Sensor cleaning and lollipops - merged thread.

[ronaldc]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Sorry but oil doesn’t turn into white spots. I stand by my opinion the Residue came from the stick. However I could been incredibly unlucky and got a bad one, old stock ? Who knows. No date of manufacture on the box. How was it stored, maybe glue on pads went bad. Either way I won’t ever use a Gel stick again. It’s not just me that’s had this problem. Plenty people have had the exact same thing happen to them with it.l which is enough for me the not trust that product. 

Edited March 9 by ronaldc

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[LocalHero1953]

What I saw from my gel stick incident was not oil smears or oil specks either.

But frankly what does it matter: if the only way to find I have oil on my sensor is to use gel sticks, then I have no reason to use them - I go straight to wet cleaning. It's a simple sequence: blower for stuff that moves, arctic butterfly for visible dust that doesn't, wet clean for cleaning the sensor if I see smears or stuff the brush won't shift (or, if I follow @jaapv's advice, for cleaning the sensor even if it looks clean, and to keep the neighbours happy).

Clearly, YMMV.

Edited March 9 by LocalHero1953

[pedaes]

32 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

arctic butterfly

I am a great fan of the Arctic  Butterfly but always. concerned that the brush could get contaminated so  give the bristles  a wipe with IPA after use.

Edited March 9 by pedaes

[jaapv]

2 hours ago, ronaldc said:

Sorry but oil doesn’t turn into white spots. I stand by my opinion the Residue came from the stick. However I could been incredibly unlucky and got a bad one, old stock ? Who knows. No date of manufacture on the box. How was it stored, maybe glue on pads went bad. Either way I won’t ever use a Gel stick again. It’s not just me that’s had this problem. Plenty people have had the exact same thing happen to them with it.l which is enough for me the not trust that product. 

Yes they do. They work like little lenses. You are talking to members who have been cleaning sensors for 25 years. 

[LocalHero1953]

24 minutes ago, pedaes said:

I am a great fan of the Arctic  Butterfly but always. concerned that the brush could get contaminated so  give the bristles  a wipe with IPA after use.

I check the sensor for smears after using it, for this reason, but haven't seen a need for IPA cleaning yet. My traditional lens brushes used to need it frequently - perhaps exposed lens glass was more likely to catch greasy specks, which then ended up on the brush. 

[ronaldc]

1 hour ago, jaapv said:

Yes they do. They work like little lenses. You are talking to members who have been cleaning sensors for 25 years. 

Could you show me a photo of a sensor that has oil containments please ? I’d like to compare the residue to what I experienced. Thanks 

[jaapv]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Sorry I cannot. I keep my sensors clean

[marchyman]

23 hours ago, 250swb said:

pathetically pointless a Rocket Blower.

Yet that 'pathetically pointless' method is all I need to get a clean sensor about 8 out of 10 times.

[SrMi]

32 minutes ago, marchyman said:

Yet that 'pathetically pointless' method is all I need to get a clean sensor about 8 out of 10 times.

Dito.

[250swb]

13 hours ago, marchyman said:

Yet that 'pathetically pointless' method is all I need to get a clean sensor about 8 out of 10 times.

And where did the dust go? Did you see it fly out of the camera, or did it just shift itself temporarily? The pressure of the outgoing air is countered by the pressure of the incoming air so you aren't always getting the dust out of the camera.

[Chris W]

46 minutes ago, 250swb said:

And where did the dust go? Did you see it fly out of the camera, or did it just shift itself temporarily? 

Noooo. It amazes me that people argue from a position of ignorance.

You hold the camera upside down, with the sensor pointing down. Then you blow from various angles. the dust then drops out (heard of gravity?) when dislodged by the air. By the way, professionals use air canisters all the time.

What I find, having done this many times, the rocket blower dislodges some of the dust, some remains, but is loosened. The correct swab does the rest.

If you swab without first blowing, you risk dragging large pieces of grit across the sensor, scratching it.

[LocalHero1953]

Air flow. Air goes into the camera via a narrow jet, then escapes, carrying the dust with it. The air doesn't stay in the camera. Of course, the dust, once freed from the sensor, could choose to leave the air flow and hide elsewhere. But why would it?

This appears to me to be the most probably scenario. Of course if anyone has evidence to show otherwise we would all like to hear it.

Edited March 10 by LocalHero1953

[jaapv]

I prefer my dust to sit next to the sensor instead of on the sensor anyway. Moving dust does not appear to be a problem for sensor shaking systems.  

[erl]

Is that a cocktail you are mixing jaap?

[jaapv]

10 minutes ago, erl said:

Is that a cocktail you are mixing jaap?

Nah - the sensor only supports too small glasses. 

[Henners]

Holding the camera facing down gives some hope the dust will exit but it's always going to be a battle with dust, so generally it's just a case of moving it out of the way so it's not on the sensor and affecting the images.

I change my lenses and there's always going to be dust that creeps in, hopefully it settles around the sensor and not on it. But, if I notice some then a quick rocket blow will roll the dice in the hopes it goes away for the time being.

I've never really found dust or dirt to be an issue. Cleaning the sensor once or twice a year (I'm not using my camera every day) and giving it a quick rocket blow every now and then means I very rarely have any meaningful issues that require an immediate sensor clean. Occasionally I'll have a spot that needs a clone in Lightroom but hardly ever really.

There's no perfect solution, it's just management for your own environment and usage.

[250swb]

4 hours ago, Chris W said:

Noooo. It amazes me that people argue from a position of ignorance.

Then you blow from various angles. the dust then drops out (heard of gravity?) when dislodged by the air. 

 

I suppose on some planets the gravitational force must be high enough to render dust 'heavy' and it plummets to the ground, but here on Earth unless you are cleaning your sensor in a vacuum chamber it's as likely to float around all day and never touch ground. Be careful not to lock yourself in and read the instructions, vacuum chambers are not play things.

[jaapv]

Dust-free rooms are not vacuum but over-pressure filtered air  to keep the ambient dust out. 

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Guest]

9 hours ago, 250swb said:

And where did the dust go? Did you see it fly out of the camera, or did it just shift itself temporarily? The pressure of the outgoing air is countered by the pressure of the incoming air so you aren't always getting the dust out of the camera.

That's not true. You are increasing the air pressure in the camera body and the air has to go somewhere, i.e out of the camera all around the lens mount hole. Any dust is likely to be carried out with the air.

Here's an experiment for you. Fill a wine glass nearly full of red wine and fire your rocket blower into the glass above the wine. You'll spot the tablecloth and walls rapidly getting covered in wine. Similar scenario as using the blower on dust on the sensor.

[250swb]

3 hours ago, Corius said:

That's not true. You are increasing the air pressure in the camera body and the air has to go somewhere, i.e out of the camera all around the lens mount hole. Any dust is likely to be carried out with the air.

Here's an experiment for you. Fill a wine glass nearly full of red wine and fire your rocket blower into the glass above the wine. You'll spot the tablecloth and walls rapidly getting covered in wine. Similar scenario as using the blower on dust on the sensor.

You fire your Rocket Blower where you like, but I’ll drink the glass of wine thank you. Your ‘experiment’ covers neither the depth of the glass or the radius of the glass, or even the amount of wine. Like everybody trying to blow it’s blowing.