Dirty Sensor - Time to Clean?

[THXGEEK]

I'm on the fence for cleaning my A1II sensor. I rarely shoot at F/22 so I'm inclined to wait...

What do you think?

• ILCE-1M2
• FE 28-70mm F2 GM
• 64.0 mm
• ƒ/22
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 2500

 

[Unframed Dave]

Yes, I would.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Try a blower by itself - it may shift the speck.

 

[Chris 3754]

I agree with Tony and would try a blower with the camera held pointing down. I haven't tried cleaning my a1ii sensor yet, but I did clean my a7iii and a7iv with a quality sensor-cleaning kit after my local camera shop showed me how. I never had a problem; the key is not to overclean or press too hard. The problem with a speck is that you don't know what the speck is, and if it's something that could harm/scratch the sensor itself.

 

[iamdlewis]

The problem with a speck is that you don't know what the speck is, and if it's something that could harm/scratch the sensor itself.

The image is a flip of what the sensor is so you should be able to find each speck

 

[THXGEEK]

Thanks, gents.

Yes, I've cleaned the sensor on my Z8 several times so I did try the blower first. No luck.

So I proceeded with a very gentle swab cleaning. To my surprise the A1II sensor seems to be mounted on a floating platform - it is not firmly stationed like my Z8. Hmmm, that's interesting....

The end result is that I've only moved the debris around and have apparently made it worse :

• ILCE-1M2
• 67.0 mm
• ƒ/22
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 500

...If there is one advantage of middle age, it is that you acquire the wisdom to know when to stop before you really ckuf it up. So I'll look at it tomorrow when I'm a little less pissed off.

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Dammit.

 

[Unframed Dave]

Using a blower is a start point after trying the camera's on board cleaning cycle. Best practice is to use a blower with a filter on the intake, otherwise you can introduce more artefacts to the sensor. I have found neither to be very effective if the artefact doesn't want to budge.

Another tool, before introducing a swab is a quickly rotating synthetic brush. This relies on static attraction not brushing.

Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly 724 (Super Bright) | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com

These are very expensive for what they are and in all honesty, they do not remove stubborn dirt. I bought one second-hand and have pretty well given up using it. It must be stressed that no part of it ever touches the sensor. A steady hand is required.

A swab is the final step and it is best to check something like a YouTube video out, if you've never done it before. I always do it with the camera turned on so that the sensor is locked. Contrary to a lot of advice I've seen, I have always used very sparing amounts of sensor cleaning fluid, just sufficient to wet the whole cleaning edge.

If that fails, I take it to the shop. I get one free clean a year, which is a nice touch from Wex.

Definitely not a task to undertake if you're feeling at odds with yourself or others.

I would absolutely not volunteer to do somebody else's camera.

 

[THXGEEK]

Thanks Dave.

Yup, I pretty much followed that progression of steps. As I said, I've cleaned the sensor on my Nikon Z8 several times without any drama and with very good results, so this was surprising.

I did not know about leaving the camera on to lock the sensor in place, this would explain the sensor 'float' I experienced. I'll wait until my job calms down later today and think about giving it another go. If I chicken out, then I'll let Sony do it (I'm a SPS member and I'm due for a cleaning anyway).

Appreciate the technical (and moral) support!