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Home > Equipment > Cleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs)

Cleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS

10D (and other digital SLRs)byBob Atkins

Do you have dust on your DSLR sensor? Have you seen any dark spots on your images. If the

answer is no, your best course of action may be to ignore the rest of this article and be happy. If

you have an EOS 10D, 300D, D60, D30, 1D or 1Ds or any other digital SLR from Nikon or another

manufacturer, then sooner or later you will probably feel the urge to clean the sensor. If you can't

resist the urge, read on.

If you don't know if your sensor is clean and want to check, here is how to do it. Put a lens on your

camera, set focus to infinity, set exposure compensation to +1, set the aperture to its smallest

value (largest number), at least f22, f32 if you have it. Now hold the camera in front a uniformlyilluminated target and take a shot. Look at the image. Do you see dark spots? If so you have dust.

At wider apertures the dust specs will be much less visible. At f11 they may be very faint and at f8

or wider apertures they may be undetectable.

Now comes the problem. If you're the sort of person who looked for dust, you're likely the sort of

person who will be troubled by dust and want to remove it, even if you'd never seen it until you

actually looked for it. This could get you into a lot of trouble.

You now have two choices.

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by Jean-Sbastien Monzani

In this article, Jean-Sbastien offers advice on how to create your

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Your first option is that you can send the camera back to Canon or your favorite repair shop. It

will probably cost you $50+ and you'll probably be without your camera for 2-3 weeks, but there's

a chance it will come back dust free. There's probably a bigger chance it will come back with less

dust, but still a few specs. Then what do you do?

Your second option is that you can try to clean it yourself. This would be great if it were not for a

chance you could ruin the sensor and end up with a repair bill close to the original cost of the

camera. Lots of people have cleaned their sensors themselves without running into this, but you

may nor may not be one of them. I am not encouraging you to do this yourself. That's 100% your

own decision. If you have doubts about whether you are qualified to do this, my advice is don't.

The third option (I know I said there were two, but I just though of this one) is to pretend you

never did the test, forget about the dust spots you'd never actually seen until you looked for them,

and live happily ever after.

The sensor construction on the Canon EOS D60


2 od 29 27 3 2010 21:55l i h f h ( d h di i l ) h // h / i /di i l/ l i /


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Technical note: The dust isn't actually on the sensor surface. It's on the surface of a filter which

is in front of the actual sensor itself. This is why dust shows up more at smaller apertures. Since

the dust spots are some distance from the actual sensor pixels, a wide aperture lets in light which

can "go around" the dust spot. It's a bit like using a large sof tbox for lighting. Shadows (and what

shows up in the image is the shadow of the dust spot) are light and soft. At small apertures it's

like using a small pinpoint spotlight and shadows are dark and hard edged. The following images

show dust spots as f 22 and f11. They have been GREATLY processed to show the dust spots as

clearly as possible. On the straight images the spots are totally invisible at f11 and only very

faintly visible at f22

Here's what bad dust looks like at f29. This is a 100% crop from an original image, no processing

applied. After cleaning no dark spots could be seen.


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Method 1 - The Canon's method of digital sensor cleaning - TheBlower

Canon recommend using a blower bulb, with the tip of the bulb held no further into the camera

than the lens mount. This is described on page 156 of the EOS 10D manual. The theory is that

with bursts of air you can blow dust off the sensor. That's the theory. The practice is somewhat

different. Basically what you do is redistribute the dust inside the camera. If there's more dust on

the sensor than around it, you'll probably end up with less dust on the sensor. However my

attempts at this method resulted in actually more dust on the sensor than I started out with. Not

good.

Good points - Zero possibility of damaging sensor. Even if the shutter should close

you're OK if you're outside the body with the blower.

Bad points - Doesn't work well. Can result in more dust than you started out with.

Note: Do not use any sort of "canned air" for this. It may be too powerful and the types that

are liquid driven can "spit" liquid in the gas stream and if that happens you can wave bye-bye to

your sensor. They may also freeze the sensor, which again could result in damage.

Method 2 - The Vacuum Brush


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OK, so if a blower doesn't work, how about a brush - and not just a brush but a mini-vacuum

brush. These things are sold as "computer keyboard" vacuum cleaners, however I use one on

lenses quite often. The brush is soft and disturbs the dust and the vacuum sucks the dust away

from the surface. NOTE Canon state "Do not use a blower brush. The brush can scratch

the sensor surface". Thus using any kind of brush goes directly against the Canon advice.

Obvious anything which touches the sensor surface couldscratch it. You have been warned.

Well, to make a long story not as long, it didn't work well. Though it didn't scratch the sensor

surface, it didn't remove the dust either. In fact there seemed to be even more dust. Either that or

it was more concentrated in one area. I'm not sure why this happened. Perhaps because the brush

is fairly large and so you can't really move it across the sensor very well. Perhaps the brush had

dust on it (though I carefully cleaned it before use)

Good points - it might have worked?

Bad points - it didn't work, in fact it added dust! Physical contact with the sensor could

cause damage. If the shutter should close while the brush is inside the camera, not only

could you damage the sensor, but also the shutter, adding even more to the cost of repairs.

