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clean that sensor! how?

faneuil

Member
I dread cleaning my P45's sensor. But recent interior shoot at f/11 shows every minor dust fleck and streak.

Lets face it, the P1 cleaning kit just >sucks<. That two solution thing with wipes and a 'credit card' scraper. ALWAYS streaks no matter what I do.

What do you all use?
I am tempted to use sensor swabs and Eclipse solution (works great on my 5dmkII)

cheers.. and anybody want to sell me a RRS ball head? (random thought)

eric
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I find the Phase solution, spatula and wipes work great. But so dies Eclipse 2. You got two bottles of official Phase cleaner with your back. B is for regular cleaning and IME works like Eclipse -- meaning very well -- and a pass with B or Eclipse is usually all I need for even the most stubborn crud. Next, A is for really bad crud that won't come off with B, and is messy, requiring a scrub with B to get it off! The plastic spatula and special wipes work great too IME. The wipes do look like PecPad wipes, and solution 1 appears to be similar if not identical to Eclipse. Anyway, fold a wipe in half and wrap it over the spatula, wet with a few drops of solution B and wipe across the sensor. I repeat with a fresh wipe and only one wipe and find that seems to eliminate any streaks. (Note that the edge of the sensor cover glass metal clamp can snag wipe fibers -- plastic electronic tweezers can get those.) I follow up with a gentle pass from a BRAND NEW microfiber lenscloth, but this is not a supported step, so use at your own risk. I find that last micro-fiber pass removes any minor streaks solution A or Eclipse might leave.

If B doesn't get your blobs, then start with solution A. This is a blue, soapy kind of cleaner and will definitely leave streaks, but they will clean up when you repeat with solution B -- just make sure you don't let A dry, get it with B while it's still wet! I would use plain de-ionized (or distilled) water on a pad before solution B, reserving B for only crap that water, Eclipse or solution A won't get. I find that DI water removes a lot of crud Eclipse or regular alcohol-based cleaners won't, so keep a bottle around.

FWIW, I use DI water for getting salt spray off my lenses and exterior camera surfaces, then follow up with Eclipse to remove the water streaks from glass. Anyway, DI water is cheap and readily available in most grocery stores, and a great thing to have around for general cleaning of camera equipment.

Finally, I keep a handful of E-Wipes in my bag for emergencies. An E-Wipe is essentially a Pec pad pre-wetted with Eclipse and stored in a foil packet. These work great in a pinch. Note that they are so good, they pull the oils right out of your fingers and can transfer that to the surface you're cleaning leaving streaks, so I wash my hands first -- hand-sanitiser (mostly gelled alcohol) seems to work fine for that purpose.

A quick search revealed this on PhaseOne's site, complete with video: http://www.phaseone.com/en/search/article.aspx?articleid=2280&languageid=1


Cheers,
 

faneuil

Member
Ahh.. well I was too timid to 'wax off' with a dry microfiber at the end of the cleaning process. I might try eclipse instead, as it just doesn't streak. Seems people do use ewipes as well. I may pick up a pack.

thanks
Eric
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
I haven't had to clean my sensor very often---and that's the one nice thing about MFDBs in general versus a DSLR sensor. The Phase cleaning kit works well, except the pads aren't the best---they just don't seem to absorb that well and have a tendency to leave streaks on the sensor. This can be very unsettling when you are trying your best to clean an expensive MFDB! I believe it was Steve from Capture Integration that mentioned the Leaf pads are a good substitute to use with the Phase cleaning kit instead. I haven't tried out his recommendation, though it's on the "to-buy" list from CI.
 

KeithL

Well-known member
I've used E-Wipes on a number of occasions and they've done an excellent job on my Hasselblad sensor, removing 95% of dust and leaving no streaks. Having said that, I know of one photographer who didn't get on with them at all.

Anyway, each to their own, I won't hesitate to use them again in the future.
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
I've found that out of all the digital gear I've owned my P45+ has been the single most user friendly I've had. I haven't had to clean it all that much but when I have it's been simple. And this is from shooting with a technical camera outside in all types of weather where the sensor is at least partialy exposed everytime I change a lens. Best tip is to follow the tips outlined above at least untill you find your own workflow that works for you.

Don
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
I use the Phase kit only once or twice a year for a thorough spring cleaning.

I use the Arctic Butterfly every week or more often as needed. The vast majority of foreign matter I get is simply dust and the Butterfly is extremely effective.
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Lets face it, the P1 cleaning kit just >sucks<. That two solution thing with wipes and a 'credit card' scraper. ALWAYS streaks no matter what I do.

eric
That's what I thought ...

but my mistake was using solution A. Never again. It takes about 5 cleanings with solution B to get rid of the crud and streaks left by Solution A. If you have used A, you will have to clean it many times with B.

For me the plastic "scraper" works great. Stretch a cleaning cloth around it and hold it tight. Put a couple of drops on it, then hold at 45 degree angle, one swipe across, straightening it out as you get to the other side so it's at 90 degrees. Roll the cloth a fraction of an inch (very easy to do once you get the hang of it) and repeat. Do it a couple more times. As you gradually move the cloth, you get a fresh cleaning surface each time.

