My camera came new with dust included but it wasn't too bad so I removed it in PS. I was getting significantly more dust after a couple months and lens changes so I decided to swab.
Ordered a box of Sensorswabs and Eclipse solution, read about methods and homegrown implements. I wanted the "professional" version to get my feet wet. A pack of 12 is 59.95, ouch!! These must be the highest profit margin q-tips ever produced ;-)
The best info on technique is Thom's web site, but, no amount of reading makes up for experience! Determined to use only as many swabs as absolutely needed so heeded all warnings about angle of attack, wiping across the whole ccd, not lifting an edge, applying enough pressure, using too much fluid.
I put a 2 drops of fluid on the edge of the swab. I wiped across using one side of swab, flip, then the other. Hey this is easy no problem, looks clean! I took a photo expecting to see all dust gone. Nothing doing. The dust was in different places, a couple in the same places and a couple extra dust specs. Damn!
Ok, I'll get it right the second time. I adjust my lights in order to look really close, sure enough I now see the dust. You really have to look hard, it can be very tiny and very subtle but its there. Angle of light makes a big diffference, you really have to move the light around to see it all. Ok, now I can see the dust, I can remove it.
Second swab, 2 drops, wipe, wipe, look. Perhaps some dust is gone, but most is still there. No point in testing until I can see for sure there is no dust.
Third swab, 2 drops, applying more pressure this time. I thought I was applying enough pressure but I wasn't. Third swab got quite a bit of dust but I pushed it to one edge mainly. It is really difficult to wipe past the ccd since the border on one side is nearly zero and the border on the other side is about a 16th of an inch or less. I notice a couple dust spots are not budging at all, they are glued to the glass.
Fourth swab, 2 drops, wipe applying good pressure (its cloth, I'm not going to scratch the filter glass, get over it). Against Thom's recommendation I rub back and forth a little over the two glued on dust spots. One comes off, the other won't. I leave a whole bunch of dust all over the glass from rubbing and some streaks/spots from the fluid.
Fifth swab (now down $25). Perhaps need more fluid to dislodge tough one. 4 drops of fluid, one wipe. That worked wonders! Got the tough dust spots and quite a bit of the other dust. Still left it on the edge of the ccd. Need to wipe across better.
Fifth swab. The last swab doesn't look dirty, lets try reusing it. Bad idea. Leave streaks all over. Put more fluid on it, doesn't help, more streaks, dust moved around.
Sixth swab, 2 drops of fluid (got the tough spots better not get carried away with fluid). Pay attention to angle, try to get the thick pad back under the lip that surrounds the ccd so as to not leave dust on it. Wipe clear across and lift, twist swab, wipe across to other side and lift. Good but not perfect, I can still see dust piled up at the edges. Try blowing with a bulb blower. Still there. Perhaps, it won't show. Take a picture, sure enough piles of dust along the edges but clean in the middle. At least its progress.
Seventh swab. Thom says don't use too much fluid but too little seems a problem too. 3 drops, wipe, can still see dust. Blower doesn't remove it.
Eighth swab, 4 drops of fluid. Doesn't work. The problem is that there isn't enough room to really get past the ccd as Thom describes. The pad it too thick and when it butts up against the lip you leave the dust there on the edge. I have some pec pads, so I take the pad off the top of used Sensorswab and cut and wrap a single layer of pec pad in its place. A couple drops of fluid, wipe. It is thinner, and allows me to wipe past the ccd, but the pec pad doesn't absorb the fluid like the swab, it just lays it down on the glass in beads leaving a beaded streak across the ccd. Did get all the dust though, progress.
Ninth swab (down $45). Since I got the dust the goal is to remove the streak. 4 drops of fluid on the Sensor swab, carefully wipe. Not bad, streak is gone. Dust along one of the long edges. I thought these things were supposed to be lint free? They aren't completely lint free. There is a little stringy peice of swab and a couple dust specs. Try blower again but it won't get it off. Resist urge to use the swab again to lift the stringy thing.
Tenth swab, 3 drops of fluid, wipe. Looks good! Take picture, I only see one tiny spec in one corner. I can live with that. I am not going to get that last spec and risk more dust or streaks. Cost benefit analysis: one spec of dust is not worth $5.00.
Like a movie that doesn't quite have closure I walk away a little unfulfilled. I used $50 in swabs almost got the ccd clean and feel like if I do it again I will have the same experience. That is, I think it would take quite a few swabs (perhaps less then 10 but not 1 or 2) to get it close to clean.
What I learned:
1)The pad on the Sensorswab should be exactly as wide as the CCD. This way you could take a swipe with each side of the swab and cover the whole width of the CCD. If I come up with my own tool, I will make it the exact width.
2)The cloth used on the swab is better then the pec pad material because it is more absorbent. Sensorswab rarely streaks. I used the pec pad material to clean some lens filters after cleaning the ccd and noticed the same behavior. It tends to lay the fluid down on the glass in beads that then streak or leave what look like tiny water spots behind as the fluid evaporates.
3)I would love to get my hands on the pads of the material used on the sensorswabs (at a more reasonable price).
4)If I can find the right material I will try the tiny spatula idea, or the popsicle stick, but the pec pad doesn't seem to be good alternative.