Method 3 - Open Heart Surgery

At this point things are significantly worse than they were before I started cleaning, so drastic

measures were called for. Actually cleaning the sensor with fluid and tissue. This is the

photographic equivalent of open heart surgery. If you get it wrong the consequences are pretty

serious. Not as serious as open heart surgery, but perhaps serious enough to induce the need for

it. If you scratch the sensor you are screwed. You won't be able to fix it, it won't be covered under

warranty and you'll end up with a repair bill close to the cost of the camera. Canon will tell you

that this is something you should not try at home and I'll repeat that. If you try this you are

on your own. If you get it wrong you will seriously regret doing it. You have been warned.

What you need is a soft but fairly rigid support, about 15mm wide by a few inches long and 1-2mm

thick.. This could be a Popsicle stick, a modified plastic knife, a modified kitchen spatula (I've

seen all three suggested). The idea of a soft but rigid support is that if you should turn out to be

physically inept and instead of wiping the tissue across the sensor you tear the tissue and/or

scrape the support across the sensor, you'd rather it was soft like plastic than hard like a diamond

encrusted file. You then take a sheet of lens tissue, fold it lengthways several times until it's about

15mm wide, then fold it in half and place it over the stick as shown in the figure below. 15mm is

the approximate height of the sensor in the 10D. Do NOT touch the tissue in the area which will

contact the sensor. Not only will you transfer grease onto it from your fingers, you may transfer


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dust and grit. Running a greasy, dusty, gritty tissue across the face of the sensor is not

recommended.

You then moisten the end of the "swab" with pure methanol or other high-quality, no-residue

cleaning fluid (see below). Do not use Windex or any similar household cleaning fluid. The key

here is "moisten". You don't want liquid dripping off. It should be wet, but not that wet. You now

hold your breath, engage the sensor cleaning mode on your camera to expose the sensor and

gently wipe the swap across the sensor from one side to the other. The idea is to contact the whole

width (height) of the sensor as you wipe across it from edge to edge. If you have to do it again you

will use another clean sheet. "Clean" is your friend here.


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You don't need to "scrub" the sensor or apply too much pressure, but you do want to apply enough

pressure that the tissue fully contacts the sensor surface. The trick is that you don't know how

much pressure this is until you've done it. Perhaps a couple of practice swipes across a filter might

give you a better feel for what's required. Obviously you use a fresh piece of lens tissue before

cleaning the sensor.

You now do another dust test by taking a shot of a uniform bright surface with your lens stopped

down to f22 or smaller. If you are lucky you will see very few (if any) dust spots. If you are

unlucky you will still see multiple dust spots. If you are very unlucky you will see a scratch or

other defect at which point you should probably call your psychiatrist for professional help in

dealing with your suicidal feelings.

If you do see some dust and you don't see any damage, you have to ask yourself "Well, punk, do

you feel lucky?". If the answer is yes, you can repeat the process and hope to remove every last

dust spec. If the answer is no, quit while you are ahead. The trick here is not to push your luck.

Removing every last tiny spec of dust that's visible at f32 is probably not necessary. Even if you do

manage to do it, within a day or two I'll bet you'll find a few dust specs back on the sensor. You do

not want to clean the sensor any more frequently than absolutely necessary. You have a finite

amount of luck. Don't use it up too fast.

Cleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/

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Now you can buy special cleaning swaps for this purpose. They are assembled in a clean room and

sealed. The chance that they will scratch the sensor is very, very, very, very, very low (unless you

get dirt on them yourself after you unwrap them). The downside is that they are $4 each and sold

in packs of 12, so they will cost you $48. However this is perhaps 1/10 the cost of sensor

replacement, maybe 1/20 of the cost. They are sold under the name "Sensor Swabs" and are made

by Photographic Solutions Inc. You can also buy special cleaning fluid which will not damage the

sensor or leave residue, sold under the name "Eclipse Optic Cleaner". This is cheap (relatively) at

around $8 for a small bottle. Both items are sold byB&H Photo and (I presume) many other

photo stores selling digital SLRs.

Lens tissue is MUCH cheaper of course. About $2 for 50 sheets of Kodak Lens Tissue. You want

optical grade lens tissue, not stuff impregnated with silicone used to clean eyeglasses. It's not

packaged in a clean room, so there's always a chance there could be a spec of grit on it. There

shouldn't be (this stuff is made for cleaning lenses, not scratching them), but you won't know

until it's too late. I've used lens tissue on lenses for years without a problem, including cleaning

some pretty delicate optics such as dielectric laser mirrors, but if you are the unlucky one who

gets that one sheet in 10,000 that may have a grit spec, it's not my fault. Again be sure it's

untreatedlens tissue, not silicone impregnated lens tissue sold in eyeglass stores. If you smear

silicone oil over your sensor you will not be happy.

Caution and Disclaimer

Do I need to say this again? While many people have reported success in cleaning their sensors

using these techniques, I've also seen a least one report of someone who damaged their sensor. If

you don't have good mechanical skills and a delicate touch you might want to think a few times

about whether you really want to do this. I've done it myself using lens tissue supported on a

modified plastic knife. There was no damage and the sensor ended up very clean.. If I hadn't

managed to do it without damage or it hadn't removed the dust, I wouldn't have written this

article. You may not have such a good experience. I've read reports from photographers working

in dusty conditions in Africa who cleaned their sensors every day for several weeks with no

problems. However, there are no guarantees. You're on your own. If you screw up, don't blame

me. Officially speaking I have to recommend you send it back to Canon for cleaning. Is that

enough of a disclaimer?

