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bearbo

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
so provided that dust of various amount is inevitable in digital slr while changing lenses and other tasks, what is a good way to clean it?

canon XTi has the integrated cleaning system, what does nikon offer? would camera stores clean it for you?

how easy is it for dust to get in there anyway, or is this just over the top overrated?
 

extraextra

macrumors 68000
Jun 29, 2006
1,758
0
California
You're really not going to notice dust unless you stop down to f/11 or smaller. I only notice dust when stopping down to f/16 or smaller, and even then it's small. And I change lenses all the time, and I've never cleaned it. I tend to shoot at f/1.4-f/2.8 so dust isn't a problem for me.

A Giotto Rocket blower will get the job done, most of the time. If not, there's some Copperhill thing (uh hopefully someone has more info on this, I don't know much) that will clean it too. I think it involves brushes and liquid so I'm afraid to try it. That's just me though, the Copperhill way works really well.

Maybe a camera store would clean it, they'd charge you though. I think Canon does it if you send the camera in for something, they might do it as a service too. Btw, I hear from the folks over at DPreview.com that the intergrated cleaner in the 400D doesn't work all that well.

Dust is inevitable. Using zoom lenses will suck air into the camera and cause dust to go inside, changing lenses will, etc. The camera comes with dust in the sensor right out of the box, usually. It's annoying, but I feel that it's an overblown issue with people going crazy. "How come my brand new camera has dust! OMG, I've stopped down to f/22 and I see specks, this camera is defective!"
 

drlunanerd

macrumors 68000
Feb 14, 2004
1,698
178
extraextra said:
The camera comes with dust in the sensor right out of the box, usually. It's annoying, but I feel that it's an overblown issue with people going crazy. "How come my brand new camera has dust! OMG, I've stopped down to f/22 and I see specks, this camera is defective!"

Heh heh, sounds like someone I know ;)

(me)

Yeah, it can be annoying and IMO zoom lenses are the biggest culprits. Lock the mirror up and give the sensor a few blasts of air every now and then and it's not a big deal.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
extraextra said:
Btw, I hear from the folks over at DPreview.com that the intergrated cleaner in the 400D doesn't work all that well.

can you post a link? i couldn't find in that in the review page for 400D
 

tech4all

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2004
3,399
489
NorCal
bearbo said:
can you post a link? i couldn't find in that in the review page for 400D

I don't think it's in the review; all they do is describe how the sensor cleaner works and they have that short video for it.

Here is a thread from DPreview. And here is post discussing that topic in this thread.

Somebody said that perhaps Canon is 'testing' this system out on an entry-level dSLR first before they put in a pro or semi-pro camera.
 

peas

macrumors member
Aug 13, 2006
99
0
it will happen so no need to ship it back to cps.

3 things you need

pec pads
eclipse fluid
spatula thingy
and 4..lots of light

it's wicked simple. i actually just finished doing my bodies after shooting them on a white umbrella to test them.

one thing they dont go into detail about is taping off the pad. give yourself about a 3/8 inch and then start taping. that, or you're going to get snags while inside the body and the lint will start pulling out.
 

Teddy's

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2006
441
12
Toronto
I use a cleaner called "Green Clean" It is like a vaccum cleaner. It sucks the dust from the sensor. I also use some of those SpeckGrabbers for difficult particles. Don't use cloths or pads.

You will need a lot of light to clean your camera's sensor. Be extremely careful.
 
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