Sensor Cleaning

Branches of Wex or Fixation

I'm in the same boat, Ian. My sensor needs a professional clean!

The options are, for me, Wex Photo for £55 + VAT, or H.Lehmann's in Stoke-on-Trent for £65. Not cheap, but they should know what they're doing.

I got it done by Fixation once but I had to send the camera via courier, which I didn't like. I decided to try myself after watching this video by Nigel Danson:https://youtu.be/b-7ciRxh6s8?si=bDt_7HTWvupDiivD

If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself then Fixation is an option. I have since found out my local camera shop offers the service. You may want to check with places near you to avoid the courier process.

If  a company does it as a service and scratch the sensor they should be liable for the repair. Best to check the small print.

I've since bought a camera with a sensor shield that protects whilst changing lenses. I haven't had any sensor dirt problems so far. Hopefully all cameras will offer that feature soon.

Edited by David Austerberry

I did have one local camera shop say they were out of swabs and then stuck a random dirty swab on my sensor, my languge turned old english....

Find your local camera shop.  London Camera Exchange local to me have done a few of my friends cameras.

But really its very easy to do and means if you notice a spot or two before an important shoot you can sort it out.  Watch some youtube videos for your make/model of camera.  Be careful if you have ibis as you may have to lock the mirror.  But very simple to do.

I do mine myself, but yeah, I hate doing it and it's freaky.... I watched a lot of tutorials before I did it...  I would certainly make sure your camera shop has a decent amount of experience in this, I've heard a couple of stories about it not going well, Fixation will have loads of experience. Again, the video above that David mentions helps a lot: 

I'll do this myself if necessary.

Some points of attention to avoid dust on your sensor:

• Always turn off your camera when changing lenses, when your camera is on your sensor is statically charged and attracts dust.
• First, try to blow away the dust with a bellows (not compressed air).
• If this does not work, clean with a sensor swab and cleaning fluid.

If you have a service point nearby, you can go there, otherwise any good photography shop can do this for you.

Once you’ve done it once yourself and lost the fear, it’s quite a simple job. I’d rather trust myself, being extra careful than some random shop assistant who has a stack of camera sensors to clean before their lunch break or going home for the day. Sensors are pretty robust parts and unless you have banana fingers it’s fairly straight forward. No waiting around required. Takes a few minutes. 

I use the VGSO kit for my Sony mirrorless.

https://digital-photography-school.com/vsgo-camera-sensor-cleaning-kit-review/ 

OriginalSin said

Once you’ve done it once yourself and lost the fear, it’s quite a simple job. I’d rather trust myself, being extra careful than some random shop assistant who has a stack of camera sensors to clean before their lunch break or going home for the day. Sensors are pretty robust parts and unless you have banana fingers it’s fairly straight forward. No waiting around required. Takes a few minutes. 

I use the VGSO kit for my Sony mirrorless.

https://digital-photography-school.com/vsgo-camera-sensor-cleaning-kit-review/ 

Exactly this. To date had perfectly acceptable results and no damage. 

Lens pen and vacuum cleaner. Seriously. Did my first one this way back in 2001 - a Fuji S1. Been using the same method ever since. Requires a bit of care and common sense but it works a treat. As well as dislodging the dirt, the carbon fibre brush on the lens pen shorts-out the static build-up on the sensor. However the main reason this trick works so well is that one actually removes the dirt particles from camera rather than just shunting them around.

• https://garfnet.org.uk/cms/2009/02/06/cleaning-a-camera-ccd-with-a-vacuum-cleaner/

I do it myself about once a month, or before a big shoot. Easy enough to do with sensor cleaning swabs and sensor cleaning solution. Absolutely no need to pay to get it done professionally.

First time is a "beads of sweat" job. I mostly use a Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly kit I've had for a while now, it's a 'dry' system using a static (electric) brush which I've found takes off most dust etc.

When there is something 'stuck'  one of the most common stubborn things can be particles of pollen,  then the wet cleaner Visible Dust again "Smear Away" but there are a good number of well reviewed wet cleaning options.

One VERY important thing to be aware of is that many (now most?) cameras  have IBIS and you need to carefully check the procedure for your particular camera to select the correct settings in the camera menus, including video settings, to prevent any chance of damage. 

Edited by Lightingman

Peter Reeves said

I'm in the same boat, Ian. My sensor needs a professional clean!

The options are, for me, Wex Photo for £55 + VAT, or H.Lehmann's in Stoke-on-Trent for £65. Not cheap, but they should know what they're doing.

Unfortunately Lehmann's is  permanently closed - gone into liquidation :(