Copyright 2003 Bob Atkins All Rights Reserved

Readers' Comments

Cleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/



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Add a comment

Fazal Majid , October 08, 2003; 11:20 P.M.

I once tried a variant of the blower technique on my D30 after one particularly

careless lens change. I just blew the blower while keeping a vacuum cleaner nozzle

close to the lens mount, the idea being the dust blown off the sensor would be

sucked by the vacuum cleaner rather than resettling. It worked in that particular

instance. You have to be careful not to keep the nozzle too close, of course,

otherwise you may damage the mirror mechanism. I also used a compressed air can

(NOT canned air, simply a can you refill with a bicycle pump), to good effect.

matt betea , October 08, 2003; 11:22 P.M.

Just one thing, B&H will not ship Eclipse. I noticed Adorama is willing to ship it

(along with almost any other store I've seen). Good write up.

matt

Tom Burke , October 09, 2003; 02:17 A.M.

I recently had a s trange situation with a D60. I had a very obvious mark, visible at

all apertures, and quite large. I followed the guidelines above as thoroughly as I

could but it made no difference. I took the camera to an authorised Canon service

centre in the UK where I was told that a dust spec (mountain?) had got underneath

the low-pass filter and was sandwiched between that and the sensor surface itself.

This required a full service to remove. So if you find yourself following the method

outlined by Bob above but it having no effect, this might be the reason.

Oh, and one other thing - Robert White are a good mail-order source of Pec-Pads

and Eclipse fluid in the UK. Note that my bottle of the fluid came with a small pack

of 10 Pec-Pads, so you could just buy the fluid to get you going.

Beepy . , October 09, 2003; 03:33 A.M.

Great write-up!

g ( g ) p p p q p g g



10/29

I use the Sensor Swabs and Eclipse solution. The first few times I did it (though I

thought I was being careful) I ended up with MORE dust than I started - and it

wasn't bad (in retrospect:-). Argh. In the end, I came to conclusion (1) use a swab

once (do not flip and try to use clean side) - I think that was the biggie, and (2) I

ended up using more pressure than I expected I would need (but still I was

extremely careful) - my first attempts didn't lift dust?

Because EOS 1Ds sensor is big, I do two swipes in the same direction.

And I agree with the auth or - don't do this at home. I te ll my digital SLR friends "behappy".

And about the last thing I needed to hear was dust between the filter and the actual

physical sensor. Nope, didn't want to hear that.

The EOS 1Ds seems more dust prone than the Nikon D1x I had (have). I found the

comment on the Olympus E-system Supersonic Wave Filter promising in the area

of digital SLR dust control in the future.

Justin Lee , October 09, 2003; 05:47 A.M.

Photographic Solutions also offers a product called QuikStik: Self-Dispensing Optic

Swab. It is essentially a swab with eclipse fluid in the handle. I was able to purchase

these individually for a few dollars each through Technicare in Canada.

The only drawback is that the size of the swab is rather small at approx 1 cm wide

and the sensor requires a few passes to cover the entire surface. I also encountered

some problems with streaking, but another pass on the back side of the swab

removed it.

It seemed to work fine for me. Has anyone else tried this product?

Additionally, CO2 blowers are available as a residue-free alternative to canned 'air'.

I personally haven't tried one as they seem a bit pricey.

Cheers,

Justin Lee

g ( g ) p p p q p g g



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Greg S , October 09, 2003; 06:15 P.M.

Hands down the most effective sensor cleaning approach I've used (and many other

S2 owners) is...

http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning

Quick, easy, inexpensive, and very effective.

Harry Seldon AKA Flash , October 09, 2003; 08:59 P.M.

Excellent article, it reinforces my preference for buying expensive equipment from

a dealer that offers a service agreement.

Service agreements, or "Performance Guarentees" usually cover cleaning and

maintainence that a warranty does not. Look into it when you are buying a digital

SLR or other equipment. Make sure you understand exactly what the service

contract does or does not cover.

It does not solve the problem of being without the camera while it is being cleaned,

but prevents the liability problem if you let then do it instead of doing it yourself

and screwing it up. Assuming they don't screw it up and then deny it.

Rusty Wright , October 09, 2003; 09:17 P.M.

Regarding service agreements, I had dust on my 10D sensor and took it to the

camera store where I bought it (it was still under warranty) and the first thing they

did was use high pressure canned air. I consider myself lucky they didn't trash the

sensor.

I resorted to using Pec Pads and ethanol with the sawed off plastic knife.

Simone Maria Navarra , October 10, 2003; 07:46 A.M.

Why can't we simply use magnetism? Have you ever seen how an hairbrush attracts

small things when electrically charged? I think a small paintbrush electrically

charged (just rub it on wool) should attract all particles without even touching the

sensor. I didn't try becouse my camera is new and my sensor i s clean. Actually I



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didn't do the test to check... and I don't want to find out :)

Simone

Csaba Ketszeri , October 10, 2003; 08:07 A.M.

Why can't we simply use magnetism? Have you ever seen how an hairbrush

attracts small things when electrically charged?

