quade 4 #1 November 5, 2003 Ok so I've had the D60 for a little over a year and had started to notice some imperfections in the images. At first I was pretty sure it was just dirt on the lenses and whatnot, but a little testing proved I needed a sensor cleaning. Damn! Well, actually, it wasn't too horrible to do myself. The test you want to do to determine this is to take the lens off the camera, put the camera in manual mode, 1/500th of a second or thereabouts and fire off a shot at a light lightbulb about 5 to 10 feet away. This will give you a photo like 5359. If you look closely, you can see some slightly dark splotches on the image. That's light filtering around dust on the imager. You can see it really well if you then take that image into PhotoShop and do an Auto Level adjustment. Take a look at 5359autoLevel and you'll see what I mean. Yuck. That's a heck of a lot of noise buried in my images. After cleaning the sensor I did the same tests and while not -exactly- perfect, I think it's pretty acceptable. Better yet, by doing the cleaning myself, I got the supplies to do it several more times for the cost of sending my camera in once. If you're not handy with stuff, you might still want to consider sending your camera in, but it's not really all that hard to do it yourself either.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #2 November 5, 2003 Good to know....Thanks. Perhaps all that debris came during that high wind cross country jump in Laughlin last year? ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ifics 0 #3 November 5, 2003 The last picture looked MEGA dirty, then I realized I have not cleaned my monitor for awhile... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoym 0 #4 November 5, 2003 Wow. Amazing examples of before and after. You said that you now have all of the supplies for cleaning the sensor. Could you give a little more detailed information on what supplies you have / used for cleaning? Thanks. -mh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #5 November 5, 2003 QuoteI got the supplies to do it several more times Cool. I'll be over tomorrow at 10. OK, seriously, what supplies did you use? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #6 November 5, 2003 Besides following the directions in the camera manual on how to lock up the mirror and lock open the shutter, you'll also need two other consumables; cleaning fluid and swabs. The cleaning fluid of choice, according to the guys over at Calumet Photo is "Eclipse" from Photographic Solutions. http://www.photosol.com About $8 per bottle and should last quite awhile as long as you never leave the cap off. Eclipse comes with a package of ten cleaning pads you can use for lenses but not for the image sensor of your digital camera. Photographic Solutions sells a separate "Sensor Swab" pack of 12 swabs specifically designed for image sensors and these cost (take a deep breath) $48 per 12 pack. Ready the camera, ready the swab by putting a couple of drops of fluid on it, lock up the mirror, open the shutter, 1 wipe in 1 direction, flip the swab over and wipe again, shut down the shutter and mirror and take a test photo. If you don't like the results, repeat with a NEW SWAB. Took me 4 swabs to get the results I thought were acceptable. Since there is a real danger of damaging the sensor with poorly manufactured swabs, don't be stupid and try to get away with using the swabs that come with the fluid or, God forbid, a Q-tip. Still, all in all, this if FAR less expensive than sending your camera in to the shop and having them do it.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nacmacfeegle 0 #7 November 5, 2003 Sounds mildly annoying Paul, it would be a shame to spoil a great photo opportunity for the sake of a little dust..... So, putting engineer's hat on and approaching the issue from a different angle, is there any recommended way to avoid the dust getting in? I used to tape up my old Hi8 maybe something similar required here?-------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #8 November 5, 2003 NacMac, I think the problem probably occurs when changing lenses. I change lenses about a half-dozen times a shooting day, from the 20 (for freefall) to the zoom (for ground and swoops). A dust free DZ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nacmacfeegle 0 #9 November 5, 2003 All the dust turns to mud pretty quickly over here Deuce! Just thinking out loud, with my 'keep it simple head' on, avoidance being better than the cure kinda thang. I was really blown away by those expensive q-tips!