CCD cleaning Help

[sarp_ozdemiroglu]

These are the questions that I coulnt find any answers on the net. I would be very pleased

if you reply. Thanks in advance..

 

-Why do I need AC adapter for cleaning CCD? Is it a must? If yes, why?

 

-May I use alcohol based Lens cleaning liquid(ex. Kinetronics PrecisionLensCleaner) for

Sensor Swap other than recommended methonol based Eclipse which I couldn?t find?

 

-I purchased LensPen to clean my lenses and salesman told me that I could also clean

CCDs with LenPen but there are no notifications in their website or whitepaper about

cleaning CCDs. Should I use it or beat the man to hell?

 

Sarp

[vivek iyer]

This is what I do:

 

A fully charged battery before the mirror lock up.

 

Rocket blower for blowing dust.

 

Pec Pads and Eclipse (accessible if you look for it).

 

With practice it becomes just easy as changing a lens.

[ShunCheung]

I have had a D100 for almost 3 years and clean its CCD regularly. I do not have an AC adapter for it.

 

Like Vivek, I put a freshly charged EN-EL3 in it before I lock up the mirror. Once I spent so much time cleaning the CCD that I used up all the charge.

[efusco]

Eclipse is widely available, find it, do not use ethanol based.

 

As stated, the AC adapter isn't essential, but you should be sure your battery is fully charged.

 

I can't imagine that a LensPen is a good idea. It contains a minor abrasive (very fine carbon) and there is no way to be certain that the tip of the pen stays perfectly clean. One tiny piece of grit on it will ruin your CCD. Further, I'd be very worried about the carbon filling up the 'holes' in the AA filter over time and degrading image quality...not sure if that can or would happen, but it seems feasable.

[vivek iyer]

It seems (that is what I have read, I don't have any other first hand knowledge), like Evan says, the lens pen has graphite (the stuff that is in a pencil, it is a form of carbon).

 

What Evan suspects will happen if this is the case.

 

DO NOT USE IT ON THE SENSOR.

[tony_tran1]

How can you use the option "Mirror lock-up" if you do not have the AC adapter on the D100??? Thanks

[lex_jenkins]

I went ahead and got the AC adapter for my D2H. The salesman said it was unnecessary but what the heck.

 

I set the camera to "bulb" and hold the shutter release button down while puffing at the sensor with a Giottos Rocket Air blower.

 

So far I haven't needed to use any direct contact cleaning, tho' I've had my D2H for only about a month.

 

I wouldn't trust the standard mirror lockup available on the D2H because while the instruction booklet says it will keep the mirror up for 30 seconds and while I could set the shutter speed to several seconds, I don't want to rely on that to keep the shutter and mirror crashing into a cleaning brush or pad.

[haris]

Mirror lock-up option is accessible through the camera menus. You set it and then press the shutter button. Mirror goes up and does not go down until the battery is dead or your shut down the camera.

<p>

Also, take a look at the article is the first issue of the

<a href="http://www.pbase.com/magazine">PBase magazine</a>

magazine on-line. They have an article on a cheap alternative method for cleaning dust off the sensor. Makes a lot of sense to try a simple soft, oil-free, dust-attracting brush before going in there with chemicals. Of course, once you have dust baked onto the sensor, no brush will help...

<p>

I got my brush at Walgreens for $10 and I am using a bicycle pump to charge it. Have not tried it on the sensor yet because mine is still clean, but the brush picks up dust as the article says.

<p><p>

Good luck!

[lex_jenkins]

There is a mirror lockup option in the menu on my D2H, but it cannot be accessed unless the camera is plugged into the AC adpater. Perhaps other Nikon dSLRs function differently.

[bill_harris1]

I have read the manual on "mirror lock-up" on the D100 and can not get

it to respond as outlined in the manual..The mirror lock-up is not high lighted on the menu and the cursor will skip over it. What am I missing?

[chris_leck]

Bill, are you missing the AC adapter?