Static electricity if not too safe for this kind of equippement, so forget this idea

ASAP! It may screw up the whole thing if you manage to charge the hairbrush well

and push it inside your camera.

Carter M , October 10, 2003; 08:40 A.M.

Seems like a design issue to me. Why doesn't Canon, Nikon etc design the sensor to

be cleaned? A hardened surface that is designed to be cleaned? Maybe the sensor in

a module that can be removed for cleaning. Maybe even for an upgrade when a

better sensor is available. For the $8k price tag of a 1Ds a few bucks could be spenton making it maintainable.

Dean G , October 10, 2003; 10:52 A.M.

I didn't do the test. I follow the philosophy of if it works don't fix it, and if you can't

tell it's not working, don't fix it. Could someone address the issue of preventive

procedures in changing lenses? I think keeping the sensor clean should be the first

line of defence. Is it important to have the camera powered down when changing

lenses (ie electrical charges that might attract dust to the sensor)? I always power

down, but only because I power down any electonic equipment before opening it

up. I try to check the breeze, look to see if I can notice stuff in the air, and then go

as fast as hell without dropping anything. And I avoid changing lenses as much as

possible.. good argument for a versatile zoom that stays put, but I like primes, and

especially their price/performance. Does someone have some better advice for

avoiding the specks in the first place? And what is an example of a careless lens

change?

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Mishkin Mishkin , October 10, 2003; 11:45 A.M.

For everything else, there's Mastercard

(or Visa)

http://www.pbase.com/image/15899646

Works great. Card's flexibility ensures that you can't apply too much pressure on

the sensor.

And if you scratch the sensor, the phrase "keep your credit card handy" gets new

meaning.

Mishkin Mishkin , October 10, 2003; 11:59 A.M.

Bob, you may want to add another WARNING for 10D owners: the power switch on

10D is very easy to turn off accidentally while handling the camera. Piece of duct

tape over the power switch or simple caution can save your camera from disaster.

Bob Blakley , October 10, 2003; 02:24 P.M.

Actually what you want is the OPPOSITE of magnetism - one reason the blower

technique may not work well is that many blowers (and especially compressed-gas

blowers) impart a static charge to the gas as it comes out of the blower. This in turn

charges the little particles you're trying to remove, with the result that they find a

cozy oppositely-charged surface on the camera (/lens/other surface nearby) to stick

to.

You can get "anti-static" blowers - someone might want to repeat the blower

experiment with one of these to see if it works better than it did in this test.

William Nicholls , October 10, 2003; 05:10 P.M.

Blowers blow. I used a brand-new one for my first experiment with dust removal

and it sneezed a wad of goo onto my CCD. Removing the crud took several cleaning

cycles that I wasn't interested in learning to do that day. Oh well. I learne d the

13 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

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procedure and used tens of dollars worth of the poorly designed Sensor-Swabs to

eventually recover from blower-crud.

Since then, I use the Pec-Pad and spatula method Nicholas R. describes in the link

citation above. The cost is pennies compared to Sensor Swabs and the method

works better. It 's worth providing the link again: http://www.pbase.com/copperhill

/ccd_cleaning

Pec-Pads are much better than lens t issues for this application. They're thicker and

stronger so your wiping blade won't cut through the material, even when it's wet.They also disperse and hold the cleaning solution better.

Eclipse Solution is expensive for alcohol in a bottle, but a bottle will last a long time

and you won't have to search around for a suitable container and a source of pure

methanol.

I also use a dust removal tool by Kinetronics, the Speck Grabber. If you keep the tip

clean, it has a tacky urethane material that won't leave a residue on sensitive

surfaces. You can't see typical sensor lint, so don't try to use the Grabber for sensor

cleaning unless there's one of the rare big, hairy pieces that you can see without

magnification. Instead, I use it to clean up the mirror chamber before swabbing the

sensor to help prevent dust accumulation and it's eventual migration to the CCD.

It's a great tool for removing focusing screen dust.

Hemendra Chonkar , October 12, 2003; 10:08 P.M.

Hi,

I was wondering how Dust could get betwen the Low Pass Filter and the Sensor. I

am assuming that they would be hermetically sealed.

The reason for asking this question is whether there is some way to get dust inside

the sensor while cleaning it. For e.g. does it get inside from the edges ?

Regards, Hemen

Steve Baldwin , October 12, 2003; 11:02 P.M.

I'm interested that so many folks have had good luck with the Pec Pad cleaning

14 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

th d I h it t t t it th Ph t S l ti it t t th t th P P d i



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method. I was hesitant to try it as the Photo Solutions site states that the Pec Pad is

not designed for cleaning sensors. Not as many warnings as in Bob's article though.

Thanks for the contribution Bob! Knowledge is good. I will the t ry the Sensor Swabs

knowing I'm taking a calculated risk. But on the other hand you're taking a

calculated risk every time you clean your lens, or get out of bed for that matter.

Cheers,,,,

Evan Parker , October 16, 2003; 10:04 A.M.

What about those "Staticmasters", the brushes with a radioactive polonium

element in it? Would that help get rid of dust on a CMOS or CCD sensor? Do they

even work at all?

Doug C , October 16, 2003; 10:10 P.M.

