I blew softly into the ccd

reis122532 · May 10, 2003

I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on, released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop 22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

Leon Obers · May 10, 2003

reis said:
I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?

This is the way as recommended within the manual. Always try it first in this way. Only if dust is stickking and blowing doesn't solve the problem, you have to use a more hard way to clean.

--
Leon Obers

Duncan C · May 10, 2003

reis,

I'd suggest using a large bulb blower like the one below rather than blowing with your mouth. you run the risk of getting a little bit of saliva on the CCD, which would probably leave a residue on the sensor when it dried.

Duncan C
-----

reis said:
I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

--
dpreview and PBase supporter.

http://www.pbase.com/duncanc

Roger T. · May 10, 2003

..... i softly blew in to the ccd ..... Is this a bad way to clean the chip?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes -- despite your best efforts, it's easy to blow a little spittle on to the CCD, making your task that much harder. Go to the camera store & spend a couple of bucks on a squeeze bulb blower (without a brush).

--
Roger

... the dogs bark, but the caravan passes ...

Dennis Meyler · May 10, 2003

reis said:
Is this a bad way to clean the chip?

Yup. Try the following. Filmtools Big Blower.

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/cinemasupplies/bigblower.html

Chris257 · May 10, 2003

Low pressure and no spittle.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.asp?EDC=410225

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.asp?ProductID=302388

reis said:
I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

reis122532 · May 10, 2003

Thanks guys for your advices. I will buy one blower and save the breath for my self.

reis said:
I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

Martin59 · May 11, 2003

note that the CCD by opening the mirror via "bulb" is electrostatically charged - it actually takes a foto - , meaning it tends to attract dust flying around.

A (silghtly?) better way is to use the EH-4 AC power supply and use CSM #8 (D1/H/X) service setting "mirror-lock-up" .

Blowing with a device as described into the downfacing mirror box was recommended to me yesterday by Nikon as the only thing and in the very most cases sufficient way a user should clean the CCD (scratching and therefore needing to exchange the CCD means you have to pay USD 2.000 they say).

NO COMPRESSED AIR!
--
Martin
D1H, D100

Kevin Morris · May 11, 2003

Martin59 said:
note that the CCD by opening the mirror via "bulb" is
electrostatically charged - it actually takes a foto - , meaning it
tends to attract dust flying around.

A (silghtly?) better way is to use the EH-4 AC power supply and use
CSM #8 (D1/H/X) service setting "mirror-lock-up" .

Martin59 said:
--
Martin
D1H, D100

But surely, with mirror lock-up, the shutter is not open. Therefore the CCD is not exposed. It is only exposed once the photo is taken, in which case you would need the Bulb setting to have enough time.

I could be wrong (it happened once before, back in '76) as I don't own a DSLR YET. Still waiting for a Nikon mount FF of greater than 8.2MP (preferably for $49.95, but I'm willing to compromise here).

--
Tuktu Sijuktei
'Please tell me if the lens cap is on.'

Martin59 · May 11, 2003

Kevin Morris said:
But surely, with mirror lock-up, the shutter is not open. Therefore
the CCD is not exposed.

I am still waiting for my EH-4 to come. But the CSM for cleaning CCD should give access to the CCD, I hope - or am I wrong?

CSM #8 Mirror lock-up on the Nikon DSLRs is not to avoid blurred fotos, i.e. avoid mirror vibrations, but for servicing.

There is another CSM which gives a few parts of a second betwenn mirror movement and the actual shot, which to my knowledge is to avoid blur by vibrations.
--
Martin
D100

ymo · May 11, 2003

Duncan C said:
I'd suggest using a large bulb blower like the one below rather
than blowing with your mouth. you run the risk of getting a little
bit of saliva on the CCD, which would probably leave a residue on
the sensor when it dried.

Duncan C
-----

reis said:

I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

Click to expand...

