Clean CCD glass over top

I am a fashion photographer and always changing lenses during my photo shoots. I have always wondered

why the manufacturers can't simply put a fine 1mm bit of glass over the top of the CCD so we can clean it

ourselves without all the worry of damaging our CCD and costing $1500 to repair. It isn't as though there

isn't enough glass between the CCD and the subject with a zoom lens! Does anybody know why this can't

be done?<div></div>

There is actually, a piece of thin glass over the actual CCD that blocks our IR and works as an AA (anti-aliasing) filter. On many of the old Kodak DSLRs, you could in fact replece this piece of glass yourself. Rarely does the CCD ITSELF ever have to be replaced, it almost always the AA filter that gets scratched. The only time I know wehre someone had to replace the CCD itself was when they pressed too hard with a brush and literally shattered both the AA filter and the CCD.

on all the forums ive been on,there are a few people that clean there sensor/CCD.....everyone else is scared there going to mess it up.ive had a nikon D70 for a couple years and a D200 for a few months.can you shed some more light on the subject,on why people think its easy to screw up?

Hi Sydney, As others have noted there *is* glass over your sensor and when you clean the sensor you're not actually touching the sensor itself. FWIW I have three DSLR cameras and have cleaned the sensors in all three too many times to count without a single problem. I've had good luck with the Visible Dust products at http://www.visibledust.com/ I think DSLR manufacturers make people a little too paranoid about doing this. Sure, if you cram a toothbrush in there and scrub it with Borax you'll probably mess it up - but a little common sense goes a long way. Good luck!

"..without all the worry of damaging our CCD and costing $1500 to repair."

 

What sort of cameras have $1,500 worth CCDs?

The new cameras do it for you; Canon, Olympus, Sony, etc. all have it now, and Canon scans the picture resulting from photographing a white background or board, and looks for shadows of dust from the filter which is in front of the actuall CCD, or CMOS sensor, and subtracts it from the final picture, so even any dust it can't physically shake off gets electronically sorted after the pix are taken

 

If you already have one, I would feel happier taking the camera into my local camera shop, who will clean the sensor in all the right ways, and never leave a mark, with a guarantee that if they scratch it, they will compensate you for the damage, for 5 pounds - (England)

Vivek Iyer asks about which cameras have CCD's worth $1500 to repair.

 

I suppose it is the 645 format ones, which cost in England about 12,000 pounds to buy, and I bet they would cost a packet to replace the CCD if it gets scratched. Hasselblad do nice 39mp cameras, but I wouldnt dare clean the sensor even if I could afford the camera, (which I can,t) Maybe in about five years, when the pixel count goes up to about 200mp for your average quality camera, then I might buy a second hand old one for ?1000 or so. Cant wait - lovely machines