How to Clean the Sensor of a Digital SLR Video

How to Clean the Sensor of a Digital SLR

Hi, I’m Chris Rutter, technique editor of Practical Photography, and today I’m gonna show you how to clean the sensor of your digital SLR. Even though many DSLR’s have sensor cleaning built in, that won't get every spot of dust. And you can still end up with dark marks in your images a bit like this. Anyway, just the idea of taking the lens off and cleaning inside your camera can seem pretty scary, but if you’re careful it’s no more dangerous than cleaning the front of your lens. Also there’s a protective filter in front of the sensor and that’s what you’re actually gonna clean, so you’ll never gonna touch the sensor itself. You do still need to take a bit of care when using any of the techniques I’m gonna show you, but take your time, follow the instruction carefully and you’ll be able to tackle this simple job without any problems. Right, the first thing to do is make sure you got a clean, well lit area to work in. There’s no point of taking the lens off the camera if there’s so much dust and debris in the air, and even more will get inside your camera. Now we’re not talking about laboratory clean room conditions here, just a clean tidy desk and a desk lamp so you can see what you’re doing. Next, you need the right kit. And again, it’s not rocket science, but you can't use just any old cleaning equipment you got lying around the bottom of your camera bag. There are loads of different product in the market, but I’m gonna show you two that we’ve found the most useful. Before you start any cleaning, make sure that you’re fully charge the battery in your camera. Because you don’t want the camera to turn off half way through and damage the shutter. You then need to set the camera to the sensor cleaning or mirror lock up mode. You can now remove the lens and is ready to start cleaning your camera. Simplest and less scary way is to use a blower or this Giotto’s Rocket Air, and this won't shoot every bit of dust, but it’s great for removing a few loose particles from the camera. And with the camera facing down, all you need to do, give it four or five good blast with the air blower. You can now turn the camera off and pop the lens back on, just to make sure there’s no dust get back into the camera. For more stubborn dust, a better option is the Arctic Butterfly from the company called Visible Dust. Now it’s better at removing dust and dirt than the air blower because you actually brush the surface of the filter in the camera. There’s a small static charge on the bristle help attracts dust and dirt on to the brush itself. Now before you start using the Arctic Butterfly, you need to charge the brush by spinning it around five seconds. You need to do this three times. Now, you simply brush the sensor from one side to another then repeat it in the opposite direction and then turn the camera off. Now, pop the cover back on the Arctic Butterfly and then pop the lens back on to stop any dust getting in to the camera. And that’s all there is to it. Just remember, only clean your camera when it really needs it. Well I hope that help you discover that cleaning your sensor isn’t as scary as you first thought. So thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video. And you can join me again soon for another Photo Answers video tip.

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Hi, I’m Chris Rutter, technique editor of Practical Photography, and today I’m gonna show you how to clean the sensor of your digital SLR. Even though many DSLR’s have sensor cleaning built in, that won't get every spot of dust. And you can still end up with dark marks in your images a bit like this. Anyway, just the idea of taking the lens off and cleaning inside your camera can seem pretty scary, but if you’re careful it’s no more dangerous than cleaning the front of your lens. Also there’s a protective filter in front of the sensor and that’s what you’re actually gonna clean, so you’ll never gonna touch the sensor itself. You do still need to take a bit of care when using any of the techniques I’m gonna show you, but take your time, follow the instruction carefully and you’ll be able to tackle this simple job without any problems. Right, the first thing to do is make sure you got a clean, well lit area to work in. There’s no point of taking the lens off the camera if there’s so much dust and debris in the air, and even more will get inside your camera. Now we’re not talking about laboratory clean room conditions here, just a clean tidy desk and a desk lamp so you can see what you’re doing. Next, you need the right kit. And again, it’s not rocket science, but you can't use just any old cleaning equipment you got lying around the bottom of your camera bag. There are loads of different product in the market, but I’m gonna show you two that we’ve found the most useful. Before you start any cleaning, make sure that you’re fully charge the battery in your camera. Because you don’t want the camera to turn off half way through and damage the shutter. You then need to set the camera to the sensor cleaning or mirror lock up mode. You can now remove the lens and is ready to start cleaning your camera. Simplest and less scary way is to use a blower or this Giotto’s Rocket Air, and this won't shoot every bit of dust, but it’s great for removing a few loose particles from the camera. And with the camera facing down, all you need to do, give it four or five good blast with the air blower. You can now turn the camera off and pop the lens back on, just to make sure there’s no dust get back into the camera. For more stubborn dust, a better option is the Arctic Butterfly from the company called Visible Dust. Now it’s better at removing dust and dirt than the air blower because you actually brush the surface of the filter in the camera. There’s a small static charge on the bristle help attracts dust and dirt on to the brush itself. Now before you start using the Arctic Butterfly, you need to charge the brush by spinning it around five seconds. You need to do this three times. Now, you simply brush the sensor from one side to another then repeat it in the opposite direction and then turn the camera off. Now, pop the cover back on the Arctic Butterfly and then pop the lens back on to stop any dust getting in to the camera. And that’s all there is to it. Just remember, only clean your camera when it really needs it. Well I hope that help you discover that cleaning your sensor isn’t as scary as you first thought. So thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video. And you can join me again soon for another Photo Answers video tip.

Transcription by: Scribe4you Transcription Services