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Jeff, don't want this to get personal (I have a tendency to fire off answers when busy, didn't mean to sound too aggressive), but your comment about "experts" was misleading to me because all the "expert" photographers I know (like Andy Biggs) clean in the field, and it's mostly camera manufacturers who say "don't do it yourself", for liability reasons.
You write <b>"It is strange to hear that it takes too long to get them to turn around a camera for cleaning. I send mine in after a weekend of shooting and it is usually back by Friday for another go of it."</b> ... Chewy originally asked "Which sensor cleaner do you recommend to take on Safari?" ... how would your method work "on safari"? It wouldn't work, you wouldn't want to lose 3-4 days of shooting (Monday - Friday) plus in Africa you'll lose another week just shipping the camera back and forth. I just don't see that as feasible on a safari. The site you link to is a site that sells sensor cleaning gear (they make spatulas for use with Eclipse). They raise warnings for liability reasons (same as the camera companies), then go ahead and tell you how to clean sensors using their gear. Some of the more interesting things on that site include (under "The Methods", first line) <b>"Sensor Swab™ and Eclipse™ - Eclipse/Methanol is the chemical of choice by the engineers and optical specialist of Nikon, Kodak, Fuji and Leica. You use a swab of one type or another, put a couple (2-3) drops of chemical on it and wipe the low pass filter." </b> This is precisely what Chuck, Andy and I are recommending for do-it-yourselfers. In "Intro" the site says <b>"In Japan, Nikon, has already started selling a swab and methanol, sensor cleaning kit to consumers"</b> ... in other words, camera companies are getting more used to the concept of people doing their own cleaning, realizing how inconvenient it is for people to have to ship cameras back to the shop for this. I can understand people not being comfortable wiping the sensor, thinking they might ruin the camera ... the first one I cleaned was an $8,000 Canon full-frame and I wouldn't have been more nervous if I were operating on myself in the mirror. After the fifth or sixth time I felt more relaxed, and now (after the 50th time) it's no big deal. For Africa I think you need to be able to do this, or risk having too much dust on the sensor if you never clean it for the duration of the trip, especially if you go during the dry season and change lenses occasionally. Bill |
Bill, Chuck, Andy,
I love shutterbug banter. We are all so passionate about it and apparantely want the best for other forum readers and to maintain the integrity of what we do. Photographers are so possessive about their craft and that is what makes us all good at what we do. Keep it up :-) |
Might be a good thread for some folks to bookmark.
Regards-Chuck |
This is just one of those things where the SLR documentation tells the market one thing and people do another. It is all about liability issues, and I have to say that cleaning a digital sensor is pretty easy, no matter the method. Just take your time, understand the steps involved, and get it over with. This is just one of those things that is much easier to do in the field than messing with cleaning up the spots in Photoshop or Lightroom later on. Not much fun!
Seriously, though, if I could recommend one product, I would recommend something like the Arctic Butterfly, as it works for about 90% of the time for me. The other 10% is when I have a stubborn piece of dust on my sensor, and I need something more appropriate to getting it off the sensor. Then I resort to chemical-based products/swabs. |
<b>I would recommend something like the Arctic Butterfly, as it works for about 90% of the time for me.</b>
Andy, how do you clean it? Does it work as well after you cleaned it? Reason I'm asking is the Sensor Brush (from the same company) worked fantastically well until I had to clean it, then the bristles weren't as soft and didn't pick up the dust as well afterwards. So I was wondering ... Also thanks to you and Chuck for the mention of Eclipse 2, which I hadn't heard of (still working through my five gallon bucket of highly flammable original Eclipse) :) Bill |
Bill, i just clean the arctic butterfly with compressed air. never had to do anything more than that, but maybe I should look into it. The Arctic Butterfly has a replaceable brush, so I can always get another one.
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Talked with the Arctic Butterfly people. Very helpful but.... the 5D is the ? and they are hesitant to recommend their products for this full frame sensor because of the oil situation on some of their sensors.
(Probably cause I am only an amatuer, and might mess it up!) Were there specific serial numbers/production runs or just random oil applications on the Canon 5ds? |
Sorry,
I meant random excess oil applications on the 5D. |
That is a really good question. I have heard that the 5D, specifically, has a different coating or procedure during the manufacturing process. I am not sure how this affects the cleaning, though.
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Andy, Bill nad Cheweyhead,
Note: I have placed names in alphabetical order) :-). Although I don't own the 5D, I have read and noted on the website of several eclipse sellers (rthe makers own website as well) that the coating on the 5D requires Eclipse 2. The same may hold for the new Canon Mark III as well so Andy had better check. I had planned on using Eclipse 2 on all my bodies when I travel, apparently it is not as highly flamable and I would be able to take a small quantity. As far as I know, the original Eclipse solution was fine on all bodies through the 30D and the Series 1 Mark 2 bodies. Again, the Copperhill site I referenced above has some useful information. By the way, lets keep the pressure on the editors of this forum to update the website. Perhaps keeping the thread recenly started by Andy at the top will call thier attention to our concern and frustration. Cheers-Chuck |
<b>they (Arctic Butterfly) are hesitant to recommend their products for this full frame sensor (5D) because of the oil situation</b>
Chewy, I don't have the 5D but on one of our 1D Mark II's I occasionally get a droplet of what looks like lubricant. This of course smears with the Sensor Brush (which I think is similar to the Butterfly except you charge it with compressed air) and one of the reasons I had to clean the SB, afterwhich it never worked as well because the bristles were a bit stiff. So if the manufacturer is warning you off this model then I'd be wary of buying it for the 5D, though maybe the replacement tips Andy mentions are not too expensive. Note that we don't get the droplets often, but when we do it's a pain. The Pec pads and Eclipse always work but of course it's a hassle to tape the pad on the spatula and it feels more invasive to use this on the sensor than the brush. But it always works :) Bill |
Perhaps the best workflow would be to use the Arctic Butterfly first, and if you see issues on the 5D sensor, go ahead with the chemical/swab approach to clean it up.
I moved over to a 100% Visible Dust product range recently, as they have nicely packaged individual swabs. Expensive, but I only use them while on safari. When near home I just use the less expensive Pec Pads with Eclipse solution. Visible Dust has a nice non-flammable cleaning solution (forgot the name). Anyway, an all-in-one solution for me. Since I travel to Africa often, I leave behind tons of gear with my head guide. I leave behind bean bags, cleaning materials, 12V inverters, etc etc etc. I have about 4 bottles of Eclipse over there, as well, as past travelers have brought it over without thinking of the flammable nature of the solution. So they have left bottles behind just to be safe. :-) |
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