More Digital Photography Talk

[marzipan]

Dear Sir,

Two spots of dust are on the low-pass filter of my two year old Nikon D70.  It has happened before and I am a very careful 'lens changer'.  Before I change lenses I always ensure that my desk is clean.  I never change lenses outdoors.  I air-blast the camera and the new lens before I remove the fixed lens from the camera and I air-blast the removed lens caps and camera body cap.  And the camera' is 'bare' for only a second or two before I put the body cap on it, or put on a new lens. 

But dust has got into the camera yet again.  I had a camera shop clean the low-pass filter the first time it happened and it was away for a month.  This time I would rather do the job myself.

The D70 manual says clean with an air blower - the very gentle sort - and I have one.

What I need is advice from folk who have cleaned their Nikon cameras.

Should it, or should it not be attempted?

Yours sincerely, Marzipan.
     



 

[ShutterbugGail]

Should it, or should it not be attempted?
     

Hello Marzipan and welcome to the Q&A Forum!

It's a tough call whether or not to clean the sensor yourself, or have it done professionally. Some DSLR owners clean their camera sensor; others wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

If you decide you're up to the task, these instructions should be helpful:

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/methods.html

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/sensor-cleaning.shtml

[d_simplemind]

Last one is a very useful link. Thanks. I think that I have the same problem but I don't know how this happen to my FZ18 prosumer. It is almost new. Is it possible that I have dust in this type of camera? Is it possible to clean it?

[Deb]

Hi, I've been cleaning my Nikon D100 and Canon 40D sensors, applying the technique featured in the Luminous-Landscape link, for years. Using this method it's relatively easy to clean particularly nasty dust particles from the sensors. I use Sensor Swabs (size specific to the camera sensor) and Eclipse cleaning fluid. Having said that, I must advise that you need to be very careful and gentle. If you have any doubt, then just take it to a camera shop. They will be happy to clean your sensor for you at a nominal price.

[marzipan]

Thank you, everyone, for your advice.

I thought long and hard about what to do and decided to take the camera, a D80 and not a D70, back to the shop where I bought it and have the sensor cleaned professionally.  And it was the right decision.  I hadn't realised that a three year insurance policy that I purchased with the camera covers the removal of dust on sensors, and any other problems.  It will be away for a month and yes, I will miss it, but the manager told me that without insurance cover, cleaning the sensor would have been very expensive.  He quoted £150, but I think that there will also be a full examination and a 'tune up'.   I remember that the policy cost about £75, so it was money well spent and I will renew it if I can. 

Anyway, thanks again to the kind people who replied.

Yours sincerely,  Marzipan

[Mike54]

As long as your covered under insurance that you've already paid for that's great but being without my camera for month would be painful. Even at £75 for 3 yrs coverage I think I might consider getting the equipment to clean the sensor myself. I've been using pec pads and eclipse fluid ever since I got my first DSLR and haven't run into any issues yet (Digital Rebel, 20D and 40D), all are still functioning fine. As Deb said, you just have to be careful.

[ShutterbugGail]

It is tough to be without a camera for a month. But unfortunately, I've read this is the case for many, particularly those living outside the U.S.

He's getting a tune-up too, so in this case his extended warranty seems like a good investment. But yes, the wait would drive me up the wall. 

[ShutterbugGail]

Thanks so very much for getting back to us with your findings and your decision. I am sure it will help others wondering whether they should have their DSLR sensor cleaned professionally, or do it themselves.