Hi, I'm Doug McKinlay and you're watching AdoramaTV.
For this video we'll be looking at how to clean DSLR sensors.
AdoramaTV presents 'Stay Focused' with Doug McKinlay.
For this video we'll be looking at how to clean DSLR sensors.
I think it's a necessary task and one that every photographer should know how to do.
It might seem a little daunting at first but with the right care and attention it's
relatively easily done. Yes you can have your sensors professionally cleaned but
it's not cheap, at least not where I live so by following these simple steps you
should be able to get your sensors clean for most environmental conditions. First
the essential tools I'll need to get the job done.
A blower, a statically charged cleaning brush, eclipse cleaning fluid, cleaning swabs
a lens cloth, a small head lamp or torch, flashlight, a bright white surface or a
clear blue sky shooting backdrops and either a small zoom or a 50mm lens.
You can add a can of compressed air to this list but just remember never blast it directly
into the camera as it can damage the mechanisms. Personally, however, I just stick
with the blower. Before we get into it, though, let me just point out that for the most
part you're not cleaning the sensor itself but the low-pass filter that sits in
front of the sensor. But for arguments sake we'll call it sensor cleaning here.
Now there's two methods to cleaning camera sensors. The dry method and the wet method. The dry
method is one that you should be doing most. It's easy and fast. As for the wet
method, it's something that might be needed only once or so a month, depending on how much
shooting you do. Now, just a couple of things to be aware of. A very important first is
make sure your camera battery is fully charged. If not, the mirror could drop and the shutters could
close just as you have your cleaning instruments inside the camera. Thus
potentially causing damage.
Second. Do your cleaning in an environment that is as dust and wind free as
possible. There's no point in trying this while mounted on the back of a camel in
the Sahara Desert. Most kitchen table tops with good light should suffice.
Make sure you wash your hands before getting going. Just remove any grease
or dirt that you might have picked up doing your normal day.
When taking on the task of cleaning your sensor you should really be thinking about cleaning all your
equipment at the same time. How dirty your gear gets depends on your
photography style and the environments you work in.
For instance when I'm working take all the lens caps and backs of my lenses
when they're in my camera bag. The reason why is that I can change the
lenses faster. The downside, though, is they do collect dust and even though I always
carry a lens cloth in my back pocket for quick wipe, you don't get anywhere near
as clean as when I do a dedicated proper cleaning session. So before popping the
lens off the camera body, give it a good wipe down, we don't want to introduce any
extra grime into the camera. OK, it's time to get started. First things first
get a blank memory card, insert it into the camera and take a picture of your bright
background. For me it's the white side of a reflector.
To get this right and see
the visible dust you need to shoot at a low ISO. 100. We're not looking for the noise here,
and use a small aperture, F22 for instance. We're not worried about things
like diffraction or tack sharp focus. In fact, if your shutter is a little slow it will work in
your favor. When taking the test picture, move your camera a little bit , even pan a little.
This will blur any marks on your shooting surface, so only the dust and
dirt on your sensor should show up. Once zoomed into 100% use your navigation
tool and start in the top left hand corner, work your way across and then down and
backwards and forwards all the way to the bottom of the frame. By doing this
you should be able to see how dirty the sensor really is. OK
the camera's wiped down and the lens has been removed. Now in the menu, find the camera
cleaning setting and switch to manual this will lock the mirror up when the
release button is pressed, making the sensor visible. It will close again once
the camera's main power is turned off.
Grab the blower, invert the camera body upside down and carefully blast a few shots of air
into the cavity.
Do not touch the sensor with the tip of the blower. It will damage it. Then snap the lens back
on, take another picture. Have a look at the LCD screen again and if dust is
still visible, move on to the dry clean method. For my dry cleaning needs, I use a
statically charged brush. Keep in mind these brushes come in different sizes for the
different sized sensors. There are two ways to charge these brushes. The cheap and the more
expensive way like canned air. I use the cheap way, the blower. Simply take your
brush, give the bristles a couple of whacks on the edge of the table, just to loosen any collected
bits of crud then blast it with the blower a few times and the brush should be charged.
Insert into the camera body. This is where your head lamp, or torch comes in handy. And
draw it across the sensor from one side to the other with
only the tips of the brush making contact, and then without turning the brush over,
draw it back again. This should get rid of most surface dust. To be sure that the
lens back on, take another picture and repeat the zooming method. If it's all
clear or relatively clear, that's all you need to do. Keep in mind that depth of
sensor cleaning to be matched to what you shoot. If you're a documentary
photographer or your apertures are relatively big, say F8 to F2 and small
specks of dust probably will never show up in the final image, but if you're into
small apertures landscapes etc,
F11 to F22, and you'll most likely need to give the sensor a deeper clean, a wet clean.
Wet cleaning is definitely a more invasive method of getting your sensor grime-free,
but with a little care and the right equipment it is not that difficult. For me I always start with a dry clean
even if I intend to do a wet clean. Now for the wet clean, the most important
tools are the swabs and the cleaning fluid. Don't cheap out on the cleaning fluid.
Personally I use Eclipse as it has always been reliable. Next before applying the cleaning
fluid, give the end of the swab a few blasts of air from the blower. This will help get
rid of any errant pieces of lint and then place small drops of your chosen fluid across
the tip of the swab. Make sure you have the right sized swab for your sensor. Two or
three drops should be more than sufficient to cover the whole tip, no
matter which swab side you use. Be very careful to make sure you do not over
moisten the swab. Too much fluid in the swab can cause fluid to leak into
unseen areas of the sensor chamber and cause serious damage. If accidentally over
moistened just gently dab the tip on a clean piece of lint free paper. You may
be tempted to touch the tip to check if it's damp but this is ill-advised, as greases from your
finger tips can be introduced to the swab and then to the sensor. To efficiently swab the
sensor, hold the swab like a pen. Place it on one side of the sensor and move the
swab from one end to the other, in a single, continuous, firm and slow motion.
Do not put too much pressure on the swab against the sensor. Remember the glass is
very thin. Allow the sensor a moment to dry and repeat this, but starting on the
other side this time. Two sweeps should be enough to remove the vast majority of
the dirt. If you can see a smear on the sensor, a third pass is sensible. Be sure
to turn the swab over as you move across so the cause of the smear no longer
presents an issue. When finished, suitably discard the swab as it should
only be used once.
Just to finish up, remember there are a number of different products in the
market for cleaning sensors, some really good, some not so good. But ultimately the
choice is up to each photographer depending on a number of factors: budget,
shooting environments and the end use of images for example. Like a lot of
photographic products you may have to work your way through a few to find the ones
that suit you best.
So that's it for this week and I'm Doug McKinlay for AdoramaTV. Don't forget, you can
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