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Cleaned my sensor.. :(

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'Ozy'

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I ordered the sensor swabs and eclipse system. I must say the cleaning fluid is interesting. It contains methanol and when i dropped a few drops on my hand it was instantly gone. Anway, I followed everyones recommendations and i know I did the operation properly. I have had a small area towards the bottom slightly right that won't go away. When I examine the sensor, I can actually see the dot on the sensor. I'm not sure if its on the sensor or the glass now. I used three swabs and I did manage to get all my dust off the sensor! I barely had any to begin with. Now that I've tried the cleaning the actual sensor, I guess my only recourse is to send the unit into Canon for repair. I'm afraid they wont fix the problem like others have experienced on this forum. They will just try to clean it and then return it. Should I not worry about this or should I address this? Because I know its there, I can see it in every pic, even at f8, although its a very faint dot.

Here are the pics, click on the links for the originals

Before



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aaa?full=1

After swab 2



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aab?full=1

After swab 3



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aac?full=1

Ugh, so frustrating..

--
Ozy
http://www.carandmodel.com
D60, BG-ED3, 70-200L f2.8 IS, 16-35L, 28-135 IS, & 50 f1.4, 550EX
 
Hi Ozy,

very interesting ... I have a similar problem with my D30 sensor, but so far I only tried a blower, not the swaps. But I can see them only, when using apertures smaller than f8.

What I find strange, is the fact that one spot is sharp and the others are out of focus ... does anybody know why?

Greetings from Germany

Chris
'Ozy' said:
I ordered the sensor swabs and eclipse system. I must say the
cleaning fluid is interesting. It contains methanol and when i
dropped a few drops on my hand it was instantly gone. Anway, I
followed everyones recommendations and i know I did the operation
properly. I have had a small area towards the bottom slightly
right that won't go away. When I examine the sensor, I can
actually see the dot on the sensor. I'm not sure if its on the
sensor or the glass now. I used three swabs and I did manage to
get all my dust off the sensor! I barely had any to begin with.
Now that I've tried the cleaning the actual sensor, I guess my only
recourse is to send the unit into Canon for repair. I'm afraid
they wont fix the problem like others have experienced on this
forum. They will just try to clean it and then return it. Should
I not worry about this or should I address this? Because I know its
there, I can see it in every pic, even at f8, although its a very
faint dot.

Here are the pics, click on the links for the originals

Before



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aaa?full=1

After swab 2



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aab?full=1

After swab 3



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aac?full=1

Ugh, so frustrating..

--
Ozy
http://www.carandmodel.com
D60, BG-ED3, 70-200L f2.8 IS, 16-35L, 28-135 IS, & 50 f1.4, 550EX
Click to expand...
 
Chris ™ said:
very interesting ... I have a similar problem with my D30 sensor,
but so far I only tried a blower, not the swaps. But I can see them
only, when using apertures smaller than f8.

What I find strange, is the fact that one spot is sharp and the
others are out of focus ... does anybody know why?

Greetings from Germany

Chris
'Ozy' said:
I ordered the sensor swabs and eclipse system. I must say the
cleaning fluid is interesting. It contains methanol and when i
dropped a few drops on my hand it was instantly gone. Anway, I
followed everyones recommendations and i know I did the operation
properly. I have had a small area towards the bottom slightly
right that won't go away. When I examine the sensor, I can
actually see the dot on the sensor. I'm not sure if its on the
sensor or the glass now. I used three swabs and I did manage to
get all my dust off the sensor! I barely had any to begin with.
Now that I've tried the cleaning the actual sensor, I guess my only
recourse is to send the unit into Canon for repair. I'm afraid
they wont fix the problem like others have experienced on this
forum. They will just try to clean it and then return it. Should
I not worry about this or should I address this? Because I know its
there, I can see it in every pic, even at f8, although its a very
faint dot.

Here are the pics, click on the links for the originals

Before



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aaa?full=1

After swab 2



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aab?full=1

After swab 3



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aac?full=1

Ugh, so frustrating..

--
Ozy
http://www.carandmodel.com
D60, BG-ED3, 70-200L f2.8 IS, 16-35L, 28-135 IS, & 50 f1.4, 550EX
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
Mark Lutz
http://www.visionsphotography.us
 
I also had a spot that was sharper than all the other ones, visible even at wide apertures and sharp at f/22.