See the link below for an applications note at the Kodak web site on how to clean

the glass on image sensors. It may not apply to filters above the CCD or CMOS

sensor. Use at your own risk as was stated in Bob's excellent write-up.

http://www.kodak.com/global/plugins/acrobat/en/digital/ccd/applicationNotes

/cleaningCoverGlass.pdf

Bob Atkins , October 20, 2003; 11:22 A.M.

Why doesn't Canon, Nikon etc design the sensor to be cleaned? A hardened surface

that is designed to be cleaned?

They probably do. There's no real evidence that the surface of the sensor is any

more delicate than a coated lens. The problem is that if you put a small scratch on

the surface of a coated lens, the effect on images produced with that lens will

probably be too small to see, i .e. it doesn't really matter much.

On the other hand if you put a scratch on the surface of the sensor, you'll see it in

every frame and the effect on the image (and your sanity) will be significant.

So while a lens and a sensor may be equally rugged, the consequences of screwing

up are quite different.

15 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

I'm just guessing here of course I'm assuming this is why camera manufacturers



16/29

I m just guessing here of course. I m assuming this is why camera manufacturers

don't want users poking around at the sensor itself with sharp objects. It's also

possible that the sensor surface is more delicate than a coated lens due to the

materials used.

Dale Woolridge , October 20, 2003; 11:53 A.M.

Here in Canada (Toronto), I called Canon about having my sensor cleaned. If you

bring the camera to their service center, they'll clean the sensor for free. It takesthem all of 5 minutes, assuming they aren't too busy.

I've cleaned the sen sor myself and though I did an adequate job, bringing it to

Canon was not only less stressful and less time consuming, they did a better job.

John Robinson , October 20, 2003; 05:25 P.M.

Hi ! I went to Iceland recently (see here! - shameless plug) It rained, it was windy,

it was foggy, cold and in some parts dusty. What I DIDNT appreciate whilst I was

there is that I have to be more careful about changing lenses. I have an EOS3 too. Ifdust gets in, one quick blow with the duster and its sorted, otherwise, the dust

comes out with the film. So I get specs back on a frame or two (or a scratch if Im

real unlucky) Not with digital. Its there to stay !

When I got big blurs on every shot whilst out there (some 2,500!) I cringed at the

counltess hours I would have to spend with Photoshop. (The whole idea of going

digital was to speed up the workflow) I was so annoyed. Least of all because I had

no idea what to do about cleaning the thing. A quick chat with the proprieter of an

EOS specialist ,upon my return to London, (can I plu g the shop on London Bridge?)

suggested SpeckGrabber I tried it. Trouble is I rushed it. I was examining the

strange stuff on the end of the spec grabber. (Unknowingly loading oils and grease

on to its surface) When I picked the specs from the CMOS (sensor, protective film,

filter - whatever) I deposited a lovey grease stain 3 to 4 times bigger than the specs.

Horrified, I read the instructions that warned against exactly this. So I carried on

reading. "Clean specgrabber with soap and water" .I washed the spec grabber

hoping against all hope that if I cleaned the SpecGrabber I could clean the grease

from the CMOS too.

16 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

I was AMAZED IT DID I CAN NOT SEE ANY SPECS! The smudges were lifted I



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I was AMAZED. IT DID. I CAN NOT SEE ANY SPECS! The smudges were lifted. I

recommend this. (OK its over priced for what it is, but for 6.95, it makes a 1200

camera work very well again!) Made me very happy ! Hope this helps...

Torben Jacobsen , October 21, 2003; 02:53 A.M.

The SpeckGRABBER is non-conductive, and can be used on active CCDs allowing

the technician to monitor the decontamination process.

http://www.kinetronics.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/online-store/scstore

/speckgrabber_product.html?L+scstore+rbhf3184ff151115+1087513934

Skip Gaede , October 31, 2003; 03:24 P.M.

Sensor with dust before cleaning

As an alternative to taking a picture of the sky for detecting dust, you can open a

new document in your photo editing program and expand it to full screen. Then

take picture of your monitor screen. Voila! I adjusted the color of the background in

C1 for better visibility, but here's what I have before cleaning...

Doug Johnson , November 03, 2003; 05:38 P.M.

I am new to this problem, but would it help if a company manufactured a "dust-free

bag system"? Sort of like a light-tight bag for the darkroom, could a company

17 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

develop a bag and a process to keep the bag dust free? Then when it is time to



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develop a bag and a process to keep the bag dust free? Then when it is time to

change a lens you quickly slip the camera and lens into the transparent dust-free

bag, slip your hands in the bag's glove-inserts, and then change the lens.

Every once and a while you take the bag through some kind of magnetic/vacuum

/insert-your-own-method cleaning to ensure that it remains 99% dust free.

Just a thought.

Jon Austin , February 02, 2004; 07:33 P.M.

While I like Mishkin Mishkin's idea of using a credit card slice as the cleaning tool

(see his comments dated 10/10/03), it appears that the cleaning "swab" in his photo

is a section of a PecPad cut from a whole pad.

Just want to note that in Nicholas' write-up at http://www.pbase.com/copperhill

/ccd_cleaning, he recommends against cutting PecPads, because although they are

lint-free as manufactured, they can shed lint when cut / cut up / cut into.

