The idea of cleaning your camera's sensor fills many photographers with dread. It may seem difficult or complicated but it is actually much more straightforward than you may think. In this article, I will give you a simple guide on how to check for sensor dust and how to effectively clean your camera's sensor.
Today I carried out one of the most
daunting yet important tasks when it comes to photography: I cleaned my
camera's sensor myself. Whilst I had previously taken it to a camera store to
have it cleaned, thought it was important to be able to do this myself. After
researching numerous sources the correct way to do this, I decided to write one
comprehensive guide on how to do it properly, effectively and most importantly
safely!
Apologies for the disclaimer but this
is just a guide to best practice. You should take extreme care in carrying out
this task as it is very easy to damage your sensor rendering your camera in
need of vital and expensive repairs.
What
is sensor dust and what does it look like?
Every time you change a lens on your
camera, you are exposing the inside to potential dust and dirt contaminants.
You should try to protect the inside
of your camera as much as possible when changing lenses?it goes without saying
that you should not change a lens in an environment that will lead to
unnecessary dirt entering your camera, such as a sandy beach or on a windy
day?but obviously it is not always possible to do this. Inevitably, dirt and
dust will enter the camera and ultimately show up in your images.
Sensor dust will show up in your images as blurry spots which will look something like the spots circled below:
There are a few important things to note:
1.
You may see dust in your viewfinder but this dust will not show
up on your images themselves.
2.
It is worth pointing out that you may not see any sensor dust if
you shoot at wide apertures (such as f/2.8) as the depth of field is wide
enough to throw these spots out of focus rendering them very difficult to see,
if you can see them at all.
3.
You can tell that it is dust or dirt on your sensor when you see
the same spots appearing on multiple images in the same places.
4.
Although a highly detailed scene may hide the dust, it is still
there and will naturally become visible the next time you take a photograph.
5.
You may see dust on the mirror, but this won't be recorded on an
image and should be removed using an air blower. DO NOT use compressed air as
this is too powerful and may damage your camera.
6.
DO NOT touch the mirror (or the sensor) with ANYTHING as both are
extremely fragile and easily damaged, scratched or marked.
1.
A simple way to check and see if you have sensor dust is to set
your camera to a small aperture such as f/16 or f/22.
2.
You should also set your camera to the lowest ISO as you are not
worried about noise at this stage.
3.
Take a photograph against something bright white (such as a
white wall, piece of paper or cloudy sky) and gently move the camera slightly
as you take the photo to help blur the photo and make the dust more visible.
4.
Then to check for dust, either inspect the back LCD screen at
100 % or load the image into your computer to make this task a little easier.
5.
If you see signs of dust (as described and shown above) then you
know you need to clean the sensor.
I
would suggest that you first try to use your camera's auto clean mode if it has
one to see if this makes a difference in removing dust or dirt. Some camera's
do this automatically when turned on or off but it is worth trying first.
IMPORTANT - Make sure that
your camera's battery is fully charged as it may turn off mid-clean and damage
the sensor if it runs out of power.
·
Cleaning swabs that are lint free and designed for your camera's
specific sensor size.
·
Camera sensor cleaning solution.
·
Hand/bulb air blower.
·
Torch or head lamp to see inside the camera and inspect the
body.
·
Sensor loupe - this is a great cheap item that is a magnifier
with LED lights allowing you to clearly and easily see the sensor and inspect
for dust and dirt.
·
Find an area that is as free of dust and wind as possible.
·
With a full battery and no lens on your camera, look for the
menu option to manually clean your camera. Check your manual if you can't find
this option.
·
When you select this mode, you will hear the mirror lock back
and reveal the sensor. Note that you just need to power off your camera to
release the mirror back to its usual place in front of the camera.
·
Holding the camera upside down so the LCD screen is facing the
ceiling, use the manual air blower to blow air into the camera onto the sensor.
Be extremely careful NOT to touch the sensor with the tip of the blower. Best
practice is not to put the tip of the blower inside the camera at all. Again do
not use compressed air.
·
After a few blasts of air, turn off the camera and replace the
lens. You should take another test shot (as above) to see if this has removed
the dust or dirt that was on the sensor. If it has then there is no need to
take any further steps. If it remains, then you will likely need to proceed to
a 'wet' clean of the sensor.
·
Remove the lens and place the camera on a surface with the LCD
facing the floor.
·
Select the manual cleaning option to lock up the mirror.
·
Remove a sensor swab and using the air blower a few times, blow
air to remove any odd pieces of lint that may be stuck to the swab.
·
Add two (or three drops max) of the solution to the tip of the
swab. Do not oversaturate the swab or you will leave streaks on the sensor.
Less is definitely more in this case!
·
With great care place the swab onto one side of the sensor and
with not too much force, gently move the swab across the sensor in one smooth
motion. When you get to the other side, turn the swab over and repeat the
process starting from the far side back to where you started. Again, do this in
one smooth motion with no great force.
·
At this stage, I use a loupe and inspect the sensor to see if I
can see if the dust has been removed. If you are not sure, turn off the camera
and replace the lens and take a further test shot to inspect for dust.
·
If you see some dust remains then you will need to repeat the
process but it is important to use another clean new swab. Do not reuse a swab.
If
you see streaks on the sensor then this means that you have used too much
solution. Wait a few minutes and then repeat the process with less solution.
Two drops is usually enough.
You
will now have a clean sensor. When done properly with the correct equipment it
is quite a simple process to clean the camera's sensor. Although a little
daunting the first time you do this, you will be saving yourself the
unnecessary expense and inconvenience of being without your camera by using a
professional cleaning service.
Anthony Zacharias, 2016 (www.petapixel.com)