conwaygroup Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Just thought I would share this experience. While on vacation in the mountains my D-100's sensor became contaminated with wind blown dust during a lens change. I was not prepared for a typical swab and solution cleaning and only had a hurricane blower to get rid of small particles. The blower proved ineffective. In an attempt to rid the CCD of the stuck particles I attempted to blow sharp bursts of air from my lungs onto the sensor with the camera held overhead. To my horror, during one burst a small bit of saliva (pardon the grossness) landed upon the sensor. I did not have a back up body with me so countless photo opportunities would be lost if I didn't get the sensor cleaned (and dried).Here's where I know I will make some of you shudder....I took a plastic dinner knife whose handle at the end was about the width and thickness of a sensor swab and tightly wrapped a micro fibre lens cleaning cloth around the handle. I then exhaled breath onto the sensor and used the homemade swab to wipe the sensor clean.I had visions of packing the camera up and sending to Nikon service for a CCD replacement but really couldn't bear the thought of losing several days of shots in the mountains. To my amazement...after completing the improvised cleaning process, the camera performed excelently. I might even say that I noticed a slight increase in saturation in the post cleaning photos. I certainly am not recommending this procedure to anyone...but necesity certainly is the mother of invention.Good luck to all. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walterh Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 For the more expensive D200 sensor I suggest to spit onto the micro fibre cloth and not directly onto the sensor. How do you explain the improvement in colour saturation? Any connection to your previous lunch? Give us a hint :-) Cameras are just tools :-) Very brave John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_stafford2 Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 I find that swishing a shot of Jack Daniels around my mouth before breathing on the sensor helps. It doesn't do anything for the sensor, but after that, who cares? CCD boys - get used to it. When in hostile environments, a film camera is your backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin_altmann Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Well, i had a similar experience. While travelling in Patagonia (actually I happened during a lens change while visiting the fortress of Fuerte Bulnes) my D70's sensor accumulates a piece of fibre which showed as a shadow several 100 pixels long. Being without cleaning equipment I tried to shake the cam to make the (clearly visible) piece of fibre shake off. Nothing helped. Then we tried the hotel's hair blower, gently - didn;t work either. Final option was, taking a rounded piece of paper, gently poking it onto the piece of dust. That did the trick, dust gone, no trace of anything on the subsequent pictures. Chip is still remarkably clean (unlike my previous (now stolen D70 which was kind of a dust hog) I took over 1500 images on that vacation, the only other time the cam failed me was while looking at Glacier Perito Moreno and rain temporaily corrupted some circuitry (that went away later witout my interaction). So my advice would be. Small dust specs should be tolerated - you can't see them anyway! But these huge ones are a different story. Doing something not by the book such as John or myself did, might just save your vacation trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuryan_thomas Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 I carry a small Sensor Brush and a bulb blower in my camera backpack for such emergencies. The small Sensor Brush can be "charged" using a blower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertdarmali Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 On a similar note, just wondering, since many people recommend not to bother cleaning the small bit of dust if it's not showing in the picture, do you think if the particle left there for a long time (either on lens or sensor), will it become harder to clean in the future? eg. the dust become "settled in", or this only applies to moisture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauriee Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 hmmmmm...just wanted to admit that I started using plastic dinnerwear to make swabs last year!! I thought the ones online looked so similar that WHY NOT??? It works great! Oh! And I use a small bandaid to hold the pads on and I'm VERY careful not to touch anything but the pad to the sensor...the angle of a plastic knife is perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conwaygroup Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 Well I'm glad to see that those of you that commented on this post don't think I'm totaly crazy for the emergency cleaning procedure with the knife. FWIW the camera continues to function fine. Laurie..what do you use as the "pad"? Please don't tell me a Handi Wipe! Good Luck John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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