A6000 sensor cleaning problem

[SonySteve]

So, my a6000 has smudges on the sensor and I'm pretty pissy about it. One of the reps I let showcase it, accidentally let a small drop of spit into the sensor, then tried cleaning it with a sensor swap. While the spit is gone, there seems to be brush smudges on the sensor and when i took a picture of a wall you see black spots..

What do I do? I tried taking pictures to show how the smudges look but u cant really see it on the picture. But i will upload the wall picture i took for you guys to see.

 

[Keith Meinhold]

So, my a6000 has smudges on the sensor and I'm pretty pissy about it. One of the reps I let showcase it, accidentally let a small drop of spit into the sensor, then tried cleaning it with a sensor swap. While the spit is gone, there seems to be brush smudges on the sensor and when i took a picture of a wall you see black spots..

What do I do? I tried taking pictures to show how the smudges look but u cant really see it on the picture. But i will upload the wall picture i took for you guys to see.

my a6000 had a horrible smudge. I bought a pack of sensor swabs and sensor cleaning fluid, after about six swabs (and significant pressure) it was perfect.

Id suggest cleaning it with swabs and fluid again.

 

[viperkeeper]

It seems like a never ending battle keeping the sensor clean. Many times I've used a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol with great results. I've heard everything from it's like touching your eye to it's glass and not very sensitive. The truth is somewhere in-between I'm sure. I just got some Eclipse cleaning solution and foam swabs to clean it now.

 

[RobertMachin]

You got to wonder how no one is coming up with a solution to that problem.

ie, when you press the release button to remove the lens, a shutter covers the sensor. When lens is screwed back into place, shutter opens...

Seems simple enough...

 

[davect01]

At this point you will need to wet clean.

I've had a couple of stubborn spots that took a while to get off.
--
Novice photobug. Former NEX-3, F3, and 6 owner. Now a proud A6000 owner.

photos A6000

Place where I post my photos

davesnex-3photos.blogspot.com

 

[AlphaPhotography]

So, my a6000 has smudges on the sensor and I'm pretty pissy about it. One of the reps I let showcase it, accidentally let a small drop of spit into the sensor, then tried cleaning it with a sensor swap. While the spit is gone, there seems to be brush smudges on the sensor and when i took a picture of a wall you see black spots..

What do I do? I tried taking pictures to show how the smudges look but u cant really see it on the picture. But i will upload the wall picture i took for you guys to see.

I used this kit just the other day:

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www.amazon.com

The $14.99 one with solution.

One drop of solution, two light passes with the swab and the smudge was gone. Did a couple more passes over the entire sensor since I've noticed some pesky dust spots in the corner that were invisible to the naked eye but showed up in photos on multiple lenses at high f-stops.

 

[Shyamelge]

At a trusted camera repair shop in my city, I recently saw the technician prepared a thick cotton swab (on a screwdriver-type tool whose tip was covered with layers of cotton), dropped some liquid on it and wiped on the sensor of sony mirrorless camera for 30 seconds or so. Thereafter he made another swab of dry cotton and cleaned it for another 30 seconds.

Within 1-2 minutes, the sensor was cleaned to the satisfaction of the owner. I was told that the sensor was very dirty as the owner had used some wet swab kit which left strong stains while cleaning.

I was under the impression that the sensor is very delicate but the way he was performing the task, it appears that it can withstand some pressure/force.

I am not suggesting that you should also follow this procedure. Just sharing what I saw.

 

[Kev The Doc]

I found i had to use more solution on the swab to remove stubborn marks and most importantly stop swabbing while it is still wet and let it dry naturally. I found if I continued swabbing as it was drying i got the smudging effect you are describing.

 

[PieterB]

It seems like a never ending battle keeping the sensor clean. Many times I've used a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol with great results. I've heard everything from it's like touching your eye to it's glass and not very sensitive. The truth is somewhere in-between I'm sure. I just got some Eclipse cleaning solution and foam swabs to clean it now.

It is indeed a never ending battle. In 90% of the times a good old blow of air with the Rocket blowe solves the problem. Sometimes I used the Arctic Butterfly and when the spots are greasy I use a swab and solution.

Still, the swabs are not often needed.

 

[viperkeeper]

It seems like a never ending battle keeping the sensor clean. Many times I've used a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol with great results. I've heard everything from it's like touching your eye to it's glass and not very sensitive. The truth is somewhere in-between I'm sure. I just got some Eclipse cleaning solution and foam swabs to clean it now.

It is indeed a never ending battle. In 90% of the times a good old blow of air with the Rocket blowe solves the problem. Sometimes I used the Arctic Butterfly and when the spots are greasy I use a swab and solution.

Still, the swabs are not often needed.