-------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdhill 0 #10 November 5, 2003 I too believe in avoidance... but in CA (where Q and Duece jump), like in AZ, dust is a fact of life, short of buliding a clean room on the DZ where you can change your lens... Unfortunately the problem exisits here in TX too... I find my camera is need of cleaning, just been too lazy to do it. JAll that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #11 November 5, 2003 Quote So, putting engineer's hat on and approaching the issue from a different angle, is there any recommended way to avoid the dust getting in? I used to tape up my old Hi8 maybe something similar required here? I think you're probably protected pretty well from fairly large dust particles -- those that would be visible to the naked eye. These are extremely fine dust particles on the order of say, smoke from a cigarette, so I think that over the course of a year or so, there's probably nothing you can really do to prevent them from contaminating the imager -- unless of course you keep the camera in a clean room and never take it out to play with you. I'm thinking that jumping, with all of the air pressure changes that go on, probably will vent and leak enough air so as to make anything short of a totally air tight seal a fruitless exercise. I also doubt that you could get an air tight seal since that's not the way the camera was designed in the first place. Lastly, any kind of gaff tape around the lens might acutally make things worse as air trys to vent and leak through it. You might capture some particles on one side, but shed particles on the other.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fasterfaller 0 #12 November 5, 2003 Damn that was a dirty sensor . Do you use canon lenses or other brands with this camera . I seem to get dirt no matter what lens I use . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #13 November 5, 2003 These were Canon lenses. Canon cameras, historically, have a somewhat looser connection than say, Nikon, but I don't really think thats the main issue anyway. I think it's just a matter of time before you'll need to clean the sensor no matter what you do.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fasterfaller 0 #14 November 6, 2003 I find myself cleaning my 1ds about once a month or so and I only shoot Canon L glass on it . I wish Canon could do something about this issue as it is the onle issue I have with their digital cameras . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #15 November 18, 2003 QuotePhotographic Solutions sells a separate "Sensor Swab" pack of 12 swabs specifically designed for image sensors and these cost (take a deep breath) $48 per 12 pack. Check out B&H. Cheaper by a little bit once again.... www.bhphotovideo.com QuotePhotographic Solutions Photographic Solutions Sensor Swabs for SLR Digital Cameras (12-Pack) Mfr Catalog # SSBOXDCS • B&H Catalog # PHSS12 List Price: $ 48.00 Our Price: $ 45.95 ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #16 November 18, 2003 So, ya buying them or do I still need to bring them for you next week? BTW, what does everyone think I ought to charge for cleaning a person's image sensor?quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #17 November 18, 2003 I'd part with $10 pretty quick. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #18 November 18, 2003 Do out of the goodness of your heart. Should have stuff here by the weekend, but just in case.....---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmfreefly 0 #19 November 21, 2003 One thing on the digital note, there are a few advances out there in technology, that will probably make itsway into other cameras. Unfortunately, I cant remember which cameras have these qualities.. 1) Environmentally sealed units (I think the new 4/3 ('four-thirds') camera from Oly.) that have o-rings that will seal out dust better. My only worry is condensation though.. You still have the 'lens change' problem of dust getting in then, but for a lot of people it who only use one lens, it will help out a bunch. 2) There is one or two digitals out there with CCD/CMOS cleaners built in. I think the most advanced one is a 'high frequency vibration' clean mode, that basically vibrates the dust off the sensor. I seem to vaguely remember the Nikon D1H that I was using for a while having a blurb about an electro-static accessory that charges the dust particles, and the differential pulls them off the sensor. I have no idea whether touching the sensor will have any long term effect, but I guess part of me feels that if mfgs make 'no touch solutions', then they really dont want you to touch them. But, that is probably just to reduce the risk of joe shmo beating the sensor with a regular qtip. j Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #20 December 12, 2003 Funny thing, B&H wouldn't ship the solution. Store only. So I got it from Calumet, who didn't have a problem shipping the stuff. Q, I have photoshop elements. When I click the drop down menu for "enhance" and then click "auto levels" I get virtually no change in the image. Is there more to generating that enhanced image? Something I can't do with just the photoshop elements program? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #21 December 13, 2003 Photoshop Elements . . . hmmm . . . I supposes y'all could go into the manual level adjustments and try to expand the contrast by manually if you -can- do that in Elements. I don't think I have a copy of Elements handy to give it a shot.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #22 December 13, 2003 QuoteI supposes y'all could go into the manual level adjustments and try to expand the contrast by manually if you -can- do that in Elements. Took Elements off my computer but when I did have it up and running, it -did- allow you to do manual adjustments of this type to the image. ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
