nat Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Should I send my Canon 7d to the factory to clean the sensor, or do it myself? What's the risk of doing it myself? Canon will do a 7-point cleaning for $49.

GW Loc: Idaho

If you can be with out it briefly ...do it . Better they take the risk ...good luck...

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Once you've cleaned it once (or better yet, a few older dirty cameras), you realize there's nothing to doing it yourself ....

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

I clean my sensor myself and use Visible Dust:

http://www.visibledust.com/

Just fully charge your cameras battery to keep the mirror locked up and as CHG CANON said "Once you've cleaned it once (or better yet, a few older dirty cameras), you realize there's nothing to doing it yourself ...."

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Hi nat. I am the king of dust on the sensor.:) Just go on utube or google it. If you see what they do, which is pretty easy. And think you can. Give it a go. You will probably need to do it twice till you get the hang of it.:) I clean mine all the time. It only takes 5 minutes to do now that I have so much practice.:):) Just get the right cleaning supplies. Sensors come in different sizes and the swabs should match them.

You will want to clean it and then go out and take a picture of the sky and check to see if you got it all. I play with a lot of lenses outside. So I had to learn.:):)
Erv

CharlesA Loc: New Jersey

Nat,

You can send it to Canon, but #1) you may be able to clean it just as well or better yourself, #2) probably in 3 to 6 months you'll have just as many dust-bunnies as you have now, so it'll be another trip to Canon.

It really is very easy to do yourself, the natural tendency is to be nervous at first, but once you get past that with a couple of swabbings, you sort of see the light. A small kit costs about $28.00 and should last you several years, a pretty good investment in my opinion.
There are many threads and recommendations here, use the search button above.

Word of caution: I also bought the sensor gel stick which worked very well in the beginning. But the more I used it, the worse it got. Was told to wash it but that didn't help at all. For $50.00 plus shipping, I am extremely disappointed.

Charles

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

DIY search the HOG there has been many threads about this. I now use the Gel Stick http://photographylife.com/product/sensor-gel-stick and if the sensor need more cleaning I utilize Copperhill http://www.copperhillimages.com/

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

Take a picture at the smallest aperture - like f/22 of the sky/blue

Brooklyn-Camera Loc: Brooklyn, New York City

I have used the wet method and the gel stick. Wet method needs a lot of practice, too wet no good, to dry still no good. Gel stick seems to be the easiest and fastest and the safest too. You will just have to find out which method is best for you, maybe both?
Good luck no matter which method you go with, just remember practice, practice and then practice.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

Gel stick deteriorated and made things worse. It does not and can not last forever and when it falls apart, it will really mess up your sensor.

Be ever so careful. Never rub. It is a single swipe of a wet process. Discard the swab after use. It will also come apart and leave lint on the sensor.

Your best avenue is prevention. Don't change lenses in windy or dusty conditions. Point the camera down. Use a bulb blower but before usinging it in the camera, give it a couple of squeezes in the air as the bulb may have dust inside and all u do is blow more dust inside the camera. Change quickly- plan it and do it correctly.

There are inspection tools on the market, LED magnification devices, static/magnet like brushes (blowing air on the brush increases it's static abilities), take a picture of the sky afterwards at f/22 to see if you remove the dust or just repositioned it. (sigh).

Sensor dust can ruin an image especially if it covers the eye/face of a portrait. It can be big as well as small. Can be very difficult to see on an LCD screen but is glaring in print. Both current versions on LR and Adobe ACR have screens to visualize and remove dust. An absolute must!!!

Repairing CCD's is like $300-400. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

Gel stick does not work on smears. It has a limited use for light dust. I don't like them and they will deteriorate.

CharlesA Loc: New Jersey

Mark,

Unfortunately, I agree with you. I had very high hopes for this tool and right out of the box it worked great. But the more I used it, the less dust it picked up. When you look at Dustaid selling for about $26.00 on Amazon, I think what they're asking for this tool (2X) is ludicrous. I can say definitively I am DONE with all adhesives.

In copperhill's tutorial, it says that using the same head or tip over and over again to clean a sensor is NOT a good idea, and now I can really appreciate that advice. With their wet system, you discard the pad after each swabbing and mount a new one the next time. A much better approach I believe.

Charles

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

What brand and source do you reccomend? Thanks.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

Visible Dust gets the best reviews on amazon and BH photo. They have different solutions for different problems such as smears. Others have one solution.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Thanks.