A Digital SLR Image Sensor Cleaning Nightmare

Photograph @ Rick Sammon

Cleaning the image sensor in your digital SLR is easy. Many products are available to help you do it, including:

Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly:
Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly 724 Brite Sensor Brush

Sensor Swabs:
Sensor Swab Type 2 (Box of 12)

Eclipse Cleaning System
Eclipse Cleaning System Solution

Blower Brush
Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blaster Large (Black)

Built-in sensor cleaning systems also help.

Because dust spots show up mostly in the sky, it's important to keep your sensor clean especially when the sky is in your photograph.

Well my friends, here is an image cleaning nightmare. Originally, I was going to title this post: Nice Guys Finish Last.

Four years ago, I was on a trip and one of the participants asked me to clean the sensor in her digital SLR. I said sure. I used my trusty liquid/swab cleaning system, which I had used many times before with excellent results.

Well my friends, I actually made it worse. I was shocked. I wondered why.

Here's why (or Now You Tell Me!): The day before, the same photographer asked another person on the trip to clean the sensor. In the cleaning process, the person cleaning the sensor blew on the sensor - after eating a bag of pretzels. When I used the swab on the sensor (actually the low-pass filter that is placed over the sensor), I moved microscopic grains of salt across the sensor and created noticeable streaks.

As you may imagine, I don't clean other photographer's sensors any longer.

Just a word to the wise . . .

Explore the light,
Rick

Quick Digital Imaging Tip 26/101: Manually Activate Your Camera's Self-Cleaning Feature

This is tip #26 of 101 digital imaging tips I plan to post here over the next few months. Stay tuned.

Today's tip: Manually activate your camera's self-cleaning feature

Many of today's digital SLRs automatically clean the sensor when you turn on and off the camera.That feature works quite well in removing small particles from the low-pass filter that's placed over the image sensor.

A more effective method is to manually activate the self-cleaning feature.

Also, before an important shoot, shoot a test shot of the sky. Open the image in your image-editing program and search for dust spots. If they are still visible even after you have manually activated the self-cleaning feature, use a blower to try to remove them. Still there? I recommend having a professional clean your sensor. Why? If you use a swab and cleaning fluid, it's not impossible that you could turn the spots into streaks. I have seen that happen more than a few times.

Explore the light,
Rick