[TonyW]

Having seen more than a few dust bunnies on recent images I feel that I am overdue to clean the sensor and would appreciate opinions/ recommendations on kit requirements for gentle cleaning (dry?) and deeper cleaning which I guess would be one of the wet clean offerings.

It seems to me that the gel pen type such as the Pentax O-ICK1 Here or the Eyelead SCK-1S (not the SCK1 unsuitable for Sony sensors) Here would be suitable for the job of the gentle cleaning - not sure what the difference is between these products?

Then there are the static brush cleaners such as the pretty expensive Visible Dust Artic Butterfly Here and many clones

I do not mind spending the money IF one system far superior to another. What do you think of these and any other options?

For deeper wet cleaning again what options should I consider?

Finally sensor loupe illuminated any thoughts.

I know that this may be seen as massive overkill but just trying to be prepared for the worst

[BigMackCam]

Tony - I swap lenses frequently in the field, so I've had to clean my sensors on occasion too. My approach, which I've successfully used numerous times on my K-5, K-3 and K-3II, is as follows:

1) Start off with the camera's own dust removal function, running it a couple of times in succession with the lens off and the camera pointing down
2) Next, use a good quality bulb blower - again, if you can point the camera down while doing this, it's better. You need to get the nozzle of the blower reasonably close to the sensor, but be careful not to touch it
3) If spots remain, use the Pentax O-ICK1 gel-stick to lift off any debris, cleaning the gel on the sticky paper provided after each lift-off (the O-ICK1 is superb - works brilliantly)
4) Finally, if the above still hasn't got rid of everything, wet clean using good quality DSLR sensor swabs and "Eclipse" or other good quality, high purity cleaning fluid
5) In case the wet cleaning has left behind any fibres (it shouldn't, if good quality swabs were used), return to step 1

It's important to do the steps in this order to minimise the small but present risk of damage. After each step, check to see if the dust bunnies have gone from your images. When they have, stop.

Re DSLR sensor swabs, I have no specific recommendations, except to say that it's worth buying good quality branded types. Don't go for the super-cheap Chinese swabs on eBay... you have no idea whether they were manufactured in a clean environment, and the material may not be lint-free.

I use the same process above for my Hasselblad HV and Sony A7II, but with the Sony-safe Eyelead gel stick instead. No problems there, either.

I'm not a fan of the static brushes and Arctic Butterfly... they work to some degree, but I personally find them more trouble than they're worth. Perhaps someone with better technique than me would get more impressive results.

Hope this helps.

[photoptimist]

1. Rocket blower (not canned air).

2. Gel pen.

3. Wet swab cleaning.

Whether you need an illuminated loupe is up to you. If you take a photo at the smallest aperture possible of an out-of-focus blank wall/blue-sky/sheet of paper and look at that image for dust bunnies, you'll get a much better idea of where the spots are. Just remember that given the projection of rays through the lens plus flipping the camera around to clean the sensor that a spot on the upper-right of the displayed image is caused by a spot on the lower-right of the sensor if you are looking down the throat of the camera.

(Regrading Visible Dust Artic Butterfly: The idea of bringing anything involving static electricity near the sensor gives me the heebie-jeebies. Maybe it's safe and maybe it's a good way to fry the sensor or camera electronics.)

P.S. I see BigMackCam posted first with the same advice.

[Dericali]

Some advice that I've picked up (that is generic and not specific to the 645z):

Using a air blower can often be all the cleaning you need. Make sure you have a dedicated blower for this, e.g. a blower for sensor cleaning that is kept in its packaging so it's not got any dust on it, otherwise it can blow this dust into the case. Use a high quality blower and not a no-brand one from China. (I have a second 'dirty' blower I use for lenses and filters).