It does seem rather a waste to use an entire pad for just one swabbing, but I'd

rather do that than introduce unnecessary lint into my camera's sensor chamber.

Besides, they're still much cheaper than the sensor swabs.

Bjrn Hell Larsen , July 04, 2004; 12:52 P.M.

I believe that I've got two grains of dust embedded between the filter and sensor on

my D30 as well. Repeated attempts to clean the sensor has managed to remove (or

at least move...) all other dust specs, but these two s tay put. They are darker,

sharper and more visible than the other dust that collects, and I generally have to

remember to retouch them out whenever I want to post or print pictures taken withthis camera. It's a drag, but I really don't want to shell out for a complete overhaul -

I'd rather save up for a 10D.

Jean-Daniel Gagne , July 09, 2 004; 03:30 P.M.

I have tried a few things mentioned here to clean my 300D CMOS without success.

In fact, there was not only dust but soem kind of a film on my CMOS after my great

experiment... I then realized that I had to go to Canon. Well beleive it or not, I took

18 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

my camera at the Canon technical counter and it took 10 minutes and $0 to cleanCleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) - photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/


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y ca e a at t e Ca o tec ca cou te a d t too 0 utes a d $0 to c ea

my CMOS. It was FREE!

Conclusion, take an hour to drive to Canon technicians and spare yourself from a

scary story.

JD

Kathrin Haderer , August 30, 2004; 07:21 A.M.

Unfortunately, it things are not always as experienced by Jean-Daniel Gagne. I also

took my camera (EOS 300D) to Canon service (in Austria) because it displayed a

very similar pattern on my pictures. They cleaned the sensor, made me pay a little

over 50 ? for it...and then I found out the dust was still there. I took the camera

back, reclaimed my money, and have already been waiting for three weeks now for

them to fix the problem.

Best Action Shots , December 14, 2004; 04:29 P.M.

Bought some Pecpads and lens solution and cleaned all four cameras: 300D, 10D,

1D, and 20D. All had persistent dusts on them and cleaned at least 4 times per

camera. Checking for dusts at f/11 and f/22 each time against the blue sky. I change

lenses often since using mostly primes and on monthly cleaning schedule. Now I've

sold all cameras and only keeping 20D so cleaning will be easier.

Nick Bencivengo , January 01, 2005; 12:47 P.M.

To remove some persistent and noticeable dust on my 20D sensor, I used an

aspirating/Irrigation bulb - like this one: http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?PGGUID=30e07788-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5. You can find

one in the baby section of your local drug store.

The long tip and small opening at the tip of the bulb creates a fairly controlled air

stream. A few quick bursts from outside the camera removed the dust.

Tim Chakravorty, February 04, 2005; 10:11 P.M.

19 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

OK, I am writing this before I proceed to perform "Open Heart Surgery" on my D70Cleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) - photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/


20/29

, g p p p g y y 7

with Eclipse and SensorSwab. If everything goes well I will come back in an hour,

remove my surgical mask and give a big thumbs up. If not, and there is no update

from me here, I have probably jumped out of the balcony.

Niels Olson , March 11, 2005; 10:45 P.M.

I checked with Tim Chakravorty; he's still alive and his D70 is well. I just finished

the Copper Hill procedure on my D100 and I'm quite pleased with the results.

There's still one small fleck of something, but one fleck is about two orders of

magnitude better than it was. Get powder-free latex or nitrile gloves. Similarly, read

this entire thread and the entire several pages on the Copper Hill site. You'll feel

better when the mirror flips up, the shutter opens, and you get your first glimpse of

the sensor (the D100 sensor appears about the color of sapphire) and your hand

has to start guiding that tissue-wrapped stick into the cramped little box. Copper

Hill will sell you the complete kit (sans tape and gloves). When mine arrived the

swipe was already properly wrapped (I used that for practice swipes), the bag of

pec-pads was already slit open with a razor, and the next pad was slightly exposed.

Everything was in ziploc bags.

Niels Olson , March 11, 2005; 11:07 P.M.

You'll see this if you read the Copper Hill tutorial, but it's worth reiterating here.

Canon may not officially support the Copper Hill method, but it doesn't hurt with

the Canon USA director of technical information, Chuck Westfall, says it's thebest

method he's seen without sending to the factory.

Gordon Logue , May 03, 2005; 04:54 P.M.

I just performed open heart surgery on my 20D with a Sensor Swab. It works

perfectly and is easy. Used 3 swabs and it is perfectly clean. I changed lenses in

pollen and got spots everywhere. Showed up in macros at f22. This thing really

works.

Gordon Logue , May 04, 2005; 05:58 P.M.

20 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

I think I am going to start taking a large, clear trash bag with me and change theCleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) - photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/


21/29

lens inside of it. That should be an improvement.

Ken Krueger , September 18, 2005; 02:07 A.M.

20D senser cleaning I'm on holdays n Greece and Turkey and a bg black

speck has appeared n the top left of the mages and notcable n the sky

porton of photos. I;ve tred the hand squeezed blower to clean the mirror and

sensor wth no luck and then out of desperaton took it to a camera store who

used compressed ar. Even though he shouldn;t have. He got rd of everythng

except for this one naggng heart breakng speck. Upon returng home I

suppose that I wll need to use photo shop to fx my hundreds of photos... what a

nghtmare...

