Sensor Cleaning Steps

[SrMi]

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I use a Nitecore BabyBlower (the first model) with better success than a Rocket Blower. However, people have reported issues with later versions.

I hold the camera upside down when blowing the sensor, hoping that the dust falls down or is pushed down by the air turbulence caused by the blower. I am even happy if the dust moves away from the sensor into the chamber.

[Velo-city]

On 12/11/2024 at 6:40 PM, nameBrandon said:

Rarely in any other scenario in life do we randomly blow dirt/dust around in a contained environment and then call it clean. Typically one is brushing, wiping or using a vacuum. I just have the butterfly, a wet cleaning cleaning kit and a clone brush

I guess it’s just the cheapest/simplest/easiest/quickest non-contact way to try and remove a speck of dust from something precious. It’s not perfect and there are better options overall as you’ve pointed out. But it has a lot of real-world advantage compared to those methods, especially out in the ‘wild’. It could make things worse of course but it’s also hard to do too much damage unless you’re really careless or unlucky. 
 

That said I do feel better doing it on a lens rather than a sensor. But sometimes needs must. 

Edited December 13, 2024 by Velo-city

[marchyman]

The other day when editing an image I noticed a dust spot.  Today I took a picture of my computer monitor with an empty browser window open full screen using a light background at f/22.  There were several dust spots.  The one in the upper left is the one I'd notices when editing an image.

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I put the camera in sensor cleaning mode, removed the lens, and gave the sensor a half a dozen blasts from a rocket blower.   After putting the lens back on I cycled power then took another test shot.

 

Dust gone.  Most of the time that's all I need to do.  But I do have a sensor brush and a wet cleaning kit for the times a blower isn't enough.

 

[JNK100]

On 12/13/2024 at 9:43 PM, Velo-city said:

I guess it’s just the cheapest/simplest/easiest/quickest non-contact way to try and remove a speck of dust from something precious. It’s not perfect and there are better options overall as you’ve pointed out. But it has a lot of real-world advantage compared to those methods, especially out in the ‘wild’. It could make things worse of course but it’s also hard to do too much damage unless you’re really careless or unlucky. 
 

That said I do feel better doing it on a lens rather than a sensor. But sometimes needs must. 

I agree and used this method to remove most of the dust from mine.

There was one largish speck that wouldn't shift but luckily here in the UK, Leica offer two free sensor-cleans per year whilst still under warranty. I booked a clean when I knew I was to be in London and all went perfectly!

 

 

[FlashGordonPhotography]

On 12/18/2024 at 7:53 PM, JNK100 said:

I agree and used this method to remove most of the dust from mine.

There was one largish speck that wouldn't shift but luckily here in the UK, Leica offer two free sensor-cleans per year whilst still under warranty. I booked a clean when I knew I was to be in London and all went perfectly!

 

 

My Leica store is an hour and a half away way. I do a wet clean in 2 minutes.

Gordon

[FlashGordonPhotography]

On 12/12/2024 at 5:40 AM, nameBrandon said:

Fair point! Though rocket blowers have always struck me as a bit of an odd solution anyways.. I don’t know if they were holdovers from negative cleaning or why they honestly gained popularity to begin with (other than profit margins on what is probably $0.25 worth of rubber and plastic). Rarely in any other scenario in life do we randomly blow dirt/dust around in a contained environment and then call it clean. Typically one is brushing, wiping or using a vacuum. I just have the butterfly, a wet cleaning cleaning kit and a clone brush

You can shove a rocket blower in the bottom of a bag and it’s basically indestructible. And they do help with non sticky subjects. I’ve had my current Ghittos rocket for around 15 years. So pretty good value. Also handy for blowing off cameras and lenses as well as sensors. ALWAYS do a half dozen blows away from your gear before use and you’re golden.

I will never, ever allow canned air to be used near my gear. Too much pressure and too many propellants. I’ve seen cameras rendered unusable in the field too often. But never once with a simple rocket blower. They’re also environmentally horrible things. I’d be happy to see them banned.

When I travel I always do a wet clean the day before I leave. I also carry two blowers, a butterfly and a half dozen wet swabs. I got tired of cleaning others sensors so I don’t share anymore. If you don’t prepare, bad luck.

Gordon

[jaapv]

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5 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

I will never, ever allow canned air to be used near my gear. Too much pressure and too many propellants. I’ve seen cameras rendered unusable in the field too often. But never once with a simple rocket blower. They’re also environmentally horrible things. I’d be happy to see them banned.

This!

[nameBrandon]

7 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

You can shove a rocket blower in the bottom of a bag and it’s basically indestructible. And they do help with non sticky subjects. I’ve had my current Ghittos rocket for around 15 years. So pretty good value. Also handy for blowing off cameras and lenses as well as sensors. ALWAYS do a half dozen blows away from your gear before use and you’re golden.

I will never, ever allow canned air to be used near my gear. Too much pressure and too many propellants. I’ve seen cameras rendered unusable in the field too often. But never once with a simple rocket blower. They’re also environmentally horrible things. I’d be happy to see them banned.

When I travel I always do a wet clean the day before I leave. I also carry two blowers, a butterfly and a half dozen wet swabs. I got tired of cleaning others sensors so I don’t share anymore. If you don’t prepare, bad luck.

Gordon

Fair enough, though the butterfly is probably just as portable given the slim profile of the case vs the bulbous shape of the rocket blower. That being said I think we all probably have a slightly different tolerance to dust spots given what/how we shoot. I've never cleaned in the field, and even when I'm shooing 30+ fps for sports and end up with 3,000+ images for a match I don't mind proofing with dust spots and then just cleaning up the selects. Of course I'm not shooting for a newswire though..

