Fungus on sensor

Hello , I am a NEX-3 owner , my camera sensor has fungus on it,  my cam is still under warranty  but i cant determine if the fungus is on or under the AA filter , i wanted to know does SONY charge for fungus cleaning  from sensor  or is it covered by warranty but more importantly if its under the AA filter  will they replace the whole sensor assembly ,if so will  i have to pay for it???and if yes then approximately how much???

heres a image (lot of dust too)

bottom side has  stuff looking exactly like fungus  

How do you know it is fungus? Have you cleaned the sensor in the well documented way?

I havent touched the sensor other than blowing air on it ! Being a postgraduate in Botany i know what fungus looks like spreading ,and this seems quite familiar ,my fault though ,i never though fungus could infect on the sensor!!!! the camera was mostly in use nearly everyday atleast one hour for last few months ,i dont know how it got there!!! Though it has been a humid season with rains  and heat!!  i just hope its not below the AA filter and can be cleaned properly by SONY service!!!

So, do call them and let us know what they can see on that picture, too (email that pic to Sony Service).

How long have you had the camera? I guess fungus certainly could grow on the sensor if you're in a warm humid situation - why not? it grows almost everywhere else. If you've had the camera more than a few weeks and/or if you've changed lenses a number of times, this could be "dust". A good sensor cleaning might clear it up, but blowing on it isn't going to help at this stage. My guess is that you're going to need to do a wet cleaning (look up "Copper Hill method"), and you'll need to do it several times.

If that clears things up, get a SensorKlear and use it every couple of weeks, unless you never change lenses. Even then, use it every couple of months.

uhligfd wrote:

So, do call them and let us know what they can see on that picture, too (email that pic to Sony Service).

I did take the camera to SONY  service centre  ,they said they would keep the camera and couldnt  specify the number of days it needs to keep it with them , but as a  yearly festival is around the corner  i  didnt leave it with them but i will visit again on 15th of this month to leave it with them for servicing , i just pray that it hasn't reached below the AA filter ,don't want spend too much on the whole sensor assembly ,i don't know if they replace the AA filter only!!!

That's a nasty fungus you have there. If the camera is on warranty I would request to another (usually repaired) camera, because fungus can be all over the place and can start growing after repairs and can infect lenses as well.

I also doubt they will be cleaning the sensor. The fungus usually does irreparable etching and the cost of labor is probably higher than the cost of a new sensor (likely under $100) anyway.

raay wrote:

Hello , I am a NEX-3 owner , my camera sensor has fungus on it, my cam is still under warranty but i cant determine if the fungus is on or under the AA filter , i wanted to know does SONY charge for fungus cleaning from sensor or is it covered by warranty but more importantly if its under the AA filter will they replace the whole sensor assembly ,if so will i have to pay for it???and if yes then approximately how much???

heres a image (lot of dust too)

bottom side has stuff looking exactly like fungus

Have a look at the way you're storing your camera. Mine go into a flight case with a good quantity of silica gel sachets, when they are not being used. Fungus is easier to prevent than it is to treat, so it's worth the effort.

From now on i will be keeping it in a airtight box with silica gel , wish i only knew sooner ,i keep my lenses in airtight boxes!!!

Well After 2 weeks got the camera back from Sony service , and  its now confirmed that the fungus is on the underside of the AA filter . The serviceman said to me that it is cleanable but on a service charge , he also said to use the camera more frequently as sometimes the heat  of the camera being on burns the fungus and its ashes clear the filter(  i know it does kill it but the traces removed without human intervention sounds dumb) , so currently brought the camera back ,put it in a airtight box with silica gel !! Another camera reapir shop does provide the same type of sensor cleaning here , well lets see, i will film a few video to get it hot for now ,and either get it cleaned later or sell it and get a nex-6, or 7.

