Cleaning the sensor too often?

[kimvilar]

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Hi everyone,

Since using my SL2-S I see myself cleaning the sensor more often than what I was used to with my previous cameras. I am a very careful person and I always take good care to prevent dust coming inside the sensor (specially when changing lenses) but it is inevitable.

I use my SL2-S professionally and it is very important to me to keep the sensor spotless. 

My question: if I clean the sensor twice or three times a months, could this somehow effect the sensor in the long term? Do you know if cleaning it too often would have an impact?

I am only using professional products like the 'visibledust' sensor cleaning kits and I am also extremely careful when cleaning it.

Thank you in advanced!

 

PS. I know there are many topics about sensor cleaning in the forum, I tried finding something about this (impacts of cleaning the sensor too often) but could not find anything. If it's already been discussed, thank you for letting me know and apologies for the duplicate.

[jaapv]

First of all: why do you clean your sensor so often?  Most of us only do so when spots become obtrusive and a blow with a blower bulb will clear them 90% of the time. I only wet clean my sensors once a year to get rid of general haze from the air. For the odd persistent spot a stamping tool or sensor brush will suffice with a wet clean a last resort. 
I can understand a professional need for spotless images, but surely one or two clicks with the spot healing tool are more convenient than the hassle of a sensor clean?  
As to your question: I cannot think of any reason why frequent cleaning should harm your sensor, provided you do it correctly. 

[mfunnell]

10 minutes ago, jaapv said:

a blow with a blower bulb will clear them 90% of the time

Hard agree - I've not had to use anything more intrusive than a Rocket Blower (or smaller travel equivalent) for many years. Part of that might be the "sensor cleaning" function that some modern cameras (eg. my Fujifilm cameras and Canon SLRs) have that shake (some?) stuff off the sensor at power on/off/both. But even with my M240 I've only needed more than a blower I think once.

   ...Mike

[kimvilar]

14 minutes ago, jaapv said:

First of all: why do you clean your sensor so often?  Most of us only do so when spots become obtrusive and a blow with a blower bulb will clear them 90% of the time. I only wet clean my sensors once a year to get rid of general haze from the air. For the odd persistent spot a stamping tool or sensor brush will suffice with a wet clean a last resort. 
I can understand a professional need for spotless images, but surely one or two clicks with the spot healing tool are more convenient than the hassle of a sensor clean?  
As to your question: I cannot think of any reason why frequent cleaning should harm your sensor, provided you do it correctly. 

Thanks! I use a blower bulb too but does not always work and dust particles remain on the sensor... Maybe I need a bigger blower bulb.  I am not a fan of adhesive sticks, maybe I should also try them... 

I'm using primes only, so I am changing lenses very often. Again, I consider myself a person who takes good care of the equipment but I just find dust is getting inside too often and usually a blower does not completely remove them. Hence the need to end up using 'wet cleaning' methods and my doubt if this could effect the sensor somehow...

[jaapv]

Maybe the Green Clean vacuum system is an efficient option for you.

[frame-it]

45 minutes ago, kimvilar said:

My question: if I clean the sensor twice or three times a months, could this somehow effect the sensor in the long term? Do you know if cleaning it too often would have an impact?

 

 

PS. I know there are many topics about sensor cleaning in the forum, I tried finding something about this (impacts of cleaning the sensor too often) but could not find anything. If it's already been discussed, thank you for letting me know and apologies for the duplicate.

i use the blower every time i change lenses > everyday!

i never change lenses outdoors, and wet clean once or twice a month.

its good to wipe the mount area before removing one lens and attaching the next lens

Im not cleaning the sensor, Im cleaning the glass that covers the sensor.

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by frame-it

[kimvilar]

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9 minutes ago, frame-it said:

i use the blower every time i change lenses > everyday!

i never change lenses outdoors, and wet clean once or twice a month.

its good to wipe the mount area before removing one lens and attaching the next lens

Im not cleaning the sensor, Im cleaning the glass that covers the sensor.

