Getting Camera cleaned??

[nikkistevej]

I need to get my camera cleaned- Canon Rebel XT- it has a dot on the lense- should I take it to Ritz to get it cleaned? Anybody have any experience with them- how long or pricing???

 

[annnewjerz]

If it has a speck of something on the outside of the lens itself, you should be able to clean it on your own. Just pick up a lens pen or microfiber cloth and rub it away.

If spots are showing up on all of your photos, but you don't see anything on the lens, try buying a rocket blaster. You can get them for around $15. Take off the lens, hold the camera facing down and blast some air into the camera. Because of changing lenses, the sensors in the camera will get dust on them every once in a while and usually it can be taken care of without having to do a "wet" cleaning (which you would probably get done at a camera shop).

 

[VVFF]

I need to get my camera cleaned- Canon Rebel XT- it has a dot on the lense- should I take it to Ritz to get it cleaned? Anybody have any experience with them- how long or pricing???

A dot on the lens? do you mean a dot on pictures? If its just a dot on the outside element of the lens just wipe it off. If its a dot showing up in pictures you can clean it easily yourself with a number of methods.

I've tried 4 different methods:

1. Dust blower - worked sometimes but also got dust up into the viewfinder assembly...don't use much anymore.
2. Sensorklear pen - Good at getting major pieces up but tends to leave some small bits of dust behind.
3. Sensorsweep - worked well, no complaints
4. Copperhill wet cleaning method - I own this but haven't had reason to use it yet. due to the methods described before working.

 

[nikkistevej]

I did mean a dot on the lense- sorry. Where do you buy these items?? If I use something that blows the air in their- will it cause the mirror sensor things to move or something? I don't want to mess it up?

 

[VVFF]

I did mean a dot on the lense- sorry. Where do you buy these items?? If I use something that blows the air in their- will it cause the mirror sensor things to move or something? I don't want to mess it up?

So is the spot on the front of the lens or on the back(the side that goes in the camera? Is it on the back side of the front element(where you can't just wipe it away)?

 

[nikkistevej]

So is the spot on the front of the lens or on the back(the side that goes in the camera? Is it on the back side of the front element(where you can't just wipe it away)?

It looks like when I take the lense off the camera- it's actually in the camera(not the lense) maybe the little mirror thing or above that- I really don't know which part it's on- one of those two. It won't hurt the imaging if I blow compressed air into it?

 

[AndrewWG]

Don't blow compressed air into a camera. Compressed air contains chemicals and other junk that can cause harm to your cameras inner working parts. The rocket blower that was referred to just blows regular air into the camera. It is just a rubber bulb that forces air in and dust bunnies out. If the spot is on the mirror, it should never make it into your photos as the mirror flips up and out of the way when the shutter is pressed. IF it is just on the mirror, I would think that you could just take a QTIP and gently rid yourself of it. If it is on the sensor (which is behind the miror) this would not be advised at all. The Qtip would then leave small amounts of cotton on the sensor and in the worst case scenario, pressing too hard on the sensor would damage it. If you are this unsure of the problem, I would look into local camera shops who can clean it for you. However, the costs can be quite high as I understand it. I have never had it done personally. I do mine myself.

 

[nikkistevej]

Thanks for everybody's help- I do think it may be on the sensor or something- so I'm going to take it to a shop and see what they can do. Right now- when I edit the pictures with the spot on them- I just edit the spot out- you can only see the spot when it is a white background. I just want to get it fixed.

 

[ukcatfan]

If it is that small that it is not noticeable on every shot, then I would suggest the Rocket Blower. It has solved about 90% of my dust problems in the past. It really should be something that every DSLR owner has in their kit. I would at least try it first. I believe you are looking at around $150 for a cleaning from a store. Unfortunately, dust management is not one of the things people consider when moving up to a DSLR.

 

[nikkistevej]

Where did you get the rocket blower?

 

[ukcatfan]

Where did you get the rocket blower?

Can't remember where, but I think it was either Adorama or B&H. Here is the manufacturer link. http://www.giottos.com/Rocket-air.htm

 

[nikkistevej]

Thanks all!!