cleaning technique for RD1s sensor...?

dan denmark

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i keep getting spots on my sensor. i am familiar with cleaning sensors, have done so for a few digital cams but this one seems to be the most difficult to get spotless...yes, spotless...i am still seeing spots on the image when viewed on the computer monitor. i can clone them out in PSCS3 but that's a bit of effort, searching for the buggers...and frustrating when i print and see i missed one.

so question is: TECHNIQUE for cleaning, not just a cotton bud and a mix of ajax (just kidding on the last bit, but you knew that...?).

do you wipe, swirl, scrub (!), polish afterwards...? best cleaning solution (i use eyeglass cleaning liquid)?

-dd
 
Hi Dan,

whilst I don't have a technique for you (I have not had a need to clean it yet), my question is WHY would you be constantly getting dirty sensors? Is it because you change lenses in windy/dirty/dusty environments? Is it because you change it near the floor/ground/carpet/jumpers/etc?

I try to minimize the amount of time that the camera is lens-less by having the other/replacement lens ready for mounting and keeping the camera face-down when exposed.

Hung
 
thanks, hung. funny, that...i DO change lenses a lot and i think i work in the "old" fashion of film cameras of not really having the same kind of dust problem as digitals attract. i don't so much haphazardly change lenses in dusty or windy or static electric conditions, but more...i just change lenses "when" i need to and in the "old" manner, as i said...usually hovered over the camera body using my body to protect...but obviously not protecting. so i need more surgical conditions to change lenses in.

hmmm, on reflection, just another reason to stick with film. but the RD is handy at times.

i have to say, though, my recent aquisition of an M3 has been the best thing i ever did for my day trips into the bush...i use the Summar 50 i already had as well as a CV Nokton 50/1.5...very different looks. i will post some when i get the time but right now i'm a bit on the flat-out side with work. there's no such thing as semi-retirement. thanks for the queries...you have solved the likely origin of the problem...now to get the cleaning right. maybe don't clean it out in the bush with a wad of gumleaves...???

ta.

-dd
 
so question is: TECHNIQUE for cleaning, not just a cotton bud and a mix of ajax (just kidding on the last bit, but you knew that...?).
-dd

so far a bulb blower has been enough for me. It may take a few blows but then it is usually almost spotless :angel:
 
thanks, roger and kermair. i've had a couple of DSLRs before the RD and currently have the DL3 so the electronics side of things i've learned over the years. i'm sure my source of dust and brown spots is what Hung said and he's right, i still work like i have for the last 40+++ years with film cameras, change lenses in the field and on the go. because i shoot so much film and just a bit of dige i just whack a lens on and off whatever body i'm holding at the time, except for the woman next door. i just need to take more care.

but also, the cleaning issue is a relevant one, anyway, because pretty much everyne gets it, dust, etc, and i guess the digital industry just isn't fool-proof enough to guarantee total dust-free gizmos... well, at my user end, anyway.

thanks all. i'm sure many have benefitted from this thread. and the pentax swab mentioned by FBF looks a good tool. some of them i'd like tos ee in action, of course. given i live a long way from a large centre, 5 hours, i'll wait for the next train to melbin and do the rounds in elizabeth street.

cheers,

-dd
 
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