 

Yes, using the blower more often might help removing the particles that if left longer might stick 'harder' on the sensor. I like your approach to use the blower everytime + change lenses indoors. But unfortunately I cannot decide where to change lenses if I'm in a photo shoot. The client will not wait for me to look for shelter (if there is any shelter around at all).

I clean my equipment at the end of each photo shoot. During the cleaning routine I may need to use the blower more often and every time I finish my photo shoots to clean the sensor (or the glass covering it:)). So, using the blower much more often instead of just inspecting the sensor every week or every 10 days and finding that the dust particles are stuck.

About my initial question, it seems that wet cleaning the 'glass' in front the sensor regularly should not have any impact though. 

[dpitt]

5 hours ago, kimvilar said:

... But unfortunately I cannot decide where to change lenses if I'm in a photo shoot. The client will not wait for me to look for shelter (if there is any shelter around at all).

I suspected that your lens changing routine would have something to do with it. Of course you need to change whenever it is needed for the job. But in my case I rarely use a bulb blower when changing lenses. Blowing a lens mount in the open may even have adverse effects, keeping your mount open for a longer period of time.

My main counter measures are this:

1. Try to go indoors to change lenses. Having a coffee break helps a lot. I use the occasion to switch lenses. If this is not possible, and you have to change lenses in the open, turn your back to the wind, and hold the camera in front of you. If you have a coat, hold the camera inside the coat during the change.
   My worst experiences with dust were due to changing lenses in windy conditions. I once shot the best half of a holiday after changing lens one time at sea in the open. In PP, I found all my images had an enormous piece of fluff in a very awkward spot, after that particular change. That is when I started to avoid changing  lenses in the open.
2. My lenses are always covered with the rear cap until the last instant.
3. I always hold the camera with the lens mount pointing downwards as much as possible (without wind, dust always falls downwards)
4. I dismount the lens and hold the second lens ready to mount it. Cap removed before I dismount the mounted lens. I keep the time that the lens mount is open as short as possible. Mounting and dismounting is also done with the mount pointing downwards. If it is hard to mount pointing downwards, I do it with the mount in  vertical position, but never pointing upwards. (with the body on its back)

Using these procedures, I usually get away with blow cleaning the sensor from time to time. It has been years since I had to wet clean my sensor. YMMV
Blow cleaning the sensor is always done by holding the mount downwards and blowing upwards in the mount. Mounting the camera on a stand in downward position makes it easier to get most of the dust out.

Edited September 17, 2023 by dpitt

[Jean-Michel]

8 hours ago, jaapv said:

First of all: why do you clean your sensor so often?  Most of us only do so when spots become obtrusive and a blow with a blower bulb will clear them 90% of the time. I only wet clean my sensors once a year to get rid of general haze from the air. For the odd persistent spot a stamping tool or sensor brush will suffice with a wet clean a last resort. 
I can understand a professional need for spotless images, but surely one or two clicks with the spot healing tool are more convenient than the hassle of a sensor clean?  
As to your question: I cannot think of any reason why frequent cleaning should harm your sensor, provided you do it correctly. 

When needed, I use a blower and or one of the VisibleDust products (brush, swabs). I never used the stamping tool method and I wonder if that one would be recommended or not for a stabilized sensor such as in the SL2 or SL2s.

[jaapv]

Leica uses the Pentax tool, but I think that might be a bit dodgy if you are not experienced in its use.

[Anbaric]

9 hours ago, kimvilar said:

My question: if I clean the sensor twice or three times a months, could this somehow effect the sensor in the long term? Do you know if cleaning it too often would have an impact?

One thing to consider is that every time you clean it, there's some risk of damage (hopefully small if done carefully!). A sensor that is cleaned 30 times a year is more likely to become damaged than one that is cleaned once or twice.

[robb]

I regularly use air and likely wet clean once a month.  My cameras are used every week in varied outdoor environments.  I don’t have any problem wet cleaning when they need it.  I prefer a clean image without needing to fix with the cloning tool.  Too much time wasted with high quantities of images,  if you shoot your lenses wide open most of the time, you are less likely to notice issues with spots.  But if you are shooting at f8 more often then you will need to clean more often.  

