[Shakey]

Had camera K-3 for a couple years and never used dust removal. Was not a problem until I noticed a spot on photos last night. Followed procedures but just have dust moving from one area to the other on the sensor. How do you get it out of there?

[photoptimist]

1. Rocket blower (NOT canned air!)
2. Gel-stick (a stick with a cube of gummy polymer that can lift-off stubborn dust)
3. Wet cleaning kit (uses specially-formulated alcohol on a sheet of material wrapped on a sensor-width paddle)
4. "professional" cleaning (assuming to have a local camera store or technician than you trust).
5. New camera. (just kidding but if you need an excuse to spend money.... )

[jatrax]

After you have it clean turn on the dust removal option and leave it on. I believe you have the choice of run at startup or run at shutdown. Using it all the time keeps things clean of most contaminants.

[Shakey]

1. Rocket blower (NOT canned air!)
2. Gel-stick (a stick with a cube of gummy polymer that can lift-off stubborn dust)
3. Wet cleaning kit (uses specially-formulated alcohol on a sheet of material wrapped on a sensor-width paddle)
4. "professional" cleaning (assuming to have a local camera store or technician than you trust).
5. New camera. (just kidding but if you need an excuse to spend money.... )

Thanks...I didn't know such cleaners existed.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

The rocket blower helps, but when that does not work I've used the following kit to great effect:

amazon.com : APS-C Frame (CCD/CMOS) Digital Camera Sensor Cleaning Swab Type 2 Cleaning Kit (Box of 12 X 16mm Swab + 15ml Sensor Cleaner) : Camera & Photo?tag=pentaxforums-20&

Very easy to use and so far it's worked great.

[Shakey]

The rocket blower helps, but when that does not work I've used the following kit to great effect:

amazon.com : APS-C Frame (CCD/CMOS) Digital Camera Sensor Cleaning Swab Type 2 Cleaning Kit (Box of 12 X 16mm Swab + 15ml Sensor Cleaner) : Camera & Photo?tag=pentaxforums-20&

Very easy to use and so far it's worked great.

I ordered a blaster and the cleaning swab kit. Thanks for the info.

[BigMackCam]

I'm a little late to the thread, however... I agree with @photoptimist completely:

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 bulb blower - again, if you can point the camera down while doing this, it's better
3) If spots remain, use a Pentax O-ICK1 gel-stick (or similar) to lift off any debris, cleaning the gel on the sticky paper provided after each lift-off
4) Finally, if the above still hasn't got rid of everything, wet clean using good quality 17mm 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

Try one step at a time, testing after each one. Don't skip any steps, and stop as soon as there are no more spots. With this approach, you minimise any risk of scratching the colour filter array on top of the sensor, which most frequently happens when debris is pulled across it with swabs or other tools. By using the gel-stick before any wet clean, you'll remove any nasties in advance.

Hope this helps

[Shakey]

Ok, I bought everything you guys suggested for cleaning the sensor...I'll have it by the end of the week.
While I was trying to clean the sensor I stuck a fine brush (made for cameras) inside the body to pull some dirt off the mirror. And...then I gently blew into the body as well. So...everything works fine, still need to clean the sensor but I have been having it self clean every time it is turned on or off. Photos don't show dirt and camera works fine. However; when I look through the viewfinder I can see a tiny piece of bristle from the brush. It's not on the mirror or the sensor.....so where is it that I can see it but it's not affecting anything? And...how do I remove it . Dumb on my part.

[niceshot]

I bought a camera listed as ugly, I think someone try to clean it with a microfiber cloth. It left all kind of debris on the mirror on the prism on the sensor. Any way I vacuumed out most of it used cvs wipes for most of the cleaning of the mirror box . USED blower followed by the sticky wand, followed by q-tips and alcohol and then sticky wand and i never had to clean it again . if you use this method with the q-tips do it at your own risk. It works for me doesn't mean it will work for you .However you can scratch your sensor just as easily as a lens if you dont use common sense and blow the daylights out of it first.Good luck and if you leaver evaporation marks on it after wet cleaning it wait a little while and use the sticky wand to remove them.

[farhagh]

...
if you need an excuse to spend money.... )

In which case you also need to read those steps in the reverse order

[mee]

Anything that has contact with a surface in the mirrorbox is alarming to me.. thus I'd stick with rocket blower and dust removal feature of the camera. I'd only go for other options at last resort... otherwise you are potentially running into a situation of taking a tiny ketchup drop and rubbing it into a much larger stain (so to speak).