Steve Wroe , June 12, 2006; 02:43 A.M.

Cleaning my 5D

My 5D is, like the rest of the world's it seems, prone to dust on the sensor. Here'swhat I did and it worked.

I found that getting a Gitzo rocket blower and household vacuum cleaner helped

hugely with loose bits of dust. First, I just took the lens off, held the vac near

opening (but not inside the body - you really do not want to suck the mirror off)

and gave a it a couple of blows with the Gitzo. Then I did the 'sensor clean' thing so

the mirror retracts and actually put the nozzle of the vac just inside the body (but

was VERY CAREFUL). I was rather nervous so was pretty careful. It worked really

well.

The other things you need to do: - ensure rear lens caps are clean - ensure the rear

of your lenses are clean (I used canned air) - clean your camera bag! - turn camera

off when changing lenses - take care when changing lenses - especially outdoors

I then spent 5 weeks in North Africa and I had specks that were bloody hard to get

off. Visible dust's product (make sure you get the 1x) worked well.

I recommend semi-regular and VERY careful vac/blower treatment and if there are

bits that won't budge, use the visible dust wipe things. And keep your gear clean coz

21 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

I reckon most of the 'dust' (usually specs of lint or cloth or whatever) comes off theCleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) - photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/


22/29

back of the lens, which may have come off the rear caps (from leaving it in your

pocket or whatever).

Hope this helps...

Craig Graham , July 28, 2006; 05:25 A.M.

I had a really bad speck that was bothering me for over a year...just kept using

photoshop to get rid of it...that was a pain.

Anyway, I used Sensor Swab and the Eclipse cleaner from Keeble & Shucat in Palo

Alto. Held the camera sensor facing down, used blower to blow dust free. Then used

the swab technique. Worked like a charm - I must be LUCKY!!

William Genske , February 15, 2007; 05:34 P.M.

Thank you so very much for your tips on this subject. Everybody I ask about this

begins with something that sounds like this: "If I were you, I probably wouldn?t...".

Well, I am the type that probably would, but after learning from experience that it

pays to do some research on any delicate subject, I came across your helpful

comments. I just spent 4 days in Northern Africa and there is a tremendous amount

of dirt and dust in the air there. Some of it got onto my sensor, and so most of my

shots were marred with large spots. I live in Southern Spain, and there is little in

the way of help around here with respect to such matters, so I decided to take the

plunge. I am glad I did. I too must be lucky. The spots are all cleared up. One happy

customer. Thanks again.

Image Attachment:IMG_6512.JPG

Kenneth Buk, April 17, 2007; 11:55 A.M.

How about if the camera producers added a hard, removable filter in front of the

sensor? Then amateurs like myself could scratch around on the filter without fear,

when trying to get some clean shots. If I managed to damage the filter my camera

dealer could simply replace the filter. Much like with lenses covered by inexpensive

filters.

22 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

Cheers,Cleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) - photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/


23/29

Ken

Sarah Fox , June 25, 2007; 12:29 A.M.

Hi all,

Great information on sensor cleaning! Thanks! I'm about ready to do open heart on

a camera of mine, and the advice is greatly appreciated! Fortunately the camera is a

bit older (10D) and therefore less valuable. As yet, I have no need to do anything so

invasive on any of my other cameras.

I just thought I would echo what another contributor suggested and say that my

10D's sensor is not too awfully dirty, even after years of (light/medium-duty) use,

and I wouldn't even attempt the open heart surgery, were it not for the fact that I'm

very compulsive about the specks I do have. (I've cleaned from time to time via

Canon's instructions, using an air rocket.) The secret to my success is that I'm very

compulsive when I change lenses. Yes, it slows me down a bit, but I do the

following compulsively with every lens change:

(1) Find a clean room/area that is fairly quiet, with a minimum of drafts. A car

interior works well.

(2) Clean the outside of the camera and lenses with a soft brush. I use a retractable

sable makeup brush.

(3) Use the air rocket to blow any remaining dust from the base of the lens and

camera mounting flange, as well as from the base of the lens that will be mounted

on the camera.

(4) Remove the base cap of the lens to go on the camera, and blow it off with the air

rocket. Blow any dust off of the base of the lens. Set the base cap over the base of

the lens (not tightening it), and stand the lens up on a flat surface.

(5) Stand the camera on its back on the same flat surface. Wait 10 or 15 sec for any

larger dust to settle. (Yes, I know it doesn't do much good, but...)

(6) Unlatch the lens on the camera, and twist it free, leaving it sitting atop the

camera. Turn the lenses with the alignment marks in the same direction.

23 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

(7) Holding one lens in each hand, lift the lenses off of the camera and base cap,Cleaning the CMOS Sensor of the Canon EOS 10D (and other digital SLRs) - photo.net ttp://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/


24/29

swap them quickly and smoothly, and set them down in the other location, as

though playing a shell game. Then tighten the lens on the camera and the base cap

on the removed lens.

Believe it or not, this technique eliminates a lot of headaches. I also try to pre-plan

which lens I will be using before I get to the shooting location, and I place that lens

on my camera at home, in my cleanest location. Finally, I favor zooms over primes

because of the minimization of lens changes.

But... It's still time for open heart. I guess I'll start assembling the surgical

instruments.