Robb

[Jeff S]

Remember that you’re cleaning the cover glass, not the sensor itself, so it’s not as delicate as you might fear. But, as noted, proper tools and proper technique are key. That said, I rarely need to wet clean my SL2 or M sensors.

Jeff

[hellobrandonscott]

I've never cleaned my SL2-S sensors and use them almost daily for work since they launched in 2020. What are you doing that requires cleaning so often?

[kimvilar]

Thanks a lot for your responses this far!

14 hours ago, dpitt said:

My main counter measures are this:

1.  

Great summary. I do the same steps though. I face the camera down, have the lenses cap on until the last moment and I switch them as fast as possible and when possible inside my bag. 

11 hours ago, Anbaric said:

One thing to consider is that every time you clean it, there's some risk of damage (hopefully small if done carefully!). A sensor that is cleaned 30 times a year is more likely to become damaged than one that is cleaned once or twice.

Maybe 2 or 3 times a month as I mentioned in my initial post is a bit excessive. But last year I 'wet cleaned' the sensor 8-10.

8 hours ago, robb said:

I regularly use air and likely wet clean once a month.  My cameras are used every week in varied outdoor environments.  I don’t have any problem wet cleaning when they need it.  I prefer a clean image without needing to fix with the cloning tool.  Too much time wasted with high quantities of images,  if you shoot your lenses wide open most of the time, you are less likely to notice issues with spots.  But if you are shooting at f8 more often then you will need to clean more often.  

 

Same, clean image is important to me and I prefer a good wet cleaning (doing it very carefully and with the right products) than having to go through images with the cloning / healing tool. But this is why I wondered if too 'wet cleaning' might impact somehow.

 

11 minutes ago, hellobrandonscott said:

I've never cleaned my SL2-S sensors and use them almost daily for work since they launched in 2020. What are you doing that requires cleaning so often?

I really try my best to keep the sensor cleaning, following a similar procedure as @dpitt mentioned. Maybe I'm too obsessed. My equipment looks new even after years of using it, I do take care of my lenses and cameras a lot. Also, I only 'wet clean' the sensor when air does not work. I am not addicted to 'wet cleaning' my camera  . If I could avoid it, I definitely would!

Maybe it's my obsession about the smallest dust particle I see when I inspect the sensor.  

[jaapv]

Isn’t the small dust particle that you see on your image more important ?  

[dpitt]

2 hours ago, kimvilar said:

Maybe it's my obsession about the smallest dust particle I see when I inspect the sensor.  

As @jaapv said. It is only important when you can see it on your images. I can live with a few specs in the corners that only appear when shooting blue skies with very small apertures. I must admit that I rarely use smaller than F8. Depends on the kind of photography you do, I suppose. And I only start shooting shots at F22 to inspect my sensor when I have had some issues with dust in PP of the last shoot.

[kimvilar]

42 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Isn’t the small dust particle that you see on your image more important ?  

They are important, I agree. I don't mind a small spot on the screen while doing a fun shooting with friends.

But for some of my professional work, if I see these spots on the screen only after the photo shoot, it means that I will need to check the whole series of photos and use spot removal / healing. What's worst, if I miss some spots on the screen (because of a dirty sensor) and I deliver the images to the client, this would not be nice at all. My work covers high-end real estate photography and the images need to be impeccable. I do my best to double check all images before delivery, but I need to have a clean sensor beforehand, as this optimises my workflow and reduces my post-shooting editing / proofing time for all images.  

Ideally it would be great to have a 'curtain' covering the sensor every time the lens is removed. Other brands have it... maybe for future SL models. 

 

[jaapv]

I agree that spotting hundreds of images is not what you want to do.
If you have spots on a series of images you can make an action in Photoshop and apply it to the whole batch. Five minutes at most.

 

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[TeleElmar135mm]

vor 6 Minuten schrieb jaapv:

I agree that spotting hundreds of images is not what you want to do.
If you have spots on a series of images you can make an action in Photoshop and apply it to the whole batch. Five minutes at most.

Or use Capture One - there is a function to remove spots. Works just fine.