DSLR Sensor Cleaning Made Easy

2009-07-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

In my last post I put the Lenspen through its paces and I was pleasantly surprised by how well the product preformed. Well let me tell you I am even more impressed with the SensorKlear II sensor cleaning system. I hesitate to be too complementary to any product for fear that the review might loose credibility by sounding like a product promotion but I hope that you will bear with me.

As a digital shooter for more than five years one problem continues to give me grief. It’s those pesky spots on my images caused by dust on the camera’s sensor. They’re most noticeable in light colored areas of the image. How they get there still baffles me. I try to take all the precautions I can to prevent them. I change lens in clean environments, always point the camera body lens mount down when mounting the lens, keep my lens capped with rear lens caps and stored in clean cases, and always blow off the rear lens mount with a blower before mounting a different lens. But inevitability they still gets there. This means lost time retouching the same spot on every image, what a drag.

A Google search for digital sensor cleaning will unearth an assortment of techniques and gadgets claiming to safely and easily remove dust from the sensor. There are swabs, both liquid and dry, blowers and brushes from the after market manufacturers and vibrating sensors from the camera makers. In most cases I have been successful at removing these specks with a blower. Yet sometimes no matter how much I blow there are particles that just won’t budge.

During Ryan Keating’s demo of the LensPen, at a recent ATX meeting, we were shown a cleaning tool for the sensor called the SensorKlear II. I was lucky enough to win one as a raffle prize but I was not all that excited about putting any device inside my $5000 Nikon D3. I’ve been cautious about putting any cleaning device into my camera body fearing damaging the sensor, but the necessity of getting rid of a couple of specks that would not blow off left me with two alternatives. Either I send the camera in for a professional cleaning or I tried to do it myself. As a portrait photographer the problem with a professional cleaning is the down time. It means taking my main camera out of services for several days, not a good option. During Ryan’s presentation he had mentioned that many camera repair services use the SensorKlear II so with some reluctance I decided to take on the job myself.

Following the Nikon instructions for cleaning the sensor I found the two bits of crud that were stuck to the sensor and easily dislodge then with the SensorKlear. Then a good blowing out got all the partials out of the body and I was back in business, ready to go in actually less than a minute. Wow if I had only know it was going to be that simple and safe I would have done it way earlier and saved myself hours of retouching. Once again my hat is off to the Lenspen crew for producing a great product. Like its big brother the Lenspen the SensorKlear II is light weight and safe to use on my prized cameras. I am now carrying not only a Lenspen but a SenosrKlear in my camera bag with me. I am looking forward to attaining one of their SensorKlear Loupes soon to give it a try. I let you know what I think of it when I get my hands on it.

George DeLoache Photography

“Don’t leave home without it!” - LensPen an indispensable tool for pro and amateur alike.

2009-07-07T01:31:00.000-07:00

I would like to take a moment to review, what I think is a photo accessory that is an absolute essential addition to the camera bag of pro and amateur photographers alike. I have been heavily involved in photography for well over thirty years and in that time I have seen just about every type of lens cleaning device, fluid, cloth or paper. In the early days I would see the press photographers using there ties to clean their lens. I have seen handkerchiefs, Kleenexes, and even toilet paper used to clean the smudges that inevitably end up on the lens and all of them ruin the lens coating and ultimately degrade the quality of very expensive lenses. I have used lens fluids, lens paper and fancy cloths that are touted to be able to magically remove the smutch from your lens without damaging the coating but alias nothing works.

I recently had the opportunity to view a presentation by Ryan Keating and Peter Meurrens of LensPen at the monthly Adobe Technical Exchange meeting hosted by Rick Redfern and Lynette Kent. Rick and Lynette always have interesting presenters and Ryan did not disappoint. I began by being my normal skeptical self but after the presentation I became excited about trying the LensPen and the SensorKlear. I picked up both of them and began my own tests.

Now let me assure you I am exceptionally careful with my Nikon lenses. I have invested many thousands of dollars in professional glass and under no circumstances do I want to permanently damage them by carelessly rubbing the lens surface with anything that could damage the coating. Ryan’s instructions were thorough and very specific. First dust and grit should be removed by using a blower and the brush that is conceals and protected safely in the end of the Lenspen. Once removing the grit and dust simply stroke the lens surface with the tip of the LensPen cleaner. As a result of extensive research and testing LensPen developed a cleaning head impregnated with a carbon compound that absorbs the oil from finger prints and leaves the surface of both your lens and filters clean and clear of any image degrading film.

I also used the LensPen for cleaning the viewfinder eyepiece. I can’t tell you how bothersome it is to get the oils from my eye on the viewfinder glass. These smudges make viewing through it a pain. I have tried everything and nothing works as well as the LensPen. I know that they designed it to be used on lens but the flat version for filter cleaning makes clean the viewfinder eyepiece simple and I always have a clean view. What a relief to have a tool that lets me do my best at creating images and not have to struggle seeing through the viewfinder or spent the time in retouching trying to correct the effects of dirty lenses.

In My next post I will review the SensorKlear, designed to clean that most dread digital sensor.

George DeLoache Photography

The Image Maker

DSLR Sensor Cleaning Made Easy

“Don’t leave home without it!” - LensPen an indispensable tool for pro and amateur alike.