I just cleaned my sensor... did I break it, too?

[Jestev]

Ok, I just tried to clean my sensor because it was getting pretty dusty. After I did it once, a streak appeared. I didn't know if it was the Eclipse solution that hadn't dried or if I had scratched the sensor itself. It appeared on test exposures I did (white screen, f/22, 1 sec, Auto Levels in PSE 3.0) and when I just looked at the sensor. I used Sensor Swab Type 2s with Eclipse solution. The camera is a Nikon D50. Here's a test exposure of my screen using the same procedure previously stated.

The question is: have I crippled my camera? I leave for a trip on Saturday where I will be taking lots of photographs, so if I need to do something I need to know. I don't have a massive budget so I would obviously like to not have to fix anything.

Here's an image of it (click here to see a larger version):

 

[Remi M.]

Is this the shot after cleaning?

I doubt you permanently damaged the sensor, unless you were scrubbing really hard.

I used to clean the sensor my self, but it's useless to clean just the sensor, you need to clean out the whole chamber. Otherwise everything in the chamber just sticks right back on the sensor, especially with long exposures.

I would recommend taking to a camera repair shop. I did that with mine, and the guy cleaned out the whole chamber for $35 CND while I waited.

 

[Jon, The Elder]

The mistake some make is to make more than one pass with the swab, without turning it over.

Yes you can leave smears from eclipse fluid deposited back on the sensor.

Go over the area near the bottom horizontal streak and then check the image. It is a pain but you will learn a lot. Eliminate each area you are concerned with.

Remember - one swipe.

 

[Jestev]

Yea, I did two swipes, but I remembered to flip it over.

I then cleaned like 5 more times with new swipes to try and fix it... that's like $30 of swipes in 20 min...

EDIT: Jon, do you suggest re-cleaning without Eclipse on the Swipe?

 

[Jestev]

Sorry about the double post, but I just got the camera back from a store and they mostly fixed the problem. I think it's there to stay in some form for a while.

Thanks everyone for their help!

Here it is now: