DSLR Sensor Cleaning

zutty · Jun 29, 2014

I have a fairly new Nikon D800 that developed a lot of dust that I noticed on a nighttime photo shoot while using small f-stops etc..I hadn't realized how important regular sensor cleaning is to having nice clear photos. I did all the research online on the various methods of cleaning..And I understand it. What I was really asking is what all you more experienced photographers do for sensor cleaning and your experience with it. I am returning that D800 in order to get the new D810 so that is the main camera that I will be using, in addition to a D7100 for dx...Thanks for your help!

pjaye · Jun 29, 2014

I bought this Lenspen SensorKlear Loupe Kit NSKLK-1 B&H Photo Video
Because we shoot mostly outdoors, in the woods, zoos ect, our lens and filters often get dirty. I've cleaned the sensor on the D80 many time and on the D7100 once. I love this kit. Pricy and the replacement cleaning pens are really expensive but it's worth it. I googled how to do it, watched some video's and had them teach me at the Exposure Show in Toronto. Never had a problem.

SCraig · Jun 29, 2014

I have that same kit but all I use is the loupe and the bag it came in. I use a Rocket Blower and if that won't get it off I use Sensor Swabs and Eclipse.

480sparky · Jun 29, 2014

Do not fear cleaning the sensor. Actually, it's not the sensor itself you're cleaning, but a glass plate that's on top of it.

And it's fairly durable glass. You really have to work hard to screw it up.

Just take your time, use the correct material (nothing home-made!), and you'll be fine.

TCampbell · Jun 29, 2014

Like Scott & Sparky, I use

(a) the blower
(b) the inspection loupe
(c) sensor swabs and Eclipse solution

The sensor is normally always covered except for those brief moments when you click the shutter. Sparky is right... there are filters behind the shutter but in front of the sensor. You can't actually touch the sensor without a disassembling quite a bit of the camera, but you can readily access the filter in front of the sensor.

But as the sensor is typically only open for a brief moment in time, what tends to get on it is the occasionally particle of loose dust. A couple of cameras have had oil splatter (this is mostly limited to a few isolated models... the D600, for example, had the issue, Nikon corrected it when they came out with the D610).

With that in mind, usually the camera's self-cleaning cycle will shake the dust off the sensor, but I point the camera face down when so that the dust doesn't just drift down to a lower spot still on the sensor (dust is light... it'll drift in the air and that's how it found it's way onto the "sensor" in the first place.) Often times that's all it takes.

If that doesn't work, I use the hand-squeezed blower (I avoid compressed air because if it isn't perfectly level, the propellent can spew out and it leaves a residue. The residue looks like a fog that won't evaporate and then it does have to be wet-cleaned. )

If self-cleaning and a hand-squeezed blower can't clear whatever is on the sensor, I become increasingly curious as to find out what could possibly made it onto the sensor which is so stubborn. At this point I use the magnifying loupe to inspect the sensor surface just so I can see what I'm working with... then I break out the sensor swab with a few drops of Eclipse solution to clean it, then re-inspect with the loupe to make sure it's clean. Eclipse is nearly pure methanol. It'll break up whatever was on the surface, but the solution itself evaporates VERY quickly and leaves no residue behind (you need not fear streaks, etc.)

To test for sensor dust, use a very high focal ratio (e.g. set your camera to aperture priority and dial in f/22) and take a photo of a plain non-contrast surface (a white wall or ceiling... a cloudless blue sky, etc.) Don't worry about shutter speed... it doesn't matter if you have camera movement due to long shutter exposures (it probably actually helps). This causes the shadow of any dust on the sensor to be well-defined and visible in the image. The higher the f-stop, the easier it is to find the dust spots.