sensor cleaning

After noticing dust specks on some shots over the past month, I finally decided to bite the bullet and clean my sensor. The dust spots were very noticeable in the blue of the sky in my landscape shots, and were most obvious in shots that were made with smaller apertures (I usually shoot my landscapes in the f/16-22 range). After doing a bit of research on the internet, I found that beginning to notice specks in these instances seems to be fairly normal once dust is on the sensor.

Note: The Canon EOS 40D has one of those fancy-pants automatic sensor cleaning units that operates when the camera is turned on & off, and is supposed to shake off the dust from the front of the sensor. This feature works as advertised, but sooner or later you will still have to expect to get in there and manually clean the sensor in some form or fashion.

Soooo… after noticing the undeniable evidence of dust-bunnies on my sensor, I had a couple of choices open to me. (1) I could ignore the dust and use the Canon software’s “dust delete” function to erase the specks in each shot. But the thought of leaving the dust on the sensor didn’t sit well with me. (2) I could send my camera to Canon and have them clean the sensor for me. But from reading some accounts on internet forums, this sounded like it’d be a bit of a hit-or-miss proposition… since some folks have got their cameras back with the same or even more dust specks on the sensor. (3) I could clean the sensor myself.

The thought of mucking about in my beloved 40D’s innards spawned a few moments of anxiousness, but this is actually the course of action I decided upon. I had been in there once before, shortly after purchasing the beast, to change the focusing screen and that had gone well… so surely I could handle this?

After doing some more research on the internet, I settled on wet cleaning the sensor using the “copper hill method.” This essentially consists of ordering a kit from Copper Hill Images which includes a SensorSwipe tool, PecPads non-abrasive wipes, & Eclipse (E2 for the Canon 40D) optic cleaning fluid. I also picked-up a Giotto’s Rocket Air Blower at Mike’s Camera in Boulder.

The sterling service from Copper Hill Images was noteworthy, and the directions that accompany the materials (there’s also an on-line tutorial) were clear and detailed.

So yesterday morning, with just a bit of fear & trepidation, I arrayed everything close to hand on our dining room table, positioned a desk-lamp at my elbow, and sat down to do this.

In the 40D’s menu there is a selection for manually cleaning the sensor (it locks the mirror up out of your way until the camera is turned off), and after finding this & activating it, I got down to business. And I’m still alive to tell the tale! More importantly, I don’t seem to have done any irreparable damage to the sensor and, in fact, seem to have slain the dastardly dust bunnies which had started breeding on my sensor.

Actually, it was very easy. I think I’ll need to do it a few more times to feel completely comfortable with it, but the process itself was simple. From mirror lock-up to replacing the body cap, maybe three minutes had passed. If that.

Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed… or in this case, stuff I’ve cleaned. ~Rich