Cleaning the Canon 20D sensor
I finally decided to try to clean my 3 years old camera's sensor myself. Never cleaned it before and it shows:
First stop was http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com - as opposed to other websites which actually do nothing more than just trying to sell you whatever, these guys seem to know what they're talking about and cover lots of cleaning solutions - each with their own pros and cons.
One short trip to F64 (I was genuinely impressed by their new place and how helpful everybody was) and 30 mins later, I was armed and ready to go.
BOM:
1x Digital Survival Kit Type 2 (Swab + Eclipse) - 98RON/24EUR
1x Giottos Rocket Air Large Size - 34RON/8EUR
Grand total: 132RON/32EUR
There are lots of tutorials on youtube on how to use these two solutions. I chose these 2:
Photographic Solutions Sensor Swab + Eclipse Fluid
Giottos Rocket Air
Results & Observations (keep in mind that it's the first time I use these solutions)
I tried to follow the steps from cleaningdigitalcameras.com and my first step was blowing off the sensor. The results were pathetic:
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Steps 2 to 8:
Apply the 'wet method' - SWABS + Eclipse. I had to do it 7 times but it worked pretty well:
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| From Canon 20D sensor cleaning |
1st swab
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2nd swab
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| From Canon 20D sensor cleaning |
3rd swab & much later:
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7th swab: 3 small spots left and a big ugly one in the top right corner
Step 9: Blow off sensor again
Having used 7 SWABS, I felt like I was pushing my luck a bit too far. Besides, I was quite happy with the results - bar that one big scary spot in the top right.
I decided to give the Rocket Blower a 2nd chance. BIG MISTAKE! It did remove that one particular spot. It also added 10 extra small ones (I do not happen to have access to a military grade clean room with 1 million air exchanges per hour).
Conclusion - I'm happy with the sensor swabs. They work. However, they may end up (if you have to use a lot of them) costing as much as taking your camera for a professional sensor cleaning.
The F64 guy told me that the Canon repair shop charges 100RON/24EUR for the cleaning - I think that having them clean it is a much better deal provided I have the time to go there & wait(don't know how long it takes). Next time, I'll give them a try and avoid some unnecessary panic moments:
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(still can't explain it - they showed up in the test shot taken after cleaning the sensor with the 4th swab)
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