How often do I need to manually clean D700 sensor?

[lorddlm1]

Hi there

I have just bought a D700 and the sales person in the shop told me about the built in sensor cleaner, but also said that I should manually clean the sensor from time to time.

I only have one lens that wont be coming off the D700 body. Does this mean that dust shouldn't get in? If so, will the sensor still need to be manually cleaned?

I notice that the default setting for the built in sensor cleaner is 'off'. Is there any setting that I should be changing this to? If so, how often should i be letting the sensor clean itself automatically?

Thank you to anyone that can help me

Dan

 

[sillyconguru]

I only have one lens that wont be coming off the D700 body. Does this
mean that dust shouldn't get in?

No, some will eventually find its way in.

If so, will the sensor still need to
be manually cleaned?

Yes, at some time.

 

[Ray A]

Clean it when it needs it. I've had a D200 for a couple of years. Never cleaned it. See no need in it. You'll know when it's needed.

Someone else will have to help with the built in shake frequency as the 200 does not have it.
--
Ray
http://www.pbase.com/rayavera

 

[Whois]

Even if you never change your lens some dust might find its way in but of course it is far less likely than if you change lenses a lot.

For my use (lots outdoors, some dusty environments, lots of lens changes): D200 about 40.000 pictures - 1 wet clean and around 30 'rocket blower' cleans (hope that you'll know what I mean)
D700 about 4000 pictures (not too dusty environment): 1 'rocket blower' clean.

I clean my sensors when they need it. No sense in adhering to a fixed time-table

 

[8thGoes]

Please don't do it yourself! Take it to Nikon! I lent my D200 to a friend (Canon user so should have known); he found some dust so took a lens brush to my low pass filter. AU$1000 later I have a new low pass filter from the scratches.

I now get mine done every 6 months or so, but I'm constantly changing lenses

Use the dust reference function in the menu to determine when it needs doing

8th&Goes

 

[capanikon]

Use Thom's advice and use Sensor Swabs if you clean the sensor yourself.

http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

I let the dust build up before cleaning (every six months or so). By that time, I might have 100 dust specks or so. Most of those will only be visible at small aperture settings and with a clear background (the sky, or a blank wall, etc). Most of the dust specks fortunately just blend in with the background or do not show up much at wider apertures (f/2 to f/5.6 or so). If I cleaned my sensor every time I got a single speck or two of dust on it, I'd be cleaning the sensor every other day, and that's just rather mad.

In between cleanings, just use the rubber stamp/healing brush to remove specks from your images. It's rather like spotting a print made from a film camera, only easier and less noticeable.

 

[Dennis DH]

Some people program the camera to do a sensor clean every time the camera is turned off, they don't like to do it at start up because of the wait to start shooting.

You can program it for any interval you like, it can remove lose dust but any thing really stuck on will require a manual cleaning. You should get a rocket blower at the bare minimum, but I would also recommend a bottle of eclipse E2, a spatula, and some peck pads.
Cleaning the sensor is simple and there is a ton of instructions online.

Even if you never change a lens you will get internal dust as every time the lens focuses it is like a pump pumping air in and out

 

[Jeff Hicks]

you will get internal dust as every
time the lens focuses it is like a pump pumping air in and out

Really? So when the lens focuses and the internal elements move closer to the body, it gets air pumped into it? does the pressure increase damage the dust seals of the camera body? Does the increase of pressure or the lack of it, slow down the autofocus? I'm worried about this now. Should I have a 1.7x teleconverter permanently on my camera as a barrier, or do you think the air will still get pumped through that?
--

(Anything you'd like to appear on your public 'posters profile') Yes, my website, http://www.j3ff.co.uk

 

[alabaster]

you will get internal dust as every
time the lens focuses it is like a pump pumping air in and out

Really? So when the lens focuses and the internal elements move
closer to the body, it gets air pumped into it? does the pressure
increase damage the dust seals of the camera body? Does the increase
of pressure or the lack of it, slow down the autofocus? I'm worried
about this now. Should I have a 1.7x teleconverter permanently on my
camera as a barrier, or do you think the air will still get pumped
through that?
--