[FlashGordonPhotography]

6 hours ago, nameBrandon said:

Fair enough, though the butterfly is probably just as portable given the slim profile of the case vs the bulbous shape of the rocket blower. That being said I think we all probably have a slightly different tolerance to dust spots given what/how we shoot. I've never cleaned in the field, and even when I'm shooing 30+ fps for sports and end up with 3,000+ images for a match I don't mind proofing with dust spots and then just cleaning up the selects. Of course I'm not shooting for a newswire though..

I really like my Article Butterfly. Unfortunately I have ruined the bristles (my own stupid fault) while travelling, rendering it useless on a trip. Can’t do that with a blower. Also a blower can be used on more than the sensor.

I always carry one. So I’m not disagreeing with you as to it effectiveness. I agree it’s more effective than a blower, mostly and does the job 95% of the time. I tend to use the butterfly in my hotel and the blower in the field for *emergencies*. I shoot at deeper DoF regularly so I do notice spots quite easily. I don’t use anything most days. I have just learned I need to have it with me, just in case.

In March I’m at Holiday in India. Going to need all. my cleaning gear and more.  Will have both blowers and a butterfly in the kit plus a spare head for it (lesson learned). Plus swabs for each day. Plus some sort of bag system. And a spare camera, just in case…. 

Gordon

[ArtemAbalmaz]

Hello everyone! Look at this picture, do you think this is a problem with dirt on the sensor or with the optics? I cleaned it, but the stains remained.

Tnx!

 

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[Steve Ash]

Use more fluid with your sensor tabs and repeat the procedure until they are gone. It took me a whole bunch of sensor tabs until I finally got it clean.

The other option is to get it done at your store.

 

[mekener]

The sensor glass is pretty tough, I just wet clean mine when I see dust on the photos. Takes 10 seconds and very easy to do. It feels strange(dangerous?) to me to blow air into electronics.

[PhotoCruiser]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Steve Ash:

The other option is to get it done at your store.

I am technical and fine-motor rather skilled, but after my friend managed it to scratch his Nikon D800 sensor when trying to clean it i prefer to bring the camera to a photo shop and have it done. Just in case i take a photo before to testimony that there was no scratch when i brought in the camera. I had this done only a few times on my D800 and all went well.
Not sure what Leica charges for replacing a damaged sensor but i guess iw would be very expensive and not less than a D800 sensor.
I am also the believe that sensor cleaning with tabs should not be done too often and only if the dirt on the sensor sticks too (or kind of greasy stuff) well to remove with a blower or a clean, only for this purpose used brush for lenses.
Also, i am careful with blowing as the dust may get blown in some places where he don't belong and i would prefer to vacuum it out doing that in the most dustless ambient to avoid that other particles get sucked in.

Chris

 

Edited February 27 by PhotoCruiser

[PhotoCruiser]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb ArtemAbalmaz:

Look at this picture, do you think this is a problem with dirt on the sensor or with the optics? I cleaned it, but the stains remained.

Can you tell us what camera you have?

The darker round spots look as dust on the sensor to me, change the lens and do another test if the appear again or go away.
This would reveal who is the culprit.

BTW: What are the white spots?
Chris

[Henners]

I'll clean my M11 sensor once or twice a year depending how much use it's seen. It's a quick job and I've never had an issue cleaning sensors.

I used to do all my Canon gear when I was a pro, putting the cameras through long days and various environments meant that being able to clean the sensor myself was necessary. I think a lot of people are hesitant and I understand why but I think generally speaking pretty much anyone can clean a sensor as long as they know they're not too ham-fisted.

My procedure is to hold the camera facing down, rocket blow the sensor and general internal area to move the dust in the hopes it will fly out, prep a swab and visually inspect the sensor for anything (checking there's nothing obviously scratchy on it), then swab the sensor from one edge to the other with a very light amount of pressure, then again but with a little more pressure.

This is generally all that is needed, if stubborn dust remains I'll repeat the procedure. Usually complete in around a minute.

[paulleica]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Henners:

It's a quick job and I've never had an issue cleaning sensors.

Which sensor swabs and which cleaning fluid do you use? The Sense Swabs and the cleaning fluid from Lens Aid leave streaks on my sensor, even if I only use very little of the cleaning fluid.

 

[Henners]

21 minutes ago, paulleica said:

Which sensor swabs and which cleaning fluid do you use? The Sense Swabs and the cleaning fluid from Lens Aid leave streaks on my sensor, even if I only use very little of the cleaning fluid.

 

I used these ones last time (linked below) although they're very expensive. I used to use Pec Pads and Eclipse Optic Cleaning Solution cleaning fluid.

I would manually wrap a Pec Pad around the little plastic spade thingy-ma-bob and use an elastic band to hold it tight. Then apply a few drops of the Eclipse sensor cleaning fluid to it. This was far far cheaper but very slightly less convenient. Personally I think I'll go back to that as the convenience to price ratio of these is a bit crazy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09M8HFZ6D?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_6

Also, I originally would do it after a hot shower. Not because it was a special occasion and I wanted to romance my camera but because the steamy room is supposed to pull any dust out of the air. I'm guessing the droplets attach to the dust and drag it to the floor. I don't tend to do that any more, I just do it in my Livingroom but if you wanted to be very particular this is probably better.

Edited February 27 by Henners

[Derbyshire Man]

Giotto rocket blowers have a filter i thought?

[jdlaing]

19 hours ago, Derbyshire Man said:

Giotto rocket blowers have a filter i thought?

They do.

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[ArtemAbalmaz]

On 2/27/2025 at 2:19 PM, PhotoCruiser said:

BTW: What are the white spots?

This is snow. I have a M11 camera with a Summilux-M 35/f1.4 ASPH lens, unfortunately I don't have another lens to replace it.