Sensor Cleaning

View large for the full horror.

 

I decided to clean my sensor last night.

 

I'd gotten a bit tired of cloning out the same dust spots from my photos taken over the last few months.

I use the Arctic Butterfly from Visible Dust to clean, I'd only used it once before but I was very impressed with it.

 

So, I took the lens off and set the camera to Sensor Cleaning mode.

After the first clean most of the dust had gone, but a few small smears had appeared.

I decided I'd better clean it again as smears would be a lot harder to clone out than the odd spot.

 

I did it again, put the lens back on, took a test shot and nearly died - I'd somehow managed to seriously gunge up my sensor.

I cleaned it about 3 times more and it still wouldn't go away.

 

I then decided to do some googling around to see what online advice I could find.

 

Micheal Reichmann's site is actually the number one hit for "Arctic Butterfly" on Google, and it contains this gem:

"7: If there is a stubborn particle, note where in the frame it is, and then with the shutter open in cleaning mode, shine a flashlight into the mirror housing at an oblique angle. You should be able to see it. Just remember that the location will be upside down from where you saw it on the monitor.

 

8: Try using the Butterfly again, this time concentrating on the spot. If this doesn't work, you'll need more sophisticated cleaning tools, such as the swabs and fluids available from VisibleDust."

 

Following the advice I brushed the sensor back and forth on the problem spots, which were easily visible.

I then re-attached the lens, took the test shot and hey presto, clean!

 

Not sure what I did wrong to get all that gunk on there, I just hope I can go another 6 months or so without having to clean it again.

Done