MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
According to [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/stw-photographers-filter-advice-please ]this[/url] thread I need to clean the censor on my EOS 400D.
How do I go about doing this / getting it cleaned?
1. Dot it myself using a kit - if so which one?
2. Get it cleaned by a professional - if so who?
Ta in advance for your help.
The kit isn't cheap, I use:
Visible Dust Swabs (Orange) with one of their fluids (I have Smear Away and Sensor Clear IIRC, depending on what I am trying to get rid of).
Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly
Once you have the blobs of oil off (which it looks like are present on your first picture) which I think is a Smear Away job, then you can keep the dust bunnies in check with the Arctic Butterfly.
Bit scary the first time you do it (think you will break something) but it isn't a problem. Give it a brush clear with an Arctic Butterfly first to get rid of anythink likely to scratch the sensor filter, then a clean... then test - and repeat. I also have a sensor loupe so I can get up close and personal which is handy for chasing those pesky wee dust bunnies and random small things.
Depends how confident you feel, easy job to do yourself
Make sure you use a fully charged battery, mirror locked up and then use swabs (correct size for crop sensor) and fluid
Loads of other methods and gadgets, but the above is the way it would get done in the workshop for about 50 quid
[url= http://www.cameraclean.co.uk/Sensor_Cleaning_Introduction.php ]THIS[/url] might help
The only time I have heard of someone getting their sensor scratched, it was by the official Canon lab (in Paris).
Been using this for the last 12 months with good results and no problems:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenspen-SK-2-SK2-Sensorkit-Plus/dp/B001HB1APA/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273480737&sr=1-8
Remove lens, lock mirror up, turn so faces down, rocket blower out most of the dust, then turn it back the other way and carefully use the pen to sweep the entire surface. Done it about 4 times in 12 months (I swap lenses a lot outdoors) and never had a problem or scratched anything. £15 well spent IMO.
Cheers all, most helpful.
Off I go to Amazon.
Just be aware if you've been in gritty areas not to push the grit about, doing it under a desk lamp is helpful for spotting grains, but from the images on the other thread it just looks a bit dusty/dirty. Force needed to do it is about the force you'd use to push a biro onto the page while writing, nothing more. Moist swab is probably a /better/ solution, but since I've had no probs with the cheaper solution I see no point spending more.