Am I misunderstanding what you're writing? Camera owners have been wet cleaning the sensors of their cameras for at least 10 years now. Surely tens (hundreds?) of thousands of sensor cleanings have been done by owner/users, without damage to the sensor. I do agree with the "caution" recommendation, in the sense that only methods which have been widely used and well proven should be attempted - no breathing onto the sensor, no rubbing with Q tips or Kleenex, and so forth. But a reasonably careful cleaning with the Eclipse or Copper Hill method, or careful use of the SensorKlear, are quite safe.

ProfHankD wrote:

raay wrote:

From now on i will be keeping it in a airtight box with silica gel , wish i only knew sooner ,i keep my lenses in airtight boxes!!!

First, the pattern on the image looks like fungus, but remove the lens, take a magnifier, and check that it looks like fungus on the sensor. There's still a slim chance it's "hairy" dust... check that first.

There is no way fungus is Sony's fault and I would worry that repair cost could approach price of a new A3000. Incidentally, if I had to bet, I'd guess the fungus got established by being blown onto it with your blower... unfiltered intakes on blowers can suck in badness, and it can grow inside your blower. It could be almost as bad as you blowing on it. I'd also check the lens -- really likely it's infected too, although the impact of lens fungus on image quality is fairly subtle, so you check by looking into the unmounted lens with a penlight.

Closing the barn door now doesn't help much... by the way, light and ventilation are good -- an airtight box tends to trap moisture & friends (ok, not so friendly life forms) inside, and silica gel can only absorb so much moisture. Silica gel also needs to be baked regularly (e.g., every few months under good conditions) to get the stored moisture out so it can collect more. Anyway, minimize moisture and darkness in storage.

Once fungus has gotten established inside your camera, I don't think you'll ever totally eliminate it. Too many happy little dark corners in there. Also, if it hasn't yet started to etch whatever surface its on, it soon will -- I wouldn't wait.

If this happened to me, I'd do a wet clean of the sensor ASAP. Remember that "wet" cleaning really means ever so slightly moist. If you can quickly get a wet clean kit, do that. If not, I'd consider your camera to be an emergency case, and I'd even resort to Q-tips and alcohol rather than waiting: take a Q-tip, dip it in alcohol, momentarily touch a dry Q-tip to the moistened one's tip, and use the second Q-tip to clean. Under good lighting and using some kind of magnifier to help you see, gently move the Q-tip on the sensor (it's really glass over the sensor) in a circular motion. Don't let any loose threads come off the Q-tip in the body and don't get the moist tip over the edges of the sensor, but with reasonable care you should be ok. Repeat as needed. Hopefully, the fungus will come off easily. Ideally, do a final pass with a sensorklear pen to remove any streaks when you can... but a minor streak is better than giving fungus more time to do its thing.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide to do about this.... I wrote a little page on cleaning: http://aggregate.org/DIT/CLEAN/ and there's a much more comprehensive one from LensRentals: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2011/05/the-lensrentals-lens-cleaning-methods

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That Lens Rentals link is about cleaning lenses, not sensors.

Here's what i could find from them that dealt with sensors: How to Clean a Camera Sensor (short video).

There would appear to be more than one way to skin a cat clean a sensor. Here's an experienced photographer's experience, which looks sensible to me: DSLR Image Sensor Cleaning

The type of alcohol used for cleaning may make a difference. Some store-bought rubbing alcohols can have additives that may leave residues.

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PVCdroid wrote:

If you need heat, I would suggest letting video run for as long as it can many times. That will definitely heat the sensor the best but you probably should have let Sony repair it since the AA filter would have to be removed and I don't believe any routine camera sensor cleaning service can do this. What was the cost for Sony to repair this?

i was also thinking of the video mode,but i thiunk the fungus is already dead,so now i have to get it removed,i didnt ask sony about the charge but a renowned service shop here does this type of cleaning and  from trusted source i jave come to know that they did this on severel canon,nikon dslrs ( damn humidty here) ,they usually charge around 50-70 dollars(current exchange rate), but they havent done any NEX camera

i will probably go to sony ,but as its winter here now ,so its dry weather added to that i am keeping n a airtight box with silica gel ,so i wiil take a few snaps now.