[joe1955]

Another tip for keeping your lenses/camera sensor clean.

When going from a cold area to a hot area, lenses may condense moisture. This may leave condensation on the lenses/sensor.

For instance if you have an opportunity to go through a cave and take pictures, you might find when you leave, moisture will collect on your lenses and glasses. If left their it can collect dust and lead small dirty spots on the glass outside and inside the lens..

Moisture spots that develop inside the lenses are very difficult to clean, and should only be cleaned by someone who specializes in cleaning the inside of lenses, preferably the factory who made it.

To help combat this, I recommend keeping several Ziploc bags in your camera case. Put your lenses and anything electronic in Ziploc bags, before going from cold areas to warm areas . This will prevent moisture from condensing on the glass or sensor. Also when going into a cave only remove what you're going to use, leave the rest in the plastic bags. Before you leave the cave put your camera in a large plastic bag preferably with some silicon gel packs. As a rule Caves are very humid.



Also, When I'm out taking pictures, I use a hurricane blower.
When I am at home I like a little bit more control and volume, so I can really get into the nooks and crannies. I took and bought a garden sprayer ( do not use one that has ever been used, it must be clean and dry inside ) and a cheap airbrush paint gun. I remove the standards spray wand and connected the air brushed hose to it.
Now with just a few pumps, I have a steady stream of clean air for several seconds. This allows me to be more precise of where I'm going to blow, and in what direction.
I also recommend a good air filtration system in the room where you work.

PS " Never used canned air inside your camera, " this could damage your mirror or sensor.

And I cannot recommend using a Q-tip to clean a sensor, they are not lent free. You may get the speck of dust or hair off the sensor but you may leave a piece of the Q-tip behind.
Only use swabs that are designed for camera sensors. If you can find one specifically made for that camera sensor use it.



joe1955

[pentaxbling]

If the blower method fails you then i would get some eclipse, a package of pec pads, and make yourself a cleaning tool (wand) out of a popsicle stick, you can find them at craft stores.... put a few drops on the pecpad wrapped around the stick and rub back and fourth over the sensor a few times.... ive cleaned many sensors.... your not going to hurt it... trust me... unless you stab it with the stick your going to be ok lol... make sure you dont have the pad dripping wet, damp is good... dont touch it with your hands... clean it once... let it dry(a matter of seconds)... then clean it again. use enough pressure to get the gunk off... a lot of people say to barely touch the sensor... dont pussyfoot, its not going to hurt it... then again, dont bear down so hard that your bending the stick lol... some people are going to warn you to avoid cleaning yourself but i can tell you its no big deal... ive done many cleaning with good results... you can go round and round in circles with ideas of what to do to get your sensor clean... you can spend a lot of money too. in the end a wet cleaning is the only thing thats going to get your sensor 99.9% clean. ive found the best way to check your results is to take a picture of your screen with a white blank pallet as your backdrop, set your camera to the smallest aperture, focus to infinity with the lens a few inches away from the screen... open the image in photoshop and equalize the image... this will truly show you where the dirt is....

[little laker]

The Speckgrabber is less tan $20.00, and works for most dust that blowing won't get rid of
Kinetronics Corporation - Anti-Static Film Cleaning Brushes And Devices

[Peter Zack]

To add to all the good advice you have I would suggest the following
1) don't use a Q tip or similar, the cotton or other material will come off and make the job even harder, they are not lint free.
2) I bought a brand new lens cleaning brush to only be used for sensor cleanings. If there is persistent dust after a blower cleaning. I give the sensor a gentle swipe and back to the blower. Never use canned air, Period!! This blower and brush go in ziplock bags to keep them clean.
3) when in the field, especially when it's pollen season or windy, carry a clean plastic bag to do a lens change. It can help dust etc from blowing into the open body. I just keep one in my back pocket for this. Aways have a body cap handy should you need to cover the camera for some reason.
4) always have the lens to be added at the ready when changing. So have the rear lens cap loose and know where the red dot is. Take the lens off and set it aside. Then quickly put the new lens on. Don't fumble through the camera bag with the body open. The 'old' lens will be left exposed but after the change you can put the cap back on and stow it. I'd keep a separate blower brush in the bag to quickly clean the rear of the old lens before putting it away.

Doing this and some of the tips from the others above, after more than 10,000 images, I haven't had to get a pro cleaning, use a wet method or have to rarely clone out dust.

[Kentax]

I couldn't leave well enough alone.. Saw a few dust specks in the viewfinder so i proceeded to use my bulb blower on the focusing screen and mirror which didn't do a damn thing. So i decided to use a lens cloth to clean the focusing screen and ended up with 6x as many dust specks now. >_< I somehow managed to get dust underneath the focusing screen.. I hate dust.