Suggestion for stubborn sensor particles

[hazmat12]

i was cleaning my R5 this weekend and noticed that I have a few dust bunnies or over foreign particles that are not coming off my sensor with a blower or the typical swab stick and eclipse fluid cleaning method. Any recommendations for these stubborn particles?

Maybe I need to be a bit more aggressive? I have been cleaning sensors for over15 years and never found a spot I could not clean.

Thanks in advance

Rich

 

[BobKnDP]

Well, dang.

I thought from the thread title that you were offering a method.

 

[Digirame]

I know the feeling.... I had a stubborn dust bunny that would not come off the other day. I thought the camera was broken anyway, so I did something I don't recommend. I used a battery powered leaf blower at the lowest level and held it about one foot away for two seconds. Immediately that dust bunny was gone. Yay! The reason that I thought the camera was broken was that the VF/LCD screen auto feature wasn't working (at first I thought the whole camera had died). It turned out that the sensor near the viewfinder was dirty, so after cleaning that, that part works well now too. So in conclusion, I didn't wreck this older M-series camera fortunately and fixed it completely. But I have other five camera/lenses that I use anyway too if I did damage it, including the Canon RP.

Without getting over-aggressive like I did (I thought the camera was trash ), you may want to take it in to a camera shop to be cleaned. That's what I should have done, but I was besides myself with how this camera was falling apart. I don't know if anyone else has used that method with a leaf blower. I'd be interested to hear what other people have done for stubborn dust bunnies.

By the way, my leaf blower works great, when cleaning my computers of dust. I don't touch the computer...just hold it a few feet away...and watch the dust fly. I've never had a problem doing that to my computers, however doing it to a camera sensor was "new territory" for me.

 

[hazmat12]

I think the Leaf Blower is a bit aggressive for me at this time. I was hoping for maybe a suggestion for a different cleaning solution or swab stick

rich

 

[R2D2]

I think the Leaf Blower is a bit aggressive for me at this time. I was hoping for maybe a suggestion for a different cleaning solution or swab stick

rich

Just want to make sure that you have the speck's orientation right. If it shows up in say the Top Right of a picture, then it'll be found in the Bottom Right of the sensor (when looking at it). You're an old hand though it sounds, so I thought I'd mention it for others' benefit. ;-)

Best of luck!

R2

ps. I just scrub tough spots with a (damp) swab. The sensor's cover layer is tough (but still prone to streaks).

 

[Leigh A]

Long recent discussion here;

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67475155

Lots of Detailed info. here:

Cleaning Digital Cameras - guide to cleaning DSLR and Mirrorless cameras.

The Dust Patrol in Vacaville is your modern, competent, and flexible supplier for professional industrial cleaning, private residences and homes, office buildings, and for industrial manufacturers.

www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com

 

[Digirame]

Rich, yes I agree with you. It was aggressive. I was thinking after I wrote my comments, that I did that to a relatively inexpensive M-series camera (compared to your nice camera). So if I had a more expensive camera, I probably would have been more patient too. The leaf blower was strong enough that you had to hold the camera to keep it from blowing off the table, but it wasn't like compressed air that you would use for industrial tools. So I was taking a chance, but I thought the camera was dead or dying at the time. I didn't know if anyone else did anything like that. And I do understand your frustration with those dust bunnies. I hope you get it resolved.

 

[chrisbc]

It took me hundreds of hard pumps with the Giottos large rocket blower to get four dust specks off my former 5D IVs sensor. I was so exhausted and just about to give up when they finally let go after 20 minutes of non stop pumping. The nearer you dare to point the exhaust pipe to the sensor the better chance of success - of course steady hands required not to hit the sensor. Take an image of a blue sky at f16 to map where exactly the dust specks are located on the sensor and start working those areas with the rocket blower And if you try, do it outdoors on a dry clear day not to attract new dust from inside your home. Now I also have the R5 since three years and have not discovered one single dust spot in my images yet. The sensor protection seems to work pretty good.

 

[JPAlbert]

hazmat wrote:
"I think the Leaf Blower is a bit aggressive for me at this time."

I'd be a little wary of that, too!

How about a hair dryer? ;-)

 

[GammyKnee]

I don't necessarily recommend the following, but I offer it as an option that worked for me, albeit with a 5DIII sensor (lower-tech coating, and no IBIS mount, if either of that matters).

The spot in question wasn't being touched by wet swab cleans alone so I tried the sensor version of a "Lenspen". It took a few goes - using the pen in different directions - and a final wet clean was needed after using the "pen" as it leaves some kind of powder on the sensor, but it did the job.

 

[GEwart]

I had a stubborn dust blob on my R5 sensor. Annoying as the camera was brand new. I tried various blowers to remove it but they wouldn't shift it. I bought a SensorKlear loupe kit which did the job. This uses a dry method with a pen that removed the blob after a gentle rub with the pen. I did worry about scratches but couldn't see any afterwards. The kit is pricey at around £70. Surprising how much crud you can see on the sensor when magnified with this kit. Just to add I think you can buy the lenspen separately at a much cheaper cost.

 

[drsnoopy]

I think the Leaf Blower is a bit aggressive for me at this time. I was hoping for maybe a suggestion for a different cleaning solution or swab stick

rich