Hold the sensor facing down when the mirror is locked up to reduce dust coming in. Perform in a dust-free room. E.g. a tiled bathroom rather than a carpeted bedroom. Also, if you run hot water in the room beforehand and fill it with steam, free floating dust will be collected by the steam and will 'clean' out the floating dust. So I normally clean my sensor about 15 minutes after a long shower

[TonyW]

...
1) Start off with the camera's own dust removal function, running it a couple of times in succession with the lens off and the camera pointing down
2) Next, use a good quality bulb blower - again, if you can point the camera down while doing this, it's better. You need to get the nozzle of the blower reasonably close to the sensor, but be careful not to touch it
3) If spots remain, use the Pentax O-ICK1 gel-stick to lift off any debris, cleaning the gel on the sticky paper provided after each lift-off (the O-ICK1 is superb - works brilliantly)
4) Finally, if the above still hasn't got rid of everything, wet clean using good quality DSLR sensor swabs and "Eclipse" or other good quality, high purity cleaning fluid
5) In case the wet cleaning has left behind any fibres (it shouldn't, if good quality swabs were used), return to step 1

It's important to do the steps in this order to minimise the small but present risk of damage. After each step, check to see if the dust bunnies have gone from your images. When they have, stop.

Re DSLR sensor swabs, I have no specific recommendations, except to say that it's worth buying good quality branded types. Don't go for the super-cheap Chinese swabs on eBay... you have no idea whether they were manufactured in a clean environment, and the material may not be lint-free.

I use the same process above for my Hasselblad HV and Sony A7II, but with the Sony-safe Eyelead gel stick instead. No problems there, either.

I'm not a fan of the static brushes and Arctic Butterfly... they work to some degree, but I personally find them more trouble than they're worth. Perhaps someone with better technique than me would get more impressive results.

Hope this helps.

Yes it does help, thank you, and certainly is sound advice to do the minimum required to rid yourself of a problem that is going to return regardless at some point. Good point on the sensor swabs and I will not buy cheap knock off's at least knowingly!

The only static brushes I ever used were for cleaning negs prior to printing so at this time without any resounding cries of you must get one as they are the best thing since whatever.. I will give them a miss - a fact that my pocket may appreciate, except that I will spend the money saved on something else

The Pentax gel solution is my first port of call to keep until needed. While the Eyelead may be the same or very similar maybe prudent to go with the manufacturers rec.

Thank you

1. Rocket blower (not canned air).

2. Gel pen.

3. Wet swab cleaning.

Whether you need an illuminated loupe is up to you. If you take a photo at the smallest aperture possible of an out-of-focus blank wall/blue-sky/sheet of paper and look at that image for dust bunnies, you'll get a much better idea of where the spots are. Just remember that given the projection of rays through the lens plus flipping the camera around to clean the sensor that a spot on the upper-right of the displayed image is caused by a spot on the lower-right of the sensor if you are looking down the throat of the camera.

(Regrading Visible Dust Artic Butterfly: The idea of bringing anything involving static electricity near the sensor gives me the heebie-jeebies. Maybe it's safe and maybe it's a good way to fry the sensor or camera electronics.)

P.S. I see BigMackCam posted first with the same advice.

Still valuable advice made even stronger by two recommendations Canned air worries me for anything other than trivial equipment cleaning - the thought of the liquid propellant well...

Point well made, and taken onboard about static, electronics and sensor and knowing me the brush that spins like a whirling dervish when you press the button maybe a potential point of failure for me if attention wanders
Thanks

Some advice that I've picked up (that is generic and not specific to the 645z):

Using a air blower can often be all the cleaning you need. Make sure you have a dedicated blower for this, e.g. a blower for sensor cleaning that is kept in its packaging so it's not got any dust on it, otherwise it can blow this dust into the case. Use a high quality blower and not a no-brand one from China. (I have a second 'dirty' blower I use for lenses and filters).

Hold the sensor facing down when the mirror is locked up to reduce dust coming in. Perform in a dust-free room. E.g. a tiled bathroom rather than a carpeted bedroom. Also, if you run hot water in the room beforehand and fill it with steam, free floating dust will be collected by the steam and will 'clean' out the floating dust. So I normally clean my sensor about 15 minutes after a long shower

Thank you and yes I have a Rocket blower but intend to buy another just for this purpose.

[chrism888]

I use a " Visible Dust " unit, uses static to pick up any " bunnies " once cleaned, only have to do it once or twice a year as it doesn't seem to attract the " bunnies " quite so much, and yes, the camera is used, prob 10k actions PA with plenty of lens changes mainly in the field.

[TonyW]

Thank you Chris for your thoughts on this