I especially would use a product that makes physical contact with the sensor only as the very last option.

Also, I wouldn't physically blow air (from my mouth) into the mirrorbox as you are potentially introducing little bits of saliva in there and onto the surfaces... use a rocket blower instead.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

A word of advise on the rocket blower: It's a handy thing to have, but make sure you only use it for your camera. I ruined my first rocket blower by using it to blow concrete dust out of a hole I had drilled in my garage floor. The next time I used it to clean my sensor, it made my sensor a filthy mess. The is despite the blower appearing clean, and despite pumping it numerous times to clear it out before using it on the camera.

I ordered a new rocket blower, but that did not clean most of the dust off the sensor, so that's when I ordered the swab cleaning kit which is what finally did the job. I now keep my old rocket blower in the garage and I have it labeled "garage" with black marker on the nozzle so that I don't get them confused.

[niceshot]

A word of advise on the rocket blower: It's a handy thing to have, but make sure you only use it for your camera. I ruined my first rocket blower by using it to blow concrete dust out of a hole I had drilled in my garage floor. The next time I used it to clean my sensor, it made my sensor a filthy mess. The is despite the blower appearing clean, and despite pumping it numerous times to clear it out before using it on the camera.

I ordered a new rocket blower, but that did not clean most of the dust off the sensor, so that's when I ordered the swab cleaning kit which is what finally did the job. I now keep my old rocket blower in the garage and I have it labeled "garage" with black marker on the nozzle so that I don't get them confused.

Ouch what a mess

[BigMackCam]

Ok, I bought everything you guys suggested for cleaning the sensor...I'll have it by the end of the week.
While I was trying to clean the sensor I stuck a fine brush (made for cameras) inside the body to pull some dirt off the mirror. And...then I gently blew into the body as well. So...everything works fine, still need to clean the sensor but I have been having it self clean every time it is turned on or off. Photos don't show dirt and camera works fine. However; when I look through the viewfinder I can see a tiny piece of bristle from the brush. It's not on the mirror or the sensor.....so where is it that I can see it but it's not affecting anything? And...how do I remove it . Dumb on my part.

Sorry to hear that. You made a great first step in asking for advice, but - with all due respect - your mistake was in not following it. Dust and dirt on the mirror is rarely visible through the viewfinder and can't show up on photos, so it's really nothing to worry about, and you risk causing more damage than simply making things dirtier than before. It's a very fragile component.

The piece of bristle you mention is either on the exposed side of the focusing screen, or has managed to get behind it. The focusing screen is the semi-transparent piece of plastic at the top of the mirror box. Point the nozzle of your rocket blower so that it is close to (but NOT touching) the focusing screen, and give it a few blasts. That may do the trick. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN AIR FROM THE ROCKET BLOWER - no brushes, gel sticks, swabs, cleaning fluid, canned air, using your breath etc. - otherwise you WILL make it much worse.

If the bristle has got behind the focus screen, you'll need to remove the screen and use the blower to clean the affected surface. But, if you're not absolutely confident in doing so, you'd be better off taking your camera to someone who will professionally clean it for you. It's very easy to damage the focusing screen if you don't handle it properly.

[niceshot]

Sorry to hear that. You made a great first step in asking for advice, but - with all due respect - your mistake was in not following it. Dust and dirt on the mirror is rarely visible through the viewfinder and can't show up on photos, so it's really nothing to worry about, and you risk causing more damage than simply making things dirtier than before. It's a very fragile component.

The piece of bristle you mention is either on the exposed side of the focusing screen, or has managed to get behind it. The focusing screen is the semi-transparent piece of plastic at the top of the mirror box. Point the nozzle of your rocket blower so that it is close to (but NOT touching) the focusing screen, and give it a few blasts. That may do the trick. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN AIR FROM THE ROCKET BLOWER - no brushes, gel sticks, swabs, cleaning fluid, canned air, using your breath etc. - otherwise you WILL make it much worse.

If the bristle has got behind the focus screen, you'll need to remove the screen and use the blower to clean the affected surface. But, if you're not absolutely confident in doing so, you'd be better off taking your camera to someone who will professionally clean it for you. It's very easy to damage the focusing screen if you don't handle it properly.

I know I shouldn't tell him this,cause he could make it worse. But he can try undoing the tab that hold the focus screen in place and let it drop down, and give it a few puffs in place and push it back up,. BUT I AGREE with you, he should leave well enough alone.