I recently found myself on board a cruise ship packed not only with Mac experts but also digital - television camera Guru as well . With so many of the promising brains in the patronage on board for theMacMania / Photoshop Fling cruise — and with nowhere but the Pacific Ocean for them to flee — I took the opportunity to confide my dirty little arcanum about my digital SLR camera : I had gunk on my sensor , and I did n’t have a clue how to safely remove it .
Should you be out of the know , it ’s like this : When you switch lens on your SLR , it ’s potential for the tv camera to pick up small speck of dust on the sensor — the light - sore atomic number 14 chip that samples incoming Light Within . Even without changing lenses , you’re able to collect dust when shooting in dry , cold environs . These bits of dust manifest themselves as tiny ( and sometimes , not - so - flyspeck ) spots on your pictures . I want those spots get without having to delete them out in Photoshop or iPhoto — but I also wanted to know the safest means to do it .
Boy , was I surprised by the contradictory — and , often aroused — response I drive .
Two views on sensor cleaning
Then there are theWhat , You ’ve Successfully shoot Apart an iPod ? Just Be Careful and you’re able to Do This Toofolks . This mathematical group understands that my Nikon D70 is going to earn its reasonable part of sensor dust , and taking it to the store meter and again will eventually become an immoderately expensive suggestion . ( hand your camera over for cleanup service can cost $ 30 to $ 40 , according to the estimates I ’ve gotten . And that can sum up up over time . ) With the right instrument and proficiency ( and a measure of tutelage ) , these people contend , I can do it myself .
Oh , and to be honest , there ’s my local camera guy who claimed he could put things veracious with the judicious consumption of a can of compressed tune and a couple of Q - Tips . voice from both of the aforesaid groups suggested I put as much length between myself and the tv camera guy as humanly potential .
The tools for the job
Because I trust the judgment of the Do It Yourself folks I spoke with ( and because I ’m a cheapskate ) , I opted to take a chance and scavenge the sensor myself . I consulted withMacworldcontributor and digital photo godBen Long , who suggested I visitVisibleDust — one of the leave suppliers of camera cleaning tools — for the items I ’d need .
What follows is a list of the instrument I bribe and the steps I followed to make clean a digital SLR . None of the instructions below are applicable to channelise - and - shoot cameras since those gadget are basically sealed , making it almost impossible for rubble to detect its way to the detector .
Econo 1.6x terminated cleanup kit
Not knowing what I ’d be up against , I choose for theEcono 1.6x Completecleaning kit . It ’s not cheap at $ 286.25 Canadian ( around $ 250 in U.S. dollars , depend on the exchange rate ) , but if it gives me fewer than a twelve cleanings , it ’s paid for itself in what a shop would charge me . The outfit admit specialized sensor cleaning brushes , sensing element blot remotion resolution , sensor light touch wash , a brush - cleaning gadget that rapidly whirl the brush and assist eliminate dust on the brush , limited sensor and chamber cleaning swob ( with solution ) , and a big - bulb blower for safely blowing dust off the sensor .
clean the tv camera ’s chamber
Nikon tell you precious little about the ways and mean of clean a D70 ’s sensing element so it was off to purchase Thom Hogan ’s $ 34.90Complete Guide to the Nikon D70 & D70s . I wo n’t give away the patch of Thom ’s PDF pathfinder other than to say that he provide more detail and recommendation on how to go about make clean the detector than does the Nikon manual that comes with your D70 leverage .
Let’s get clean
More - cautious experts will secern you that you must stop up your tv camera into an AC adapter when cleaning the sensor . This is serious advice as it ’s a Very sorry affair when you ’ve got the tip of a blower inside your tv camera and the mirror elasticity fill up because the camera ’s run out of power . Since I do n’t have an AC transcriber , I charged the tv camera ’s shelling fully and worked as speedily as safety would allow .
blast away detritus with a blower
Step 1 was to use the blower to blast the dust from the sensor . For this sorting of work you want a cetacean with a big bulb that can deliver a salutary blast . You do not , however , want a cetacean with a brush impound . The brush can pile up dust of its own and scratch the detector cover if it comes in contact with the detector .
flat air is not a good idea because it contains a propellent . If you accidentally reverse the can upside down , you ’ve just doused your sensor with that propellant ( not good ) .
After a few good blasts from the electric fan , I put the television camera back together , took it outside , and flick a exposure of a white-hot bit of paper . I lade the ensue range of a function into iPhoto and adjust the exposure and dividing line levels so I could see any specks . The large speck was gone , but a few smaller touch remained . Subsequent blasts with the cetacean did n’t slay them .
Sensor Brush 16 in utilization
I again reassembled the camera , hold the white shot , and examined the results . Most of the specks were now gone , but a distich remained . Going in one last time , I move over the sensor a couple of good blasts with the blower , which remove the remaining spots .
The verdict
I was unforced to risk my camera in what might have been a touch-and-go experimentation . As it turn out , both my camera and I got out blank . Only you may settle if you ’re unforced to balance the cost of a new television camera against the hope of speck - free images .
[ When not risking the health and condom of his dear D70 , Christopher Breen is a senior editor program for Macworld andPlaylist . ]