 

[PieterB]

At a trusted camera repair shop in my city, I recently saw the technician prepared a thick cotton swab (on a screwdriver-type tool whose tip was covered with layers of cotton), dropped some liquid on it and wiped on the sensor of sony mirrorless camera for 30 seconds or so. Thereafter he made another swab of dry cotton and cleaned it for another 30 seconds.

Within 1-2 minutes, the sensor was cleaned to the satisfaction of the owner. I was told that the sensor was very dirty as the owner had used some wet swab kit which left strong stains while cleaning.

I was under the impression that the sensor is very delicate but the way he was performing the task, it appears that it can withstand some pressure/force.

I am not suggesting that you should also follow this procedure. Just sharing what I saw.

You are not working on the sensor but on a piece of glass which covers in most cases the AA filter.

 

[Shyamelge]

At a trusted camera repair shop in my city, I recently saw the technician prepared a thick cotton swab (on a screwdriver-type tool whose tip was covered with layers of cotton), dropped some liquid on it and wiped on the sensor of sony mirrorless camera for 30 seconds or so. Thereafter he made another swab of dry cotton and cleaned it for another 30 seconds.

Within 1-2 minutes, the sensor was cleaned to the satisfaction of the owner. I was told that the sensor was very dirty as the owner had used some wet swab kit which left strong stains while cleaning.

I was under the impression that the sensor is very delicate but the way he was performing the task, it appears that it can withstand some pressure/force.

I am not suggesting that you should also follow this procedure. Just sharing what I saw.

You are not working on the sensor but on a piece of glass which covers in most cases the AA filter.

 

[PieterB]

Well, just behind the piece of glass. You have the glass, sometimes the AA filter and then the sensor. The point being, you are not cleaning the sensor but the glass in front of the sensor. The glass is pretty hard so normally you won't scratch it. Unless of course someone is dumb and uses something metallic.

 

[viperkeeper]

I believe the argument against the "it's just glass" camp is there's coatings on the glass and you'll rub it off. I'm not very gentle with mine and no problems

 

[PieterB]

Well it is just a question of using your brain and what materials to use. Glass is very hard so unless someone is doing something utterly stupid, it won't be a problem.

 

[Sympa]

During the holidays I got some spots on 'the sensor' which were wet in origin. Like saliva had been coming from the Giotto

Back home the camera shop recommended a 'wet and dry sweeper' set from Green Clean. Pre-packaged sets of wet and dry swabs. The liquid does not dry quickly and also does to form a film on the glass. I had to give it some time to soak into the spots. Wiping it up with the dry swab worked without any problems. And the wet swab stays wet long enough to try again (I had to, as one of the spots was not totally dissolved yet).

I was worried about the recommendation to swipe towards the center of the sensor, especially as the dirt was close to the edge and I was afraid of spreading it further. But again this is the only way to cover everything and it worked without problems. Probably because the solution does to adhere too much to the glass, and in any case it does not dry quicklyso it can be mopped up without leaving residue.

I didn't use a loupe but bought a pair of +3 reading glasses for this purpose. Allows a good close view.

 

[Davi7d777]

You got to wonder how no one is coming up with a solution to that problem.

ie, when you press the release button to remove the lens, a shutter covers the sensor. When lens is screwed back into place, shutter opens...

Seems simple enough...

So am not the only one thinking about this issue that has plagued DSLRs from their beginnings. A design to fix this ought to be trivial and could even be mechanically actuated via a lever thus not requiring another solenoid or motor. Is anyone LISTENING?

 

[Davi7d777]

I use the Eclipse system with fluid and swabs with a commercial lab quality stereo microscope and a electric air compressor with 120psi pressurized air. It is very very easy to scratch the low pass filter glass that covers the sensor. Without viewing through a quality optical tool like a stereo microscope it is rather difficult to notice fine scratches and what-not sticking on the filter. I can guarantee that there is a lot of really small stuff that a naked eye cannot resolve that will be statically stuck to the filter glass if one just uses a Pocket Rocket. The Rocket is however useful as a crude tool in the field to get the larger particles sailing off and is in my daypack.

--
David

 

[PieterB]

As long as the dust doesn't show up on my pictures, it is good enough for me.

I hardly ever use smaller apertures than f9 (like f16 etc) and it is really above this value that dust starts to show.
Crude or not, if it works it is good enough for me.

 

[Sympa]

Same for me: if it doesn't show up it is no problem. But my problem was that something really did show up, starting at 50mm and f/5.6. And in sunny weather...

So I had to clean. It is hard to find what to do. And I must say that the experience with the wet and dry swipes was totally painless. Nothing to be afraid of.

I hope the other 3 cleaning sets can stay in their packaging for a few years...