THE THINGS I DO…

If you find that using a blower isn’t doing the trick, it’s time to resort to other methods to remove this dust from your camera’s sensor. When I’m forced to escalate my dust removal techniques, the next step is to pick up my high-tech sensor brush.

The brush I use is made by the Canadian company Visible Dust. It’s called the Arctic Butterfly 724 and works by spinning to generate an anti-static charge across the specially-designed brush that, when slowly pulled across the sensor, picks up the particles and removes them. It has a built-in motor to spin the brush fast enough to charge its “Super Charged Fibers” for effective dust removal. You then immediately brush the sensor (and only the sensor!) and the charged brush attracts the dust to it and lifts it away from the sensor. Easy, right?

  I’ve found this pricey brush to be the answer to 95% of my dust removal needs. My dust removal workflow with the Arctic Butterfly goes like this: activate sensor cleaning function on camera, spin brush for 3 seconds, drag brush (using a light touch) across sensor in one direction only. Repeat as necessary until you’ve brushed the entire sensor. Turn off the sensor cleaning function, remount your lens and return to shooting mode. 

After brush cleaning, shoot another series of test exposures to make sure your sensor is clean. It you’ve still got spots or, even worse, smears, you’re going to have to either send your camera to the factory for more thorough “wet” cleaning or invest more money in a wet cleaning kit to do the job. 

I won’t go into the wet cleaning process here. Instead, I’ll provide an excellent link to a website that covers the subject very thoroughly. This website covers the various wet cleaning techniques and provides a supply list to get you started. Like I said earlier, the combination of the blower and the Arctic Butterfly brush take care of almost all my dust removal needs. The key to successfully using the blower and the brush is to use a light touch. Don’t blast the sensor with the blower or scrub with the brush. A gentle touch is the way to go. I hope my techniques have helped put you on the right path.  Sensor dust removal is an onerous task, but one that everyone will have to do, eventually. Good luck.

Okay, now that you’ve identified where the dust is on your DSLR sensor, it’s time to remove it. Before we get started, it’s important that you check your instruction manual to see how to prepare your camera for sensor cleaning. This will most likely be found amongst the menu settings. What this setting does is swing the mirror out of the way and open the shutter to allow access to the sensor. Be sure to have fresh batteries in your camera! You don’t want to lose power in the middle of things and have the shutter close when you’re working…that would be bad.

Before I get too far along, I want to emphasize that there are many different ways to clean a sensor and the examples given are solutions that work for ME. Understand that the goal here is to remove the dust with as little physical contact to the sensor as possible. I start with touch-less methods, then move to dry brushing and, as a last resort, to wet cleaning. Wet cleaning is something I don’t do unless I absolutely have to.

Okay, let’s begin with finding a place to work. I look for a dust-free area that’s fairly well lit. Since most homes are carpeted, I escape to the garage or a room without carpeting. Less fibers in the room, less fibers in the air. I also try not to have the room too dry. Dry air causes static and static attracts dust. My garage is fairly humid and definitely isn’t carpeted!

I clear off a space on my workbench, give it a quick wipe with a damp cloth (to further keep the dust at bay) and position the camera under a desk lamp. Shine the light through a sheet of white paper to create a larger, more diffused, light source to reflect across your sensor (I simply tape the sheet across the front of the lamp, being careful not to touch the bulb for safety’s sake. 

Next, I hold the camera (with lens still attached), turn away from the work area and give it a blast or two from my blower to remove any surface dust that might find its way onto the sensor once the lens is removed. Turn back to your work area, remove the lens and activate the “clean sensor” option.

Angle the sensor so that the light reflects across the sensor, causing a nice, white reflection of the lamp onto the sensor. If you’ve done everything right, the dust should show up clearly against the light coming from the lamp. I use an Optivisor magnifier to better see what I’m doing, but a loupe or other hand-held magnifier will work fine also. 

With the camera held firmly, blow across the sensor with your hand-held blower to blast the particles up and off the sensor. Be careful not to touch the sensor with the tip of your blower. There are many blowers on the market but I like the Giottos Air Rocket best. Keep in mind that you are using the blower to blow on the sensor, not the entire area surrounding it. Your goal is to blow the bits off the sensor, not stir up all the bits and pieces that may be surrounding it. I use a series of targeted puffs to get the job done. You’re removing dust, not sandblasting. 

The Giottos Air Rocket

Check the sensor again with your magnifier to see if the dust is still there. If so, repeat until you don’t see any dust. The chances are good that you were successful. At the very least, you’ve eliminated most of the sensor dust. 

While I don’t carry my blower with me on assignment, I do carry it in a second bag with my laptop and other items used when away from my office. For quick cleaning, the blower is definitely the best way to go. 

Put the lens back on your camera and repeat my test from part one. If you still have dust, we escalate the process and move on to cleaning with an anti-static brush. That’s what I’ll cover next.

Planning to be out and about for a day of shooting? Unless you’re doing this in the Sahara, plan for rain. Nothing ruins a day quicker than a sudden downpour. Rain and digital cameras don’t mix. Where film cameras could shrug off a shower with little, if any, negative consequences, the electronics in today’s digital cameras will short out when exposed to moisture. 

So, to preserve your investment, keep your camera DRY!

There are a lot of protective rain covers on the market that cost hundreds of dollars. My solution is a bit cheaper. I use a plastic trash bag! 

Don’t get me wrong, those expensive camera rain coats are worth the money when you have to shoot an event in bad weather. What I’m talking about here is bringing along a kitchen trash bag to throw over your gear if you’re caught outdoors and exposed to the elements. 

It’s cheap insurance that takes up little space in your bag and weighs, well, nothing. I squeeze my “emergency” cover in a pocket on the inside of my backpack. The trash bag is so inconspicuous that I forget I’m carrying it… unless it starts to rain!

Here’s two things I do to lower the chances of getting dust  on my sensor chip when changing lenses. First, do it quickly to minimize the time the camera body is exposed to the open air without a lens. In preparation, I try to have the end cap removed from the lens I’m changing to before I remove the lens from the camera. That way, I’m not fumbling around and exposing the chip to dust longer than necessary. Second, and more important, I also turn the camera body so the lens points straight down. I keep the camera body oriented this way as I change lenses. Doing this prevents gravity from helping dust particles fall into the opening.

Using this two-step method has kept my sensors relatively free of airborne dust particles during the many, many lens changes I’ve made since switching to digital. Of course, if your surroundings are very dusty (like when covering rodeos, motocross races, etc.) it’s a good idea to keep lens changes to a minimum or to make the swaps in a more dust-free environment. To recap: point the camera down, change lenses quickly.