I looked at the sensor with a small 4x lense. From lens-focussing distance and the fact that this dust particle
was sharper on the images than other
spots, I concluded that it was BEHIND

the cover-glass of the sensor unit, inside the sensor. Now I've got a different copy of the body.
 
Me i cleaned 2 time my ccd with clean and soft Q-tips.
it removed around 90-95% of dust particule.

I am happy this. i rarely use f/22 ... no interesting landscape in damned belgium.
i know q-tips is cheap...maybe not enough expensive
for Canon users who like to spend 2000$ for a lens .... :)
guy
Gerhard said:
I also had a spot that was sharper than all the other ones, visible
even at wide apertures and sharp at f/22.
I looked at the sensor with a small 4x lense. From lens-focussing
distance and the fact that this dust particle
was sharper on the images than other
spots, I concluded that it was BEHIND
the cover-glass of the sensor unit, inside the sensor. Now I've got
a different copy of the body.
Click to expand...
'Ozy' said:
I ordered the sensor swabs and eclipse system. I must say the
cleaning fluid is interesting. It contains methanol and when i
dropped a few drops on my hand it was instantly gone. Anway, I
followed everyones recommendations and i know I did the operation
properly. I have had a small area towards the bottom slightly
right that won't go away. When I examine the sensor, I can
actually see the dot on the sensor. I'm not sure if its on the
sensor or the glass now. I used three swabs and I did manage to
get all my dust off the sensor! I barely had any to begin with.
Now that I've tried the cleaning the actual sensor, I guess my only
recourse is to send the unit into Canon for repair. I'm afraid
they wont fix the problem like others have experienced on this
forum. They will just try to clean it and then return it. Should
I not worry about this or should I address this? Because I know its
there, I can see it in every pic, even at f8, although its a very
faint dot.

Here are the pics, click on the links for the originals

Before



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aaa?full=1

After swab 2



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aab?full=1

After swab 3



http://www.f20c.com/sensorcleaning/aac?full=1

Ugh, so frustrating..

--
Ozy
http://www.carandmodel.com
D60, BG-ED3, 70-200L f2.8 IS, 16-35L, 28-135 IS, & 50 f1.4, 550EX
Click to expand...
 
Hi Gerhard,

that doesn't sound good ... seems like I should contact Canon Support.

But strange is, that all of my spots are only visible with apertures smaller than f8. So there seems to be a difference to your case?

Greetings from Germany

Chris
Gerhard said:
I also had a spot that was sharper than all the other ones, visible
even at wide apertures and sharp at f/22.
I looked at the sensor with a small 4x lense. From lens-focussing
distance and the fact that this dust particle
was sharper on the images than other
spots, I concluded that it was BEHIND
the cover-glass of the sensor unit, inside the sensor. Now I've got
a different copy of the body.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Guy,

let me warn you, that I scratched my G1's LCD by cleaning it with a Q-Tip. One of the tips I used had a sharp fuzz.
BTW ... there was no dust on the LCD, only a fingerprint.

Greetings from Germany

Chris
guy gagnon said:
Me i cleaned 2 time my ccd with clean and soft Q-tips.
it removed around 90-95% of dust particule.
I am happy this. i rarely use f/22 ... no interesting landscape in
damned belgium.
i know q-tips is cheap...maybe not enough expensive
for Canon users who like to spend 2000$ for a lens .... :)
guy
Click to expand...
 
My observation, described above, was about like this: at f/8 one unsharp spot, at
f/22 the same spot sharp plus some
other unsharp spots, like in the pictures of 'Ozy' where you see
a sharp one at bottom middle/right and one at bottom left of the image.

This seems similar to what Chris reported.

The sharpness is influenced by the
distance of the dust particle from
the actual sensor. The sensor is at some distance behind the protecting glas.
At wide aperture (f/5.6), the light hits the
particle from various directions

and its image (shadow) on the sensor is unsharp and larger. At small aperture (f/32)

the image (shadow) of the particle on the sensor is sharper since the incident light comes from more or less
only one direction. This means also,
the nearer a particle to the sensor,
the sharper it is and the more
visible at wider apertures.
 
there is NO reason to condemn a Qtip for scratching as long as you get a nice clean fresh one out of a box that hasn't been exposed to anything. I ue them all the time with perfect results. If it makes you feel any better borrow some from your doctors office as they are "medical grade" and pure cotton as well. A LOT easier to manipulate and use for sensor cleaning if you ask me.....
Chris ™ said:
let me warn you, that I scratched my G1's LCD by cleaning it with a
Q-Tip. One of the tips I used had a sharp fuzz.
BTW ... there was no dust on the LCD, only a fingerprint.

