Cleaning Sensors from Nikon?

I have a D200 that all of a sudden is showing a dust spot. I at first thought it was on my lens but after changing

lenses it showed up on the 2nd lens. I called Nikon and they said that I could send it in. My question is, has

anyone sent there camera to Nikon and roughly what did they charge? I live in a pretty rural area so there aren't any

camera stores that offer sensor cleaning. Thanks for your help.

Yo ucan clean it yourself if you are careful. Start with a Giottos Rocket blower and if that doesn't dislodge it , Eclipse fluid and wipes work very very well.

You built-in automatic sensor cleaner is obviously doing a great job!!!

 

Nikon may not charge you to clean the sensor, especially since you have never sent it in before. They have never charged me.

 

Call them to be sure.

Cleaning sensors is fairly easy, and you'll need to do that every few weeks anyway.

It is pretty much a requirement to learn how to clean it yourself.

 

Thom Hogan's guide is a good place to start:

http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

The D200 does not do automatic sensor cleaning. You are thinking of a D300.

 

I prefer to use a set of "Visible Dust" brushes. You "charge" the brush by spinning it with a motorized handle. The ultra-fine fibers then attact dust and lint from the sensor. Unlike the wet (Copperhill) method, it is much easier to clean the edges and corners of the sensor. There is a slim chance that a powerful blower, like the Giottos Rocket, will force dust behind the IR filter where cleaning cannot remove it.

Nikon west coast charges about $25 to clean sensors, with overnight service. Try to avoid paying more. Even $25 seems like a lot

once you do it yourself and see how fast it is. Many use the special cleaning devices and supplies sold for this purpose, however if

you look under 'Nikon sensor cleaning' at youtube, you can see how Nikon tells(and shows) it's Japanese customers how to clean

the sensor with less expensive supplies. One thing: you'll want to make sure the particular solvent(some type of alcohol) you use is

very clean...easiest to buy the Eclipse E2 product; the stuff from the drugstore isn't clean enough.

Here in Vienna, Austria I think € 50 is pretty average price for sensor cleaning, but I do not think it is worth it. I did

D200 once myself and did not think it was difficult. Overall make sure you do not hold camera upwards so the sensor

would not catch more dust then you are removing from it. Make sure you have enough light in the room, the desk (or

where you do it) is reasonably clean and uncluttered, your battery is fully charged. Gently touch the surface of the

sensor (or rather filter that is on top of it) and move whatever on it from one side to the other (usually from left to right).

 

Or perhaps you do not need wet cleaning at all and arctic butterfly can do the job as well. So far I have seen only

wonders from it on my D300. Even when cleaning the focusing screen, which I thought usually was harder than

removing specs from the sensor.

 

- sergey

Rick.... 95% chance that giving it a puff with a Giottos Rocket Blaster will take care of it. Don't unleash Hurricane

Katrina in there; a few puffs is fine and will likely blow the dust away.

 

Fully charge your battery. Remove the lens and point the mount down. Give the mirror chamber a few puffs. Turn

the camera on with the lens still off. Then go into the menus and lock up the mirror. Give the sensor a few puffs

(again, with the mount pointing down). Shut off the camera and remount the lens.

 

Check by shooting a cloudless sky manual focus at f/22. Any dust will be obvious. If it's there, try again. If it hasn't

changed location after three tries, you need a wet cleaning.