The new Nikon Lenses have rubber sealing around the mount to prevent air from being pumped into the sensor. If you zoom or focus too quickly with these new G type lenses you can damage the rubber seals and lead to permanent sand blasting of the CMOS sensor.
--
Geoff B
http://www.gbphoto.com.au/

 

[J_W_D]

you will get internal dust as every
time the lens focuses it is like a pump pumping air in and out

Really? So when the lens focuses and the internal elements move
closer to the body, it gets air pumped into it? does the pressure
increase damage the dust seals of the camera body? Does the increase
of pressure or the lack of it, slow down the autofocus? I'm worried
about this now. Should I have a 1.7x teleconverter permanently on my
camera as a barrier, or do you think the air will still get pumped
through that?
--

The new Nikon Lenses have rubber sealing around the mount to prevent
air from being pumped into the sensor. If you zoom or focus too
quickly with these new G type lenses you can damage the rubber seals
and lead to permanent sand blasting of the CMOS sensor.

Geoff,

That sandblasting is a myth, but recently I brought my camera on an airplane as a carry-on. It was on my lap after takeoff and was under my blanket because sometimes flight crew think aerial photos are not allowed by TSA (another myth). As the plane rose, the zoom lens extended as the air pressure in the cabin decreased. I tried to twist and turn it to make it go back to normal size, but those seals are tough and no matter how I twisted or pulled it kept growing. After a few minutes of this, I pressed the lens release button and took the lens off. It made a "popping" noise and I breathed a tremenous sigh of relief.

 

[alabaster]

you will get internal dust as every
time the lens focuses it is like a pump pumping air in and out

Really? So when the lens focuses and the internal elements move
closer to the body, it gets air pumped into it? does the pressure
increase damage the dust seals of the camera body? Does the increase
of pressure or the lack of it, slow down the autofocus? I'm worried
about this now. Should I have a 1.7x teleconverter permanently on my
camera as a barrier, or do you think the air will still get pumped
through that?
--

The new Nikon Lenses have rubber sealing around the mount to prevent
air from being pumped into the sensor. If you zoom or focus too
quickly with these new G type lenses you can damage the rubber seals
and lead to permanent sand blasting of the CMOS sensor.

Geoff,

That sandblasting is a myth, but recently I brought my camera on an
airplane as a carry-on. It was on my lap after takeoff and was under
my blanket because sometimes flight crew think aerial photos are not
allowed by TSA (another myth). As the plane rose, the zoom lens
extended as the air pressure in the cabin decreased. I tried to twist
and turn it to make it go back to normal size, but those seals are
tough and no matter how I twisted or pulled it kept growing. After a
few minutes of this, I pressed the lens release button and took the
lens off. It made a "popping" noise and I breathed a tremenous sigh
of relief.

What a relief! ;-))
--
Geoff B
http://www.gbphoto.com.au/

 

[calson]

Most dirt on your camera's sensor will not be visible at f5.6 and wider apertures or if you are shooting indoors with scenes with lots of detail and no large blank wall expanses, or outdoors without a lot of sky in the frame. Dirt getting into the camera depends on where you shoot, i.e. at motocross races or in ice skating arenas, how much you change your lenses, and the ability of your camera bag to keep dust and dirt off our camera and lenses.

Best way to clean your sensor is with a Visible Dust V-swab which is designed specifically for FX sensors and use the Visible Dust solution which works much better than E2 from Eclipse. For stubborn dirt the Visible Dust Smear Away product works very well and removes dirt that nothing else will loosen and saving having to send your camera to Nikon for cleaning.

 

[8thGoes]

Also don;t forget the Dust Off Ref photo function. It picks up the dust speck locations on the sensor and maps it when shooting raw through Nikon Capture. Very handy, although slightly laborious.

 

[raoulsam]

that must have freaked the guy sitting next to you out.... you hide it under you blanket and then POP!

 

[Rickard Hansson]

It is pretty hard for us to tell you how ofthen your sensor will be dirty, that can only bee seen by your images.

--
Rickard Hansson
Sweden