Tom
Ordered a box of Sensorswabs and Eclipse solution, read about methods and homegrown implements. I wanted the "professional" version to get my feet wet. A pack of 12 is 59.95, ouch!! These must be the highest profit margin q-tips ever produced ;-)
The best info on technique is Thom's web site, but, no amount of reading makes up for experience! Determined to use only as many swabs as absolutely needed so heeded all warnings about angle of attack, wiping across the whole ccd, not lifting an edge, applying enough pressure, using too much fluid.
I put a 2 drops of fluid on the edge of the swab. I wiped across using one side of swab, flip, then the other. Hey this is easy no problem, looks clean! I took a photo expecting to see all dust gone. Nothing doing. The dust was in different places, a couple in the same places and a couple extra dust specs. Damn!
Ok, I'll get it right the second time. I adjust my lights in order to look really close, sure enough I now see the dust. You really have to look hard, it can be very tiny and very subtle but its there. Angle of light makes a big diffference, you really have to move the light around to see it all. Ok, now I can see the dust, I can remove it.
Second swab, 2 drops, wipe, wipe, look. Perhaps some dust is gone, but most is still there. No point in testing until I can see for sure there is no dust.
Third swab, 2 drops, applying more pressure this time. I thought I was applying enough pressure but I wasn't. Third swab got quite a bit of dust but I pushed it to one edge mainly. It is really difficult to wipe past the ccd since the border on one side is nearly zero and the border on the other side is about a 16th of an inch or less. I notice a couple dust spots are not budging at all, they are glued to the glass.
Fourth swab, 2 drops, wipe applying good pressure (its cloth, I'm not going to scratch the filter glass, get over it). Against Thom's recommendation I rub back and forth a little over the two glued on dust spots. One comes off, the other won't. I leave a whole bunch of dust all over the glass from rubbing and some streaks/spots from the fluid.
Fifth swab (now down $25). Perhaps need more fluid to dislodge tough one. 4 drops of fluid, one wipe. That worked wonders! Got the tough dust spots and quite a bit of the other dust. Still left it on the edge of the ccd. Need to wipe across better.
Fifth swab. The last swab doesn't look dirty, lets try reusing it. Bad idea. Leave streaks all over. Put more fluid on it, doesn't help, more streaks, dust moved around.
Sixth swab, 2 drops of fluid (got the tough spots better not get carried away with fluid). Pay attention to angle, try to get the thick pad back under the lip that surrounds the ccd so as to not leave dust on it. Wipe clear across and lift, twist swab, wipe across to other side and lift. Good but not perfect, I can still see dust piled up at the edges. Try blowing with a bulb blower. Still there. Perhaps, it won't show. Take a picture, sure enough piles of dust along the edges but clean in the middle. At least its progress.
Seventh swab. Thom says don't use too much fluid but too little seems a problem too. 3 drops, wipe, can still see dust. Blower doesn't remove it.
Eighth swab, 4 drops of fluid. Doesn't work. The problem is that there isn't enough room to really get past the ccd as Thom describes. The pad it too thick and when it butts up against the lip you leave the dust there on the edge. I have some pec pads, so I take the pad off the top of used Sensorswab and cut and wrap a single layer of pec pad in its place. A couple drops of fluid, wipe. It is thinner, and allows me to wipe past the ccd, but the pec pad doesn't absorb the fluid like the swab, it just lays it down on the glass in beads leaving a beaded streak across the ccd. Did get all the dust though, progress.
Ninth swab (down $45). Since I got the dust the goal is to remove the streak. 4 drops of fluid on the Sensor swab, carefully wipe. Not bad, streak is gone. Dust along one of the long edges. I thought these things were supposed to be lint free? They aren't completely lint free. There is a little stringy peice of swab and a couple dust specs. Try blower again but it won't get it off. Resist urge to use the swab again to lift the stringy thing.
Tenth swab, 3 drops of fluid, wipe. Looks good! Take picture, I only see one tiny spec in one corner. I can live with that. I am not going to get that last spec and risk more dust or streaks. Cost benefit analysis: one spec of dust is not worth $5.00.
Like a movie that doesn't quite have closure I walk away a little unfulfilled. I used $50 in swabs almost got the ccd clean and feel like if I do it again I will have the same experience. That is, I think it would take quite a few swabs (perhaps less then 10 but not 1 or 2) to get it close to clean.
What I learned:
1)The pad on the Sensorswab should be exactly as wide as the CCD. This way you could take a swipe with each side of the swab and cover the whole width of the CCD. If I come up with my own tool, I will make it the exact width.
2)The cloth used on the swab is better then the pec pad material because it is more absorbent. Sensorswab rarely streaks. I used the pec pad material to clean some lens filters after cleaning the ccd and noticed the same behavior. It tends to lay the fluid down on the glass in beads that then streak or leave what look like tiny water spots behind as the fluid evaporates.
3)I would love to get my hands on the pads of the material used on the sensorswabs (at a more reasonable price).
4)If I can find the right material I will try the tiny spatula idea, or the popsicle stick, but the pec pad doesn't seem to be good alternative.
Tom