If you are getting streaks it isn't because of the solution B, it's because you don't have all of A off yet. Using eclipse won't help, its the same thing as solution B,

Finally want to know if it's clean? Get a strong and even LED flash light and hold it at an angle to the sensor. If you see any flecks, try a puff of air with a rocket blower. You don't have to take a picture to know if the sensor is clean.

(BTW, I don't take credit for any of this. Bill Atkinson demoed this at the Death Valley PODAS workshop, just when I was having the same problems as you've described ... gucked up with solution A and everything. Got home, and within a couple of minutes had a sparkling clean sensor.)
 

hcubell

Well-known member
That's what I thought ...

but my mistake was using solution A. Never again. It takes about 5 cleanings with solution B to get rid of the crud and streaks left by Solution A. If you have used A, you will have to clean it many times with B.

For me the plastic "scraper" works great. Stretch a cleaning cloth around it and hold it tight. Put a couple of drops on it, then hold at 45 degree angle, one swipe across, straightening it out as you get to the other side so it's at 90 degrees. Roll the cloth a fraction of an inch (very easy to do once you get the hang of it) and repeat. Do it a couple more times. As you gradually move the cloth, you get a fresh cleaning surface each time.

If you are getting streaks it isn't because of the solution B, it's because you don't have all of A off yet. Using eclipse won't help, its the same thing as solution B,

Finally want to know if it's clean? Get a strong and even LED flash light and hold it at an angle to the sensor. If you see any flecks, try a puff of air with a rocket blower. You don't have to take a picture to know if the sensor is clean.

(BTW, I don't take credit for any of this. Bill Atkinson demoed this at the Death Valley PODAS workshop, just when I was having the same problems as you've described ... gucked up with solution A and everything. Got home, and within a couple of minutes had a sparkling clean sensor.)
The wipes supplied by Phase have quite a bit of lint that tends to get caught at the edges of the sensor. It doesn't blow off either because one end of the pieces of lint seems to get caught under the edges. (I recall that the Sinar cleaning kit that Steve Hendrix supplied to me several years ago had pads that seemed lint free.) I am not sure how to release the lint without risking damage to the sensor.
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
The wipes supplied by Phase have quite a bit of lint that tends to get caught at the edges of the sensor. It doesn't blow off either because one end of the pieces of lint seems to get caught under the edges. (I recall that the Sinar cleaning kit that Steve Hendrix supplied to me several years ago had pads that seemed lint free.) I am not sure how to release the lint without risking damage to the sensor.
I've had trouble with fuzzies like this as well. Steve and Capture integration recommend and sell Leaf cleaning pads now, and after buying some agree they work better than those from Phase. they are the same pads as the Sinar, but about 1/3 the cost.
 

thomas

New member
Roll the cloth a fraction of an inch (very easy to do once you get the hang of it) and repeat. Do it a couple more times. As you gradually move the cloth, you get a fresh cleaning surface each time.
great tip - thanks for that!

I use the standard cleaning kit of Phase One. Apparently no trouble at all by now (not even with solution A).
I also use a small anti static brush (cinematography accessory) for small dust particles I can't blow away otherwise. I store it in a separate little box and use it exclusively for the sensor.
Finally I carry along "e-wipes" to have something at hand in the field. By now I've only used it once... and it worked very well.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I think the regular ones are fine. First off, the inner edge where the fuzz catches isn't really in the sensor imaging area, more like 1mm outside it, and the tips of the tweezers fit there. Second, it's unlikely plastic will mar the cover glass unless you really try. Finally, my concern with anything "soft" that isn't virgin-clean is that it can hold grit that can scratch glass. Which is also why I mentioned using a brand new microfiber lenscloth if needed...
 

Steve Hendrix

Well-known member
Indeed I do recommend the Leaf Cleaning Wipes. They are the same as the wipes that come with the Sinar Cleaning Kit, and are 1/3 the price, although that is for wipes only, while the Sinar Kit includes the 2 cleaning agents.

I just don't find the P1 wipes absorbent enough, and it is too easy, as many have found, to leave residue. And the fibers do catch on the edges, and sometimes it is a long fiber that still travels into the imaging area. And in any case, you still wind up having to remove them with some sort of tweezers. The less tweezering near a sensor, the better, in my book.

My standard solution is brush and cleaning kit. No canned air (obviously), but not even blower brushes. I don't like pushed air of any degree on a sensor. Brushes will get the job done 90% of the time, the cleaning kits the other 10% and for occasional maintenance.

Recommended brushes:
*Kinetronics Anti-Static SW-030 - $16 (budget)
*Arctic Butterfly - $120 (premium)

Recommended Cleaning Kits (in combination with each other):
*Leaf Cleaning Wipes - $30
*Phase One Cleaning Kit (but toss the wipes) - $30


Steve Hendrix
 

yaya

Active member
Do not be shy of using breath moist as this helps removing dust and dried condensation spots.

The recommended agent for the final touch is Isopropanol (Isopropyl-Alcohol) and it should have at least 95% alcohol in it, for fast drying without any greasy streaks.

Here's one example

And here is how to use the wipes:
 
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