When you get spots on your still images it can be frustrating and time consuming to edit them out – but it is even more difficult in video! Almost impossible for the beginner.

So the key is to keep your sensor clean in the first place!

  • A good tutorial on dust inside the camera – detecting dust on the sensor and the viewfinder – they are different! This post discusses a ‘wet’ method where you use a liquid sensor cleaner. There are a variety of different methods
  • Of course there are other solutions as well – I use the LensPen myself (see below for more info)
The good news for me is that there is a glass filter in front of your sensor… so when you dive in and start cleaning, you’re not actually touching the sensor – but it can still be costly to replace the filter if you scratch it – so be careful!

Here’s the sensor for a Canon EOS-1D MKIV:

Filters in front of sensors - from imaging-resource.com (click to read story)

Filters in front of sensors – from imaging-resource.com (click to read story)

Much more info

I prefer to use the lenspen for not only my lenses but my sensor.

Lenspen SensorKlear II with Articulated Tip

The Lenspen SensorKlear II with Articulated Tip is made to be used with the Sensorklear Loup. It is designed to reach those hard-to-get-at spots on your CCD sensor and remove bits of dirt and dust that can contaminate your camera.

  • Designed with no sprays, no liquids, no chemicals and will not leave a residue
  • Minimizes any kind of static build-up

Buy @ B&H   Buy @ amazon

What’s your experience?

What do you do to clean your sensor? Do you send it to your local camera store for cleaning?

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planetMitch

chief astronomer at planet5D LLC
Mitch "planetMitch" Aunger is the creator and mastermind behind planet5D.com — which covers every aspect of HDSLR cameras (and a whole lot of other cameras as well). A lover of photography since his early days, he graduated to selling stock photos to make a little bit of spare cash. It wasn’t much, but it allowed him to upgrade to better cameras as well as computers, and it wasn’t taking money away from feeding his family.
He loves the stories that the still image can tell. In the summer of 2008, he read a story written by Arnold Kim called “I Quit My Job” — Arn is the owner of macrumors.com. He started macrumors in 2000 as a hobby, and by 2008 he was making more money with the site than he was on his day job, so he quit. The surprise to the story is that he was a doctor making more than six figures! Right then and there, planetMitch dreamed about doing the same thing.
September 2008 rolled around, and Canon announced this new version of the incredible 5D — the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. It was the first Canon DSLR to shoot full HD video and the earth moved! (It really was a huge deal in the photography world.) planetMitch knew if there was ever a chance to ride a wave of something he was really passionate about, this was it — and the blog at planet5D.com was born. It is now one of the most popular HDSLR blogs on the planet, and he is making a full-time living from blogging. He couldn’t be happier!
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