topic Re: Sensor dust. in Alpha & NEX interchangeable lens cameras

Sensor dust.

iprior — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 09:32:25 GMT

Hi...I seem to have a number of dust particles on the sensor ( NEX3)...I have removed these with a bulb syringe. Looking with a torch and magnifying glass I can see 3/4 small particles that seem to be behind the surface of the sensor and resist any attempt at removal. Any ideas? thanks.

Re: Sensor dust.

DistantMelody — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 19:27:27 GMT

Hello It is me from your other post.

I never cleaned a camera before but now I needed to. When cleaning my camera I did it over several days. I took photographs of the sensor dust between each step. Photography should make people happy but cleaning my camera has put me in deep sadness and melancholy. It has turned into an endless saga.

I followed an online guide where it said to set apeture to f22, set zoom to maximum, set focus to infinity and take a photograph of something monotonous (I chose the white wall inside my room). The images are very dark even though I did it in daytime and used 2 daylight lamps. I could still see the dust though. It is a very responsible task to handle something delicate, presition is required. Without anyone physically present to guide me I was very slow and tried not to put too much pressure on the sensor.

Day 1 - I used only the blower. Photo 1 is how the sensor was before I ever cleaned it and photo 2 is after many blasts from my new "Hepa Jet II" blower.

The large piece moved but that is about it with this method. Also I realise now that all it does is move the dust somewhere else for it to come back later.

Day 2 - I used the blower again and tried using the "Dust Aid Platinum" to get rid of the stubborn pieces.

This only smudged the spots and added residue. I then tried using the "Sensor Cleaning Swabs", only without the liquid. I used many but am showing only the final result not to put too many photographs in this post.

Day 3 - I was not satisfied. That day I used the blower again and tried a very conservative wet swab, using only 1 drop of cleaning liquid instead of the recommended 3.

Day 4 (today) - I was very optimistic thinking that this was the last clean and everything would be great. How wrong I was. I used the blower and a wet swab with the recommended 3 drops. I used 3 swabs each with 3 drops. Somehow the end result has brought we almost back to the beginning.

Please help me to resolve this issue. Where did the dust reappear from? Was the swab contaminated? They come in sealed packets and I don't re-use. Please help me to preserve my love of photography and my brain's neurons.

Re: Sensor dust.

Watashiwateshdes — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 18:20:15 GMT

Dust is in the air and it gets attracted quite quickly on surfaces such as sensors. I recommend cleaning in the bathroom or somewhere which is mainly tiled. Less dust usually and just clean to the point where you have no dust bunnies until beyond f/11 (unless you shoot landscapes).

Wet cleans are good but really one of those things that you should only do every so often since it can attract more dust if done quite often. If I spent too long cleaning my old 5D, it would just get worse to the point I would give up and forget about it.

Re: Sensor dust.

DistantMelody — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:25:24 GMT

Thank you Watashiwateshdes

It was my first time cleaning. I am worried about giving it away to be cleaned because a person wrote on this forum that he gave his camera when it had some dust and they did something that now all his photos have a rainbow effect. Dust is better than rainbow effect. I do not know what he will do now. I would like to be able to clean the camera myself. I will try again and see if it is better now.

Re: Sensor dust.

DistantMelody — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:58:40 GMT

I have cleaned again with just the blower and still there is too much dust. 😞 It seems to be stuck.

Before blower:

After blower:

Re: Sensor dust.

iprior — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:11:16 GMT

I got a result by using cotton bud and a boots spectacle wipe....use the bud to carefully wipe the dust away.....a big magnifying glass is great to identify the main particles. this will leave wet area...but this will dry quickly....use bud to remove any residue. If you use low aperture values...any dust will not show anyway.Hope that helps. PS...when blowing dust with puffer....hold camera upside down to allow dust to fall away from the sensor.

Re: Sensor dust.

DistantMelody — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 16:23:40 GMT

Hello iprior

I do hold the camera facing down. I haven't tried using a magnifying glass. I had a strange gadget that was supposed to be for viewing the sensor close up but it was designed so badly that when I opened the battery compartment to install a battery, the lid scraped the glass. So before I even used it, it broke.

How is your camera now? Do the wipes and buds leave traces? Is there lint left over after cleaning? Please post some before and after shots. I can see from using the blower that, to get better results, I will need to use wet methods, as when viewing the before and after shots many of the dust pieces are in the same place as before. The blower does not move them. The person who's tutorial I was following had much better results than me. He put before and after shots and in the last photo there was almost nothing left on the sensor. I can't understand why I have not had the same success 😞 These are my latest results, far from what is desired.

Have the wipes left a rainbow effect? Someone on this forum had this problem after having their camera professionally cleaned that the photos had a rainbow.