Douglas Munsinger , June 28, 2007; 08:54 P.M.

Excellent advice. I have a 300D I had never cleaned in the three years of heavy use,

I only took care not to add dust and had no issues - when I finally cleaned it it took

a single swipe with copperhill equipment and it was perfect.

On the other hand I just returned a 30D that had either a dead sensor site or a

speck between the filter and the sensor, and came fully equipped with a load of dust

specks from the factory. If it hadn't come with a load of crap inside I might not have

discovered the manufacturing defect until after it was too late to return. The

replacement I will check immediately.

One thing to add - turn the camera OFF when changing the lens - this is an electric

component, electrified it attracts dust readily. Even without that, you never never

hot-swap a component unless absolutely necessary.

--doug

Douglas Munsinger , July 03, 2007; 12:04 P.M.

Just a follow up - I finally have a clean copy of the Canon 30D body - I ordered the

first one from a Texas supplier. Checked images, found dust specks, alot actually for

a brand new camera, including one section that was almost certainly either dust

between the sensor and filter or a dead sensor site. Returned said camera. Ordered

a second from a s upplier in New York - checked, I found fairly minimal crud, but

24 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

another suspicious immovable spot. I agonized over returning this one, but on

h ki h i i f h k f f 6 h i ibl



25/29

checking the sensor against images of the sky at f22, even f16 - the spot was visible.

I returned it and got yet another copy - this one was only very light dust, no spots,

finally a good copy. I love the controls on the 30D, the spot metering, the ease of

manual operation - but the quality control on the manufacturing line for this

camera must at one point have truly sucked. A brand new camera should have no

dust at all. How many consumers don't check and just wonder about the spots that

show up sometimes in their images?

I'm NOT going to check again until something shows up in an image and requiresretouching. Or I change lenses in the desert in a sandstorm.

Pete Millis , July 10, 2007; 02:31 P.M.

Before cleaning

25 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

Well, I've just picked up a used 10D with 28-80mm lens for ?250 yesterday from

th l l " h t " h t l b ll l k d f t b t



26/29

the local "cash converters" pawn shop type place - been well looked af ter but can

tell it's been used from the scratches and scrapes (which I like - means I worry less

about scratching it!). Have taken lots of pics and I'm pleased beyone belief . Then I

read what's been written above, took some test shots of a vlue screen and saw

perhaps a dozen small to medium dust specs and one larger one toward the top of

the screen. The only one that bothered me was the larger one. So I got some

analytical grade methanol (borrowed from my lab at uni!), a lens wipe, made myself

a small bendy spatula from a piece of a spatula I nicked out of the kitchen (still

usable for cooking though), and followed the instructions above - VOILA! Next test

shots clean as a whistle! Took all of 30 seconds once I decided to give it a go. Cheers

folks.

Pete Millis , July 10, 2007; 02:33 P.M.

26 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55



27/29

after cleaning

Here's a pic after cleaning

Sylvia Stanat , February 23, 2008; 04:42 P.M.

27 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55



28/29

before and after cleaning

I took the very easiest and least invasive route to cleaning my sensor. I used an ear

bulb (or baby nose sucker) to blow the sensor off and a vacuum cleaner to suck as

much of the dust out of the sensor area that I could. I am left with some

insignificant dust spots but I've rid mysel f of the wo rst culprits. I'm stopping with

that. What's left is not worth worrying about. It took about 10 minutes and I wasn't

in danger of damaging anything! I recommend trying this method first.

Greg Coad , May 01, 2008; 12:00 P.M.

DON'T DO IT!!!

I spent $150 on a sensor cleaning kit that came with a scope, swabs, solution and a

mini vacuum and I wish now that I had taken a lighter to that cash. Canon will

clean your sensor for free... while you wait!!! (I guess that only works if you have a

Canon place where you live). I had 3 small specks of dust on my sensor when I

started and after using these super expensive swabs, I have more lint on the sensor

from the swab than I can count. My sensor is a mess. The vacuum that came with

the kit doesn't pick up anything. If the people selling these kits want happy

customers, don't give them the scope with the kit! All the scope does is reveal, in

heart-stopping fashion, what a mess the super-expensive swabs have made of the

sensor. I don't know if other brands of swabs work better or not, but stay away from

Delkin Devices sensor swabs. I'm not about to find out either since the store

suggested that I try VisibleDust's sensor swabs for about $10 per swab. The only

suggestions I get from the store where I bought the Delkin Devices kit and from the

1-800 number on the box are that I am not using it properly. I have tried every

28 od 29 27.3.2010 21:55

suggestion they make, following all the directions that come with the swabs and the

sensor just keeps getting dirtier and dirtier. When I went back to the store they



29/29

sensor just keeps getting dirtier and dirtier. When I went back to the store they

suggested I try the "Arctic Butterfly" for $100. I didn't buy one but I tried it out in

the store and it didn't do a thing. Smoke and mirrors people. Smoke and mirrors.

Get it done by a professional and then just keep it clean.

Greg Coad , May 08, 2008; 10:15 P.M.

Just as a fol low up....

When I took my camera to Canon to get cleaned, they say that the shutter is

damaged and it will cost me $150 to get it fixed.

Once again... DON"T DO IT.

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cleaning the cmos sensor of dsrl

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