Camera cleaning is an important job as photography. This is all about camera cleaning techniques that can be follow within your home premise.The dust/micro-organisms settle on the camera body, on the lens, and also on the bayonet mount/lens mount. So what’s the problem, you say? Well, the combination of dust and micro-organism on the lens front and especially on the lens rear mount is the cause of the dreaded fungus. Fungus (plural, fungi) is a living organism, which eventually eats the coating on the lens. Once the lens coating is damaged, you can expect lower image quality.
1. First on the road to camera cleanliness, is keeping the insides of your camera bag clean. Regularly vacuum clean it. Don’t depend on dusting the bag as it is not possible to clean the bag that way.
2. Using a blower bulb, blow off whatever dust you notice on the exterior surfaces of your camera.
3. Then use a soft brush and brush away any dust that may not have come off with the blower. Shake the brush and put it into a clean zip-lock plastic bag (to avoid atmospheric dust settling on the brush).
4. Next, take a clean, cotton ear-bud, and gently clean the viewfinder.
5. And don’t forget to clean the LCD too. A micro-fiber cloth should do the trick. Remember, the micro-fiber cloth can be machine-washed. So keep it as clean as your camera and the lens.
6. Now remove the lens and quickly place a body cap to prevent any dust getting into the camera body. Using a soft lens cleaning tissue, or clean micro-fiber cloth, carefully wipe the lens rear mount. This is probably the most important step in cleaning the camera. Let me repeat, dust and micro-organisms residing on the lens rear mount starts the growth of fungus, hence this area needs a good cleanup. Throw away the lens cleaning tissue if used. Now carefully clean the camera body mount surface with the micro-fiber cloth. Put the micro-fiber cloth into another zip-lock plastic bag for future use.
7. Now clean the lens. Be very
Note:
Lens cleaning tissues are specially created for the purpose. Don’t use any tissue paper not made solely for the purpose of cleaning the lens glass.
Cleaning the Sensor
We are not referring to the in-built sensor cleaning systems found on several cameras these days. There are numerous methods for cleaning digital camera sensors. It is possible that some methods or specialized equipment needed for this purpose, may not be included in this article. The methods described here are not ‘tried-and-tested’ by the author. The article is not a ‘how-to’ guide in cleaning camera sensors. It is designed to merely give you an idea of some of the available methods.
A Misconception
When you clean the sensor, you are actually cleaning a thin glass in front of the sensor (known as Low-pass Filter or Ant-aliasing Filter), and not the sensor itself. Even then, we shall use the term ‘cleaning the sensor’ as it is easier to say it that way!
Warning:
Sensor cleaning is not rocket science; neither is it a job for a careless person. If you do it right, that’s fine. If you do it wrong, that’s super-fine (which means you will have to pay a heavy fine in terms of replacing the sensor assembly). Note clearly that neither Smart Photography nor the author would be responsible if you damage the sensor while trying to clean it. If you have butter-fingers or if your eyesight is poor or if you have trembling hands, or you are just not made of the right stuff, you might be better off getting the job done professionally.
This is the easiest and the cheapest method to keep the sensor clean. The blower you use should not have a brush attached to it. Hold the camera body with the mount
acing the ground, and pump the blower from below a couple of times to blow away fine dust that may have settled on the sensor. Be very careful that the thin end of the rubber bulb does not touch the sensor. In fact, you should not place the bulb tip inside the camera body. If you do not have the camera facing downwards, the dust that you blow will resettle on the sensor.
Efficiency of cleaning:
This method will only blow away the dust that has not ‘glued’ itself to the sensor. When the air is humid, dust can attach itself rather strongly on the sensor surface and such dust particles may not come off easily with this method. It is suggested that cleaning the sensor with the blower should be done very regularly, to avoid/reduce the chances of letting the dust being glued to the sensor. Also note that it is possible for some dust to just be blown off one area to the next, especially if you do not hold the camera body as explained.
Danger?
None, as long as you don’t poke the bulb end on the sensor.
Using a Sensor Cleaning Brush:
These are anti-static brushes, which, when passed over the sensor, touching it gently, pick up the dust due to static electricity. Such brushes are made by couple of manufacturers, each claiming their product to be superior or safer. I haven’t tried all of them and the one that I use is made by a Canadian company called Visible Dust and the product name is ‘Arctic Butterfly’. Note that you cannot use an ordinary brush. Anti-static brushes too have qualities—ensure that you use the best and not second-best.
Efficiency of cleaning:
Dust that has ‘glued’ itself will not come out.Danger? Since you are using the same brush time and again, it is possible for the brush tip to be contaminated, which in turn could smear the contamination on the sensor.
Using Sensor Swab withCleaning Fluid:
Sensor swabs are made from specially created soft fiber-less material, and are available to match the size of different sensors (APS-C or Full-frame). Here too, the swabs as well as the cleaning fluids are made by different companies.
A company by the name of Photographic Solutions, Inc., makes the sensor swabs and the cleaning fluid (Eclipse), which is considered the best. Eclipse contains Methanol, which is flammable and cannot be shipped by air. Methanol is also illegal to possess in certain countries without a license. Sensors that have a Tin Oxide coating need Eclipse E2, as Eclipse (the non E2 version) can damage the tin-oxide coating. Eclipse E2 can also not be shipped by air. The advantage of Eclipse and Eclipse E2 is that they are quick drying and leave no smear on the sensor.
Efficiency of cleaning: Excellent, if done correctly.
Danger? Photographic Solution Inc., claim that Eclipse/Eclipse E2 is guaranteed not to damage the sensor if used correctly. The further claim that their product will clean the sensor 99.999 percent of the time.
Using Wet Swab and Dry Swap Sensor Cleaners:A company called Green Clean USA, supplies a system combining vacuum cleaning and wet cleaning. You can lift off the dust particles with the vacuum system (you need a light and a magnifying glass) and then work with the wet
and dry swabs which are designed exactly as per the size of the sensor. Efficiency of cleaning: Depends on your knowing where the dust is, so you can place the nozzle in the right place.SpeckGRABBER. This is designed to remove individual specks of dust without damaging the sensor.
Efficiency of cleaning: Works well as long as you don’t touch the tip of the grabber. If you do, chances are that you’ll see smudge marks on the sensor.
Lens Pen
After cleaning the sensor with a swab, a Lens Pen is sometimes used to lightly polish the low-pass filter. The Lens Pen is very handy and inexpensive.
Efficiency of cleaning: There is no good method of cleaning a Lens Pen. After some use, its efficiency drops.
Danger? A dirty Lens Pen can cause damage.
Canned Air
This form of sensor cleaning method could cause you a lot of mental pain. Compressed air is rarely contaminant free. Secondly, a strong blast from the air-can, can damage the sensor. Stay away from this method. (You may use canned air to clean the externals though).
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