This topic has been split from
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1031Moving information relating to sensor cleaning here.
Feel free to add.
I fairly regularly do a sensor clean. Par for the course of taking several lenses into the bush and changing them there. You're going to pick up dust, no matter how careful you are.
When I got my first DSLR I didn't know about dust bunnies. My first big walk was into Frenchmans Cap then on to the Irenabyss and out via Raglan Range.
With a Nikon D70.
Now I know all about dust bunnies.
Here's an interesting read -
http://digitalheman.blogspot.com/2007/0 ... nnies.htmlTo test for dust on my sensor, I use my macro lens, on manual, full macro zoom as close as it will go, minimum focus distance, maximum depth of field (highest value aperture) and point to a neutral colour like the sky - either cloud or blue it doesn't matter. And generally I move my camera as I press the shutter down as well, to eliminate the possibility that if I do pick up a spot, it won't be something stationary in front of the camera like a stray insect. If you view your photo on the camera you will need to zoom in and scroll around to see whether there are any spots.
Small bits of dust - one or maybe two, in the field, and you're probably better off using post processing to fix it later rather than risking making things worse by a clean in the field.
If I have dust that looks like I cannot live with it, then the first thing to do is use one of these -
http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod3448.htmYou can get them in lots of places including good / thoughtful camera shops, or online.
Lock your shutter open, always pointing down (work from underneath it - lie on your back in the tent wit hthe head torch on works well), and be careful - VERY careful not to bash the nozzle of the blower into the sensor of the camera.
Something I do not do in the field, rather do it in as clean an area as I can, is use a spatula cut to size, a pec pad, and eclipse fluid.
You need to do more reading than what I am going to offer here to learn how to do this.
I got my pec pads and eclipse fluid here -
https://www.nulab.com.au/nushop/index.p ... t&Itemid=1The spatula looks a bit like this -
http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/image/39082096I made it myself from a small one that you buy in your local kitchen supply place - cut it down.
Use roughly the pressure that you would to write with a pen, Takes a while to get the hang of the first time, once it's done it's easy.
Sometimes you need to do it 2 or 3 times. The first time I gave it a go I think I did it like 12 times.
Now I will post a few links where you can do some reading to learn all about it -
http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php? ... nsor+cleanhttp://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php? ... nsor+cleanhttp://www.copperhillimages.com/http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaninghttp://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php? ... nsor+cleanhttp://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php? ... nsor+cleanhttp://d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=224 ... r+cleaningHere's a Youtube video - the 2.29 minute mark he performs an action that fills his camera with a heap of dust - in the back of his car, he locks the shutter open, removes the lens, then sits his camera back in his bag... Hhmmm.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11mBKz22UwBut he does show how to remove it again with a thing called a "Sensor Swab" - effectively the same as a spatula with a pec pad wrapped around as per the Copperhill method.
Any questions??