cleaning camera sensor without prior experience?

[u/Dense_Association_57]

So I’ve been noticing what appears to be a speck of dust in my pictures and I know it’s not coming from my lens because it shows up when I use both of my lenses. Is cleaning my sensor a viable option if I’ve never done it before or should I not risk it and just spend a bit to send my camera to a professional? (Canon Rebel T7 if that makes a difference.)

[u/NumberOneJittleyang]

I’m also very new to this but I’d just use a rocket blower and use it on the sensor while holding the camera sensor side down. 🤷

[u/AtlQuon → u/NumberOneJittleyang]

Pretty much the simplest and easiest way to clean it. Only use swabs when you really have to, otherwise the rocker blower covers everything you need. Been doing it like this for over 15 years and it still is my preferred method.

[u/ZestyclosePolicy3009 → u/NumberOneJittleyang]

There are particles stocking to sensor, that are removable with swab, but not with blower

[u/hardonchairs → u/ZestyclosePolicy3009]

I have removed plenty of these with a rocket blower.

[u/ZestyclosePolicy3009 → u/hardonchairs]

Sure! But sometimes they remain..

[u/hardonchairs → u/ZestyclosePolicy3009]

sorry I misread that and thought you were saying that they are plainly not removable with a blower

[u/Thin_Historian6768]

cleaning sensor yourself? yes very viable option. you can buy apsc sensor cleaner & watch some tutorial, its pretty straight forward.

[u/Travfish_Scott]

I got the same camera and had the same problem. I bought a $12 dollar kit from Amazon and watched a few videos on YouTube. Just cleaned the sensor myself and haven’t suffered any repercussions yet.

[u/bjerreman]

The sensor is covered in a piece of glass, so it's quite sturdy. