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Touched my Sony A6000's sensor like an idiot


matthews434

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I just unboxed my Sony A6000 and didn't even realize I was smearing all over the sensor for a few minutes. There's fingerprints, and I dampened a q tip very very slightly and got them out but I'm still worried since sensors are so delicate. What do I do? How do I know if I'm safe
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Look at the biggest images at 100% from a plain white surface and some other colors at different speeds and apertures and see if you have 'artifacts' (smears, dots, etc.). If you don't, you may have been lucky. Otherwise buy some proper cleaning solution and swabs and have another go at it. If worse comes to worse get professional help.
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Look at the biggest images at 100% from a plain white surface and some other colors at different speeds and apertures and see if you have 'artifacts' (smears, dots, etc.). If you don't, you may have been lucky. Otherwise buy some proper cleaning solution and swabs and have another go at it. If worse comes to worse get professional help.

Does the sensor do anything to the image when taken?

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The sensor is what captures the image in digital form. Any damage or dirt on it will cause problems with image quality.

Could there be any scratches on it that I'm not seeing that will in any way effect the photos taken? I heard that image sensors are extremely delicate

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  • just turn it so the light hits it at different angles, as though you were inspecting the surface of a mirror. You're worrying too much and making it harder than it really is.
  • don't use kleenex or hard cloth though to try to clean it.
     
  • In fact, just take it or send it to a repair place--messing with it when you don't know how is the surest way to get a bad result.

as I say, take some pictures and look at them to see if anything is showing up (dark or light spots, smudges, etc

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Well, a Q-tip, even moist, is not the best way to clean your sensor. Have it wet cleaned. In this case wet is not equal to water but mostly a clean grade of methanol or isopropanol. wet cleaning should remove all grease and debris.

Don't worry too much, the sensor (actually the plate in front of the sensor) can take some abuse.

And start reading the manual.

FYI there are little screws all over the camera. Time to get a philips screwdriver and take the thing apart. That's the easy part. Just guess about the difficult part :-)

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Well, a Q-tip, even moist, is not the best way to clean your sensor. Have it wet cleaned. In this case wet is not equal to water but mostly a clean grade of methanol or isopropanol. wet cleaning should remove all grease and debris.

Don't worry too much, the sensor (actually the plate in front of the sensor) can take some abuse.

And start reading the manual.

FYI there are little screws all over the camera. Time to get a philips screwdriver and take the thing apart. That's the easy part. Just guess about the difficult part :)

I just used isopropanol to clean the sensor. Seems like it worked, but I'm not so sure about unscrewing my camera haha

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Let me just share an experience from 10 yrs ago. While checking dust on the sensor I noticed a big smear/oil spray. Late afternoon, all shops closed and the next day I had to get up early for a flight to Nepal and of course I needed the camera for that trip. Tried several things to clean the sensor, hence I know that Q-tips are not ok. Then cut a piece of cardboard to about 1.5 cm width, folded a lens tissue over it and cleaned the sensor with a modest amount of lens cleaner (ispropanol). After a few tries the sensor was clean enough. Fortunately the sensor stayed clean for the next four weeks. I'm sure I couldn't have repeated the cleaning in a dusty tent.
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Let me just share an experience from 10 yrs ago. While checking dust on the sensor I noticed a big smear/oil spray. Late afternoon, all shops closed and the next day I had to get up early for a flight to Nepal and of course I needed the camera for that trip. Tried several things to clean the sensor, hence I know that Q-tips are not ok. Then cut a piece of cardboard to about 1.5 cm width, folded a lens tissue over it and cleaned the sensor with a modest amount of lens cleaner (ispropanol). After a few tries the sensor was clean enough. Fortunately the sensor stayed clean for the next four weeks. I'm sure I couldn't have repeated the cleaning in a dusty tent.

Uh oh. Guess I shouldn't have used a Q-Tip? What will happen now that I did? interesting story btw

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Uh oh. Guess I shouldn't have used a Q-Tip? What will happen now that I did? interesting story btw

The only problem of a Q-tip is that it can leave fibres on the sensor. If so they will show at smaller apertures (f/16) so they need to be removed by sensor cleaning. The best way to test the sensor IMO is to take two pictures of a plain light area (clear sky, white paper), lens out of focus, at f/11 and f/22. Inspect the pictures at 100% for spots. I stop cleaning when there are no spots visible at f/11 and none or a few at most at f/22. In practice spots at f/22 will soon re-appear. BTW, thsi is based on a Canon EOS 5D which is a kind of a dust magnet. Newer bodies are less prone to collecting dust hand have dust removal mechanisms in place so you don't have to worry so much about dust.

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Grease from your finger may affect the image, and may attract dust which is even more visible. It's not hard to clean the sensor, but it does require special materials, procedures and great care. I doubt any permanent damage would occur. Likewise lint from a Q-tip is easily removed.

 

Cleaning Digital Cameras | Cleaning digital sensors, critical glass optics, filers, scanners and more

 

The best method is probably using Eclipse Fluid, which is highly purified methanol (methyl alcohol) and Sensor Swabs, which are lint-free non-woven swabs on wide plastic spatulas. Sensor Swabs come in several sizes to fit the full width of common sensors. They are available from Photosol, B&H and Amazon.

 

You apply a few drops of Eclipse Fluid to the tip of the swab and draw it lengthwise across the sensor, once in each direction. You repeat the operation with a clean swab until all traces of the contaminant is removed.

 

There may be traces of lint left even after using these tools, which can be removed using microfiber brushes (e.g., Visible Dust). Unless you do something careless like touching the sensor (or the brush), blowing on the sensor, or exposing it to salt spray, the brush alone may be sufficient for a year more more of cleaning.

 

If you prefer, you can send the camera to the manufacturer or an official repair site for cleaning.

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