by Peter K Burian
Recently, I received a note from an individual asking how to clean her digital SLR camera's sensor. The question is certainly valid since every DSLR owner will eventually need to address this issue. NOTE: The contents of this article are NOT relevant to those who own point and shoots with a built-in lens.
After a vacation trip, the individual noticed that images made with an EOS 10D had a lot of dust spots. She tried to clean the sensor with a puff of air from a blower bulb as recommended in the owner’s manual. That did not work too well. She didn’t want to spend money sending the camera to the service depot and she didn't want to be without it for several weeks.
Most camera manufacturers warn against any other type of cleaning by the user due to a risk of damage to the the glass cover that protects the actual sensor. Such damage would call for a full sensor module replacement (very expensive!) because the glass cover cannot be removed if it becomes damaged.
However, consider the following options:
If dust specks are obvious in your images, try using an oversized blower bulb.
Activate the sensor cleaning feature of your digital SLR camera as instructed in the Owner’s Manual. Use several blasts of air, with the camera held downward toward the floor, so the dust can fall out. That process will usually remove all but the smallest dust specks.
If that does not solve the problem, you might be tempted to use pressurized canned air. I strongly recommend against that approach. Should the liquid propellant reach the sensor, it will dry on the glass cover; in that case, you may need to send the camera to a service depot for professional cleaning.
Several companies make products designed for use by the digital SLR camera owner. These can be found online at a place like Amazon or your local photography store.
Don't worry too much about a few dust spots in your digital images. Often, they will not be visible, except in sky areas or in other light-toned subjects. Remove a few troublesome spots with the Cloning Brush tool, available in Photoshop or other image editing programs. (Cloning means copying pixels from a clean area to cover pixels in a blemished area.)
And finally, remember that prevention is always preferable to the solution. Try to minimize the amount of dust that gets into your camera. Keep the rear cap on all lenses. Vacuum your camera bag regularly. Avoid changing lenses in dusty locations. Whenever you switch lenses, do so quickly and carefully. Minimize the amount of dust that gets into your digital SLR camera and you won't often need to worry about sensor cleaning.
Caution: If you insist on using a cleaning kit not recommended by your digital SLR camera's manufacturer, use extreme care. Follow the cleaner manufacturer's instructions to the letter. And use the kit infrequently: only when the sensor is very dirty and when the problem cannot be solved with an oversized blower bulb.
For a related article, see:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/sensor-cleaning.shtml
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