Sensor Cleaning 001

I have spent the last 24 hours trying to clean my sensor. Catastrophic is my first thought on the result. One batch of the preprepared Eclipse Sensor Swabs seemed to be dry and has left little immovable white things on the sensor. I am getting my dealer to send it off somewhere to be rectified, if possible. I won't be cleaning a sensor again in a hurry. My next purchase is going to be tanks and trays and chemicals for black and white development. A new sensor with each shot is what I am used to.
 
tom.w.bn said:
When you unpack a sensor swab it's dry. You put one or two drops of the cleaning liquid on the swab that you bought separately, then the cleaning begins.
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I had bought pre-moistened ones. But maybe the next lot I bought were the wrong ones. Thanks.
 
tom.w.bn said:
Didn't know that pre-moistened exist. Problem with those might be that they can easily dry if they are stored too long and the packaging material is not 100% air tight.
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You might be right. Shelf life with these things might be important. I bought some Dustaid that was probably too old. The premoistened sensor swabs come with another inner sleeve of clear plastic, all inside the airtight opaque tear-open package. Supposedly they have just the right amount of fluid on.
 
They are by Green Clean and come in a double pack. The moistened ones are far too wet by normal standards, but the combine-packed dry one is used to swipe the sensor dry. Not suitable for grease.
 
I finally got in the mail a cleaning pencil and an illuminated magnifier with a side cut-out through which I insert the pen. 20 minutes later, I have a vastly cleaner sensor. Viola.
I messed up by first cleaning the sensor with the set and then using the air blower!
It should have been the other way around.
Anyways, now I am confident about sensor cleaning of the M9.
 

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I got a cleaner pen with a lit magnifier with side vent for insertion of pen. It was very quick and very easy.


At f 16 a screen shot :

i-QC27bLr-M.jpg


I am happy with my results. There was only dust and no oil, so maybe a wet approach is needed with oil residue.
I took photos of my white computer screen, and this is faster than stepping out each time to take a photo of the sky.
In fact, the Leica clip showed the technician taking photos and then immediately seeing results on his screen.
 
raid said:
Here is the link for the special for the lit loupe:

http://www.amazon.com/LensPen-SKL-1...&qid=1359326761&sr=8-1&keywords=lenspen+loupe



Best deal today for the genuine lenspen pen is at Adorama : $8.95 shipped. Beware imitations.

http://www.adorama.com/CPSK.html?gcl...FRKmPAod2GwAWQ

Total for both items: $38.95 shipped.
Click to expand...

Interesting. As I said before, the Arctic Butterfly didn't work well for me. I've been taking my M9 to a local camera repair place that does a good job with cleaning. However, it costs me more than both of these items, and each time I need cleaning! Seems like the lens pen solution worked for you.

Tom
 
I'll chime in here.

I will add a disclaimer that I work for the distributor for Photo Solutions in Australia. Photo Solutions make the popular "SensorSwab" and "SensorSwab PLUS" products. The PLUS is the version that comes in individually hermetically sealed packs and has the correct amount of ECLIPSE fluid pre-applied to the swab.

Standard SensorSwab requires the user to apply 2 drops of ECLIPSE fluid, which needs to be purchased separately.

I have personally attempted to use a Arctic Butterfly on numerous occasions and failed miserably; never got so much as a speck off the sensor.

I need to clean my M9 soon so I'll use the PhotoSolutions products and report back.

The advice I would give anyone cleaning any camera sensor would be to use a clean, dust-free environment- the bathroom is usually pretty good.
Use a high pressure blower (never canned-air) with the camera pointed toward the ground; do not push the blower in past the lens mount. Use the blower for a couple of minutes, wait until you've developed some sort of RSI then stop.

GENTLY place the camera body FACE DOWN on a clean, dry surface. Prepare your swabs, pre-moistened or otherwise.

Now, use the swab as per the directions from PhotoSolutions. It is generally safe to apply a moderate amount of pressure while wiping with the swab, remember you want to 'cut' through the dust, not squash it.

Now, the ECLIPSE fluid will evaporate quite quickly, if you've swabbed right you shouldn't have any residue.

sidenote: It may seem obvious but try not to breath into the camera during any of this...

Once you done all that you should be relatively clean. First cleans are always perilous as you're loosening up all the crap in the mirrobox/area around the shutter, which generally falls off directly onto the sensor. It is not unusual for cameras to need 2 or 3 cleans first go but subsequent cleans should be smoother.

Hope that helps,

-Lachie
 
I have the set for wet cleaning, if ever needed. Else, a manual air blower, plus pen and loupe will be my tool set.
 
Lachie C said:
I'll chime in here.

I will add a disclaimer that I work for the distributor for Photo Solutions in Australia. Photo Solutions make the popular "SensorSwab" and "SensorSwab PLUS" products. The PLUS is the version that comes in individually hermetically sealed packs and has the correct amount of ECLIPSE fluid pre-applied to the swab.

Standard SensorSwab requires the user to apply 2 drops of ECLIPSE fluid, which needs to be purchased separately.

I have personally attempted to use a Arctic Butterfly on numerous occasions and failed miserably; never got so much as a speck off the sensor.

I need to clean my M9 soon so I'll use the PhotoSolutions products and report back.

The advice I would give anyone cleaning any camera sensor would be to use a clean, dust-free environment- the bathroom is usually pretty good.
Use a high pressure blower (never canned-air) with the camera pointed toward the ground; do not push the blower in past the lens mount. Use the blower for a couple of minutes, wait until you've developed some sort of RSI then stop.

GENTLY place the camera body FACE DOWN on a clean, dry surface. Prepare your swabs, pre-moistened or otherwise.

Now, use the swab as per the directions from PhotoSolutions. It is generally safe to apply a moderate amount of pressure while wiping with the swab, remember you want to 'cut' through the dust, not squash it.

Now, the ECLIPSE fluid will evaporate quite quickly, if you've swabbed right you shouldn't have any residue.

sidenote: It may seem obvious but try not to breath into the camera during any of this...

Once you done all that you should be relatively clean. First cleans are always perilous as you're loosening up all the crap in the mirrobox/area around the shutter, which generally falls off directly onto the sensor. It is not unusual for cameras to need 2 or 3 cleans first go but subsequent cleans should be smoother.

Hope that helps,

-Lachie
Click to expand...

Lachie, thanks for the very helpful post. I try to have the mentality of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" :D -- I have some dusts that I can live by as of the moment, YMMV.
 
My favorite swabs are the individually packed pre-wetted type by Photographic Solutions. They are very easy to use and I always carry one in my camera bag.
 
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