Do you clean your own sensor?

[SquarePeg]

Just a follow up that I was able to clean my xt2 sensor quite easily with a swab kit I bought on Amazon for under $20. Used my lighted hands free magnifying glass to see the debris. Did a dry pass then inspected it and some of the specks were still there so did a wet pass and voila! Thanks to all for the tips and advice. It was easy as pie!

 

[snowbear]

. . . and if that had failed: top rack of the dishwasher; don't forget the jet dry.

 

[photoflyer]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that what we are really cleaning is the IR filter that sits in front of the sensor.

 

[SquarePeg]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that what we are really cleaning is the IR filter that sits in front of the sensor.

Really? Interesting because everything I read refers to it as cleaning the sensor but I guess that is just the easy way of saying it.

 

[Original katomi]

Yes you are cleaning whatever sits on the top of the sensor but for practical purposes and having to spec each camera’s differences it’s generally considered cleaning the sensor
The post above is the same as this I just took longer to write lol

I don’t, do mine I pay to have it done.
I have seen horror of horrors people breathing into the camera then using the edge of their T shirt to wipe inside
Also it seems some people confuse the mirror with the sensor and when told say oh that’s ok I do this to my mirror at home all the time, they just don’t grasp the difference

 

[photoflyer]

I'm getting ready to do astrophotography and thinking of having a camera modified for it professionally. The videos for doing this yourself show an IR filter that sits over the CCD.

 

[Original katomi]

I have not look at that conversion for a few years but last I looked it was a one way trip once converted there was no going back. I could not afford still can not, afford at have a camera just for one type of photography
Good luck to you if you can do it and it’s reverseable or you can afford a camera just for that
Ok just done a web search there are pages and pages on the topic
I stick my hands up and say looks like I am wrong and way behind the times
I will stick to the other end of the spectrum and carry on with my UV about 400nm photography

 

[photoflyer]

I have not look at that conversion for a few years but last I looked it was a one way trip once converted there was no going back. I could not afford still can not, afford at have a camera just for one type of photography
Good luck to you if you can do it and it’s reverseable or you can afford a camera just for that

I guess I've hijacked this thread...sorry but it reminded me of the videos I saw of the sensor itself being modified.

It will be an older camera I got for $100 and will be used only for this purpose. I believe there is a clip-in filter for IR that will effectively make work as it was originally intended. For now it is just talk. I need to develop some astrophotography / astronomy skills first to justify it.

 

[SquarePeg]

I have not look at that conversion for a few years but last I looked it was a one way trip once converted there was no going back. I could not afford still can not, afford at have a camera just for one type of photography
Good luck to you if you can do it and it’s reverseable or you can afford a camera just for that

I guess I've hijacked this thread...sorry but it reminded me of the videos I saw of the sensor itself being modified.

It will be an older camera I got for $100 and will be used only for this purpose. I believe there is a clip-in filter for IR that will effectively make work as it was originally intended. For now it is just talk. I need to develop some astrophotography / astronomy skills first to justify it.

Haha a pilot hijacking the thread - too funny. I've heard of cameras being modified for IR which is pretty cool but wasn't aware that something special could be done for astrophotography or... is that the same modification?

 

[photoflyer]

Haha a pilot hijacking the thread - too funny. I've heard of cameras being modified for IR which is pretty cool but wasn't aware that something special could be done for astrophotography or... is that the same modification?

They start by removing the stock filter over the sensor. After that a lot of the astrophotographers get special clip-in filters for various wavelengths of light. These are really slick because they clip in between the lens and the shutter almost like lenses that have a filter slot but these clip into the body in the lens mount. Short answer is it is the same thing.