DSLR Sensor Cleaning and Air Travel

[steve_bright1]

I've been a Canon DSLR user for a couple of years now (10D & 20D) and

I normally clean my sensors using the Eclipse fluid + Pec Pad method.

I'm off to China (Shanghai) in 10 days and would like some advice on

how to clean my sensor whilst there. I'd use the same method except

that I won't be allowed to take the Eclipse fluid on the plane.

 

Although I don't use the Visible Dust brush method, I've heard it's

very effective, but I would imagine that I wouldn't be allowed to

take a can of 'air' either as it's normally actually a highly

flammable gas.

 

How do the seasoned travellers among you manage to clean your sensors

in the field? Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[genec]

Check the visable dust site. They are now offering a couple of new gizmos that charge the brush without canned air.

[Ed_Ingold]

Canned "air" is not flammable. It is a low-boiling liquid related to Freon (but not ozone-destructive). You cannot take it on a passenger airplane because it is regarded as a compressed gas which could "explode" due to pressure, and possibly a suffocant.

 

The Visible Dust brushes look promising, but I haven't tried one yet. Their website appears to have the best prices.

[cfimages]

How long will you be in China? A good cleaning before you leave should see you through, unless you're planning either a very long trip or moving there. I've had a couple of dust spots on my 20D sensor for a while now, but haven't gotten around to cleaning it. They only show up when the sky predominates in an image, and it's a simple matter to clone them out in PS.

 

I live in Taiwan, and Eclipse and Pec-pads are not sold here. I had a friend in Canada buy me some, and mail it to me. It took about 6 weeks to arrive, having to go by sea. Still, I haven't taken the time to give the sensor a clean, as the dust spots rarely show up. If you're planning on living in China, then your best bet would be to have someone from home mail you the stuff once you have an address. Otherwise, clean before you go, and you should be fine.

[mark_chappell]

<I>I would imagine that I wouldn't be allowed to take a can of 'air' either as it's normally

actually a highly flammable gas.</i><P>

 

?? really? what gas? The problem I've heard about with compressed air is that it often

contains impurities (such as compressor oil) which can make your sensor a <B>real</B>

mess. The Visible Dust brushes work well on dust particles, but if you are unlucky enough

to get something sticky on the sensor -- say, an oil drop from canned air -- you need to do

a wet cleaning.

[Ed_Ingold]

Mark, canned "air" is used to clean and charge the Visible Dust brush.

[gerhard_hofmann1]

I usually use the Visible Dust brushes If I don?t have access to canned air for charging the brush I switch to device you can see in the picture (Don?t laugh :-) Sorry I have no clue how it is called in English. I got the advice to use it instead of a similar blower brush from a German CPS technician and he proved to be right that it is superior to the devices you can buy at the locale photo shop. The airflow is stronger and this thing lasts nearly for ever.)

Sadly some of the dirt can?t be removed with the brush in this case I switch to sensor cleaning solution from visible dust. It is far from perfect but it contains no flammable liquid and I had never problems to take it on board a plane.

 

My worst dust problems I have usually in spring when lots of pollen is flying around. The wax in the Pollen sticks perfect to the warm/hot sensor and is hard to remove.

 

It seems the higher the pixel density the more pixels will be covered by the dust particles I often wonder whether this is the reason why I had not so much (visible) dust problems with the D30 in terms of dust and whether the small sensor of the Olympus cameras therefore would be under severe attack of dust without their smart Ultrasonic solution.

 

Good luck

Gerhard

[mark_chappell]

<I>Mark, canned "air" is used to clean and charge the Visible Dust brush.</i><P>

 

It is not necessary (and probably not desirable) to use canned 'air' for that purpose. I use a

simple blower bulb -- easily air-transportable --

to do that and it works fine. Any time you use compressed air you run some risk of

contaminants.

[steve_bright1]

Well, thanks for the advice. I'm only going to Shanghai for a couple of weeks on business (not photography), but will hopefully get plenty of time for photography whilst I'm there.

 

Looking at my can of Dust-Off, I see that it contains difluoroethane which I imagine probably isn't flammable after all, although I'm sure I've had some in the past which have contained propane - I could be wrong though.

 

It's interesting that a couple of you charge your visible dust brushes with a bulb-blower. I have a Giotto blower, and whilst it isn't much good at blowing crud off sensors, if it can charge a Visible Dust brush then I'll consider getting one.

 

Thanks again, Steve

[andrew robertson]

You shouldn't ever direct canned 'air' into your camera. You can really foul stuff up in there,

and blow dust behind your focusing screen.

 

My advice is to do what I did when I went to Japan - leave the Eclipse behind and bring a

simple blower bulb. When the sensor gets dirty, turn it so the mount is facing the floor, put

it into cleaning mode, blow up there for a good minute or two, turn the camera off, and

replace the lens. Eclipse isn't necessary unless you have goop like salt spray or spit or

boogers on the sensor, as the dust just floats away with a good squeeze of the blower bulb.