Cleaning a 20D

Scott WRG Editor · Mar 9, 2005

I was just curious as to how much it would/should cost to take my 20D to a camera shop and get it cleaned? I have some dust on the CCD (I probably shouldn't have stuck the camera out the hatch of a B-17 doing 150 mph

and I don't want to screw it up by messing with it myself. Any ideas?

Artemis · Mar 9, 2005

I think in the UK its about £40? so it may be similar in the US....Ill have to get my stuff cleand to...damn mirror is weal dirty...ON BOTH OF EM!

Big Mike · Mar 9, 2005

From what I been reading. Cleaning the sensor is part of the routine when you own a DSLR. It would cost you a fortune to have it professionally cleaned every time it needed it.

There are special sensor cleaning pads available at camera stores and there are methods on how to do it...floating around the internet.

Apparently it's not as risky as you might think. The sensor has a protective lens/coating over it...that's really what you are cleaning.

SLOShooter · Mar 9, 2005

Be really really careful if you gonna clean the sensor yourself. It's like cleaning the shutter and you cna damage it really easily.

Meysha · Mar 9, 2005

Just wonder, what do your photos come out like when the sensor is dirty?

Big Mike · Mar 9, 2005

SLOShooter said:
Be really really careful if you gonna clean the sensor yourself. It's like cleaning the shutter and you cna damage it really easily.

From what I have been reading lately...it's not as easy to damage the sensor as people seem to think it is. It's like cleaning a small flat piece of glass. Shutters are far easier to damage because they are delicate.

Of course care should be taken and common sense should be used.

Rogue Monk · Mar 9, 2005

Meysha: it resembles small, out of focus, spots of dirt or squiggles (tiny hairs/fibers).

The sensor is covered by one or more protective layers--either an anti-alias/high-pass filter or regular glass (similar to a lens).

Though care should always be taken (and I won't be held responsible for you bunging up your camera), it isn't difficult to clean.

Luminous-Landscape has a short tutorial on how to do it and Visible Dust is the recommended tools for cleaning both sensor and mirror chamber.

Usually, even just a shot from canned air will knock it away (never shake the can or you could get spray and I don't usually use the supplied tube). I tip the camera forward in the hopes of the dust falling out. It isn't a perfect solution, but it works for most dust.

One more thing...check the back element of your lens before doing any of this. I've found most of the major crud there first and have only cleaned my sensor twice since getting the camera.

Unimaxium · Mar 10, 2005

Let me just mention in this thread... I have recently learned, the hard way, to be really careful when cleaning the mirror or ground glass in an SLR. About a month ago I tried to clean the parts in my 20-year-old K1000, and eneded up temporarily making things significantly worse. Here's what happened... Since it's an old camera, the little foam that cushions the mirror as it swings up and hits the top of that chamer area was (and is) starting to deteriorate and come off, so some of it had already gotten on part of the mirror. It wasn't much of a problem since I couldn't see that area of the mirror through the viewfinder anyway, but I felt I should try to clean it off anyway. But when I tried to clean it off, I ended up smearing foam -- and the adhesive that is supposed to keep it in place on the top of the chamber -- onto the rest of the mirror. And then since the mirror is so close to the ground glass, I got some on it, too. It was quite nasty. Eventually, after a bit of work, I managed to fix it up so that the smearing is no longer noticable through the viewfinder, but it's still not perfect.
Anyway, the lesson: be very, very careful when cleaning delicate parts of the camera, and make sure you take every precaution you can to avoid making things worse.

Ghoste · Mar 11, 2005

You stuck it out a jet? That should be an interesting shot. Can we see?

Scurra · Mar 11, 2005

If I get crud in my 20D I have a hurricane cleaner to get it out. Providing you don't do anything stupid like jam the tip onto the sensor it's quite simple to clean.