--
dpreview and PBase supporter.

http://www.pbase.com/duncanc

Kevin Morris · May 11, 2003

Martin59 said:
There is another CSM which gives a few parts of a second betwenn
mirror movement and the actual shot, which to my knowledge is to
avoid blur by vibrations.
--
Martin
D100

That's good news. Nikon's staunch refusal to offer mirror lock-up on all but their flagship film cameras is really annoying. I've often envied Canon users, where this is a common feature. I use it all the time on my old FE (via the self timer) and often on my F4.

--
Tuktu Sijuktei
'Please tell me if the lens cap is on.'

Matt M157353 · May 11, 2003

I just one hour ago dunked my whole d100 with 80-400 vr attched into a bucket of clorox and ammonia. I let it set for 30 minutes and blew it dry with a hair-dryer and if darned aren't my pictures sharper and cleaner. ---> Use the ac adaptor, the bulb function charges the ccd and dust will stick like crazy. I bought a baby syringe to blow the ccd off because i didn't have access to a real puffer (thank you Showcase).

Mark Estrada · May 14, 2003

I tend to shoot most things wide open for image isolation and have only used a bulb blower to blow gross dust off the CCD during the past year. Works really well.

Just go to your local drug store and buy one of those large nasal aspirators for babies. It's cheaper than what you can get at a camera store and much larger generating more blowing force. If you buy one of those blowers with a brush, throw the brush away -- never use it to touch your CCD.

In the field, we don't always have access to the EN-4. So using bulb to raise the mirror and open the shutter to expose the CCD is a must. IT DOES NOT matter if it charges the CCD or not -- I've never seen it attract more dust to the CCD when I do this. Sometimes I forget the blower at home, so I do the following:

1. ALWAYS HAVE CAMERA FACING DOWN TOWARDS THE GROUND WHEN YOU REMOVE THE LENS OR DO THE BULB TRICK TO EXPOSE THE CCD

2. Swallow your saliva or spit on the ground to dry your mouth

3. To avoid spitting into the mirror box, I cup my hand over the mirror box to direct the force of the wind upwards.

4. Blow hard into your hand. This forces wind upwards. into the mirror box and blows around the large dust. Small adherent stuff will persist even with a bulb blower, but large stuff comes off fine.

5. I do the same trick to blow dust off the lens before I attach it to the camera as well.

Never had a problem with this technique. Works in a pinch when you stuck.

Remember nothing is perfect. You'll probably have to do a direct cleaning with Eclipse solution and PEC pads if your that mortified by the dust, but I personnally haven't had problems with it in over the past 1.25 years of digital.

Nothing a little clone or bandage tool can't fix in photoshop

Neil van Niekerk · May 14, 2003

reis said:
I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

Shutzman · May 14, 2003

When you have the AC EH-5 adapter hooked, under the set up menu option of Mirror lock-up, there is CCD CLEANING. When using this method, I suppose the camera can remain off and the mirror and shutter are out of the way of the CCD. The advantage is that the CCD is not charged and therefore does not attract dust at the time of cleaning.
The only drawback - the AC adapter is not cheap.

Saxofonix said:
reis said:

I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

Click to expand...

Ellery Potash · May 14, 2003

It can be a good, inexpensive way. Must be extremely careful, though, not to spit on the sensor.
--
Pixelated Electronics Engineer (HW/SW/FW)

reis said:
I saw a "S" shaped dust on my images on the same spot in each
picture taken with my D100. I set the shutter tu bulb, turn the
camera of, took the lens out. Then turned back the camera on,
released the shutter, and hold it, the mirror opened and i softly
blew in to the ccd, then turned the camera ack off, and put the
lens back on. and i tested it by shooting the blue sky with f stop
22. And the problem is looked to be solved. No more dust on spot on
my images. Is this a bad way to clean the chip?
best regards,
reis...

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I blew softly into the ccd

reis122532

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Leon Obers

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Duncan C

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Roger T.

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reis122532

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ymo

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