operation hence through the advice of more 'professional'* photographers, I have purchased some sensor swabs that should do the job. I almost destroyed the sensor this morning by using a glasses cloth on it. I always have to learn things the hard way. I will post a photo of the end result as a lesson to others!

Vortex, you must not suffer this problem too badly?

I have usually been quite careful when changing lens although my bedroom is quite dusty following it's attic conversion in 2007 where A LOT of sanding happened when I installed the wooden roof. Since then there seems to have been an increase in dust despite my best cleaning efforts.

I have read that my lens in particular is a dust pump due to the push and pull zoom method, and another source of dust is the camera mechanism itself as it wears down with time.

* Friends whom have been in the aviation photography hobby for many years, not paid professionals

Heres an equalised image taken my camera without a lens at a high F number (to see the dirt clearly); looks like I'm out of business until I clean it with the swabs on order 

[Angry Turnip]

Yikes-what a mess!

Cleaning swabs and fluid should do the trick-you can buy them in the shops but I get mine via Warehouse Express.com

Re-your loft conversion,get a soft brush with a long handle and carefully go around and dislodge all the dust you can-ie brush the entire walled surface.( I sound like Kim and Aggy )
Then hover regularly and you should notice a big improvement.

A blower brush for your camera might help-when you use the swabs be very gentle and don`t use too much liquid or pressure

[vortex003]

I don't have a problem as the lens is fixed on my camera and not interchangeable,the sensor is never exposed at all.
Quite a few people do it themselves now with the swabs etc - as long as you don't go at it like a bull in a china shop!
Take your time and don't apply to much pressure and it should turn out ok - looks like it has been in the shower with you

[Dave]

Thanks for the tips guys, I really appreciate it. Angry, once I finish Uni in 2 months, the plan is to strip down the room, finish building it as it's not quite finished, and clean it properly. Until then I will have to continue living in the typical student mess Although I might brush the walls as you have suggested

Thanks guys 

[Angry Turnip]

It would also be a benefit to your health-don`t want to get Asthma and start weasing like me

[Dave]

Well the cleaning kit came today and I got stuck into the cleaning processes. Harder than I thought as the lenses mount interferes with the sweeping movement leaving it harder to finish the 'sweep' in both directions. I used up 5 swabs (3 first attempts were terrible) leaving me one left.

I took the camera out to BHD today in the evening to try it out and it seems that there are still one or two dust particles on the sensor but I guess those can be editted out later using photoshop. Any how, I ended up bumping into the Police whilst spotting at the runway 22 end (Airport Road West) but that story is for another thread.

Thanks guys for all your pointers and tips!

Dave

[Angry Turnip]

What happened?

[vortex003]

This may be worth a look too