Greetings from Germany

Chris
guy gagnon said:
Me i cleaned 2 time my ccd with clean and soft Q-tips.
it removed around 90-95% of dust particule.
I am happy this. i rarely use f/22 ... no interesting landscape in
damned belgium.
i know q-tips is cheap...maybe not enough expensive
for Canon users who like to spend 2000$ for a lens .... :)
guy
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Lee Rothman said:
there is NO reason to condemn a Qtip for scratching as long as you
get a nice clean fresh one out of a box that hasn't been exposed
to anything. I ue them all the time with perfect results. If it
makes you feel any better borrow some from your doctors office as
they are "medical grade" and pure cotton as well. A LOT easier to
manipulate and use for sensor cleaning if you ask me.....
Click to expand...
maybe true, maybe not.

telling people to risk scratching the sensor (aka filter) inside their 2,500.00 (or more) dollar camera is rather irresponsible don't ya think?

there is always the possiblity of pulling out one Q-tip that may have a granule of junk in it, and then to scratch the sensor?

sorry, but a few bucks spent on sensor swabs is not that big of a deal, and it's not like it has to be done on a monthly basis.

what's furthermore, some people here are going to extremes to find a problem that probably doesn't show up on most pictures........stop it people!!
go out and enjoy your camera...
 
Take a Qtip and wrap the tip with one of the pads the came
with Eclipse solution and applied one or two, drop of Eclipse solution
and then try again.

I find the sensor swabs many times will not be flush near the
edges of the sensor when using them. Using the Qtip method I can
go after different area of the sensor.

I stop using the sensor swabs and went with the qtips, pads,
eclipse solution and have been very successful with them,

Bill
 
'ol sourpuss has something useful to say.................wonders will never cease.
William C said:
Take a Qtip and wrap the tip with one of the pads the came
with Eclipse solution and applied one or two, drop of Eclipse solution
and then try again.

I find the sensor swabs many times will not be flush near the
edges of the sensor when using them. Using the Qtip method I can
go after different area of the sensor.

I stop using the sensor swabs and went with the qtips, pads,
eclipse solution and have been very successful with them,

Bill
Click to expand...
 
You are assuming your dust spot will always fall in a uniform area of your image, such as sky.

Bzzt.. when it lands on a detail (not one that it can naturally blend into as can often happen) then you are in trouble, forget photoshopping EVERY image where this happens. Here is an example of why I cleaned my own sensor...



that nast mark might be FAIRLY easy to clone out, but to be honest after taking it out of a whole 'roll' of photos, I think it was easier to get rid of it at the source :D

That said, I nearly soiled myself doing it, hehe, in future I know a place that cleans PJ DSLR cameras frequently, they are a Nikon approved service centre, and although not Canon approved, this is only something that Canon provide a function for the user to do anyways, its not a warrantee issue. These guys just do it better and if they DO knack something while doing it, its their lookout :). They only charge like £15 to do it as well :)
 
biggles said:
William C said:
Take a Qtip and wrap the tip with one of the pads the came
with Eclipse solution and applied one or two, drop of Eclipse solution
and then try again.

I find the sensor swabs many times will not be flush near the
edges of the sensor when using them. Using the Qtip method I can
go after different area of the sensor.

I stop using the sensor swabs and went with the qtips, pads,
eclipse solution and have been very successful with them,

Bill
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Gerhard, it really isn't that bad. Only shows in real stopped down setups. From about f16 down. Not even noticeable at f11. I can see the little dots on the sensor. I am just too scared to clean it and I live at least 2+ hours to the closest store to do it.

One of these days I will get the guts to do it. It really isn't that big a pain.

Dave
Gerhard said:
Dave Nitsche said:
Photoshop 7. Healing brush. I'll be darned if I am going to touch
my sensor for something like that. It takes seconds and is not
noticable.





--
Dave

http://www.gammadesignstudios.com/gallery.htm
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
Dave

http://www.gammadesignstudios.com/gallery.htm
 
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