[borno]

Hin's right, I have one I got from a ritz and then I got a rocket blower BIG difference. It's been all I've needed so far. Hope you get fixed up soon, cloning is a drag

[jamesm007]

I've got some sensor dust on my K10D and after a bunch of blowing, it wouldn't go away, so I went and got a $70 Green Clean vacuum dust removal kit. I vacuumed it and ran both the wet and try swipes over it, took it out and took some sky shots and guess what--the sensor is worse than ever!

The battery I was using the camera ran out, so I pulled out my second battery, only to discover that it was dead, too. I've got one of the batteries recharging, so I can't try another cleaning again until that battery is charged.

I think I'm going to cry.

Can anybody help me?


Thanks!
Heather

I agree with others never use canned air. Also using a proven kit, and wet swabs should get the dust off, even if there was stubborn dust, there should be at the least 'less' dust, but you say its "worse than ever!", this makes me think somehow you got cross contamination. It could be your blower, it could be your touched something else with the CCD cleaning tools. Cleaning the CCD is not a hard job, and really should not be a scary job, but at this point get it done professionally and then start maintaining your new K200, and K10 when it comes back yourself so this does not occur again. I also would consider not using your Promaster blower on the inside of your cameras. Oh and another thought, make sure the environment your cleaning your camera is fairly dust free and does not have any air blowing, such as from cooling units, fans... Good luck and have fun with your new K200.

Heather, the Rocket Blower is one of the best because it sucks the air in from the back through a filter, some of the cheaper ones suck and blow from the front so they can actually put more dust into the camera.

You mentioned the humidity in Florida, is it possible you left the camera with the lens off for any period of time?

Maybe put a silica packet in the body with the cap on for a day or so and them try the blower to see if it is moisture keeping the dust on the sensor.

[Spongefingers]

Heather, the Rocket Blower is one of the best because it sucks the air in from the back through a filter, some of the cheaper ones suck and blow from the front so they can actually put more dust into the camera.

I use a Giottos medium rocket blower, and this works quite well with sensor and lens dust. It's far from perfect, though.
But what I have noticed recently is when I was blowing some dust off a lens, I noticed that the blower actually deposited a few specks of dust as well as blowing it away. I would guess the valve on the back end of it doesn't filter the air as effectively as one might suppose it does. I keep a bit of adhesive tape on the end of the nozzle when I'm not using it, so there's no issue of dust getting into it that way.
The gist of my post here is leave sensors well alone until the dust problem becomes unbearable!

Plus, does anyone actually believe that sensor-shake dust reduction really works? All I'm convinced is that it makes an unpleasant noise.

[Marc Sabatella]

Plus, does anyone actually believe that sensor-shake dust reduction really works?

It works at least sometimes - I have successfully removed dust that way on a couple of occasions. I've failed on a couple of other occasions. I generally run it several times in succession, a few seconds apart, camera pointed down.

[pentkon52]

FWIW, Nikon charges me $90 plus taxes to do a sensor clean.

Dave

[Old Timer 56]

I've got some sensor dust on my K10D and after a bunch of blowing, it wouldn't go away, so I went and got a $70 Green Clean vacuum dust removal kit. I vacuumed it and ran both the wet and try swipes over it, took it out and took some sky shots and guess what--the sensor is worse than ever!

The battery I was using the camera ran out, so I pulled out my second battery, only to discover that it was dead, too. I've got one of the batteries recharging, so I can't try another cleaning again until that battery is charged.

I think I'm going to cry.

Can anybody help me?

Thanks!
Heather

I have the Pentax O-ICK1 Sensor Cleaning Kit and have used it a couple of times on both of my K10D bodies. Works very well even with sticky dust, the kind a blower won't remove, and it's safe. I had to order mine from Japan but I think Adorama carries it now. I use it in conjunction with the Visible Dust Sensor Loupe which makes it easy to see the dust.

Also, you might consider getting an AC adaptor for your camera. I had to order mine directly from Pentax but I don't see it anymore on their crappy website. B&H seems to have it in stock (not cheap).

Professional cleaning sounds good in theory but I know from colleagues who have gone that route that the sensor rarely comes back perfectly clean. Sometimes the dust has simply moved around; sometimes the old dust is gone but has been replaced by new. Plus there is the expense as well as the period of time you are without the camera. I really think learning to do it yourself is better. It's maybe a little scary the first time (obviously it won't be the first time for you!!) but it's well worth the effort. Patience and good tools are a must, though. Good luck.

Richard

[heatherslightbox]

I worked on the camera again and it looks like most of the dust is gone!
The Visible Dust sensor loupe sounds like a good idea. It was rather frustrating trying to figure out where the dust when I couldn't even see it. That, along with the Green Clean system, will make a good DIY sensor cleaning set for future cleanings. If I don't get the sensor loupe myself before Christmas, I may put it on my wish list.

I'm thinking that what most likely happened was that the dust got stuck on in the process of changing lenses in the humid outdoors that charaterizes Florida in the summer--the humidity got into the body, along with the dust and when the sensor dries, the dust is stuck on.

With getting a second body soon, I'll be able to minimze lens changes, which will also help.

I'm considering getting a better blower, as well.

At any rate, thanks for all the help!
Heather

[chedoy]

Once you screw up your courage and use a PEC pad swab with eclipse fluid on a sensor, you find it's very easy and safe if done properly. Still, it's something I do only if the bulb blower doesn't work.

And don't ever listen to people who extol the use of low tack tape. It can leave a sticky residue that guarantees you need a wet clean.

Heather, with any blower, just make sure to give it a couple of puffs before it goes near the camera just in case some dust hasn't got into it. And keep it out of the sun, you know what that does to rubber.
At least it looks like you can hang on to get the K20. Hooray.

[hinman]

Heather,

I wrote up a blog post just to show you how I use my Giottos Rocket blower. You may not know, I do use my REI ultrapod II mini-tripod for the demonstration.

I need to use my mini-tripod to imitate as one of my hands. It is a great mini-tripod that I recommend highly as I find it sturdy for my K10D with an average zoom weight.

Blog post:

• Sensor Dust Cleaning with Giottos Rocket Blower -- Hin's Tech Corner

Rough Pictures:

Giottos Rocket Blower
REI Ultrapod II tripod


Tilted at an angle
Few puffs not facing the sensor beforehand

In real practice, I put on my battery grip to get extra room for my hand to grab the camera and tilt it at an angle and apply air blower from down below. Hope this helps you. And please remember not all blowers are alike. Perhaps for humidity, you can look for something that guards against humid air and camera safe to put close to your camera storage.

[hinman]

I have added a video from YouTube with a demo in showing how to use Giottos Rocket Blower on a Nikon D70 camera. I find it helpful. In the video, the author actually mounts the camera completely facing downwards. I think that can be more effective than my method in tilting at a 45 degree angle. I will suggest to tilt at a bigger angle but not to the point that you lose your grip on your camera. It is best done with a tripod but it may become impractical on the road.

Blog post updated:

• Sensor Dust Cleaning with Giottos Rocket Blower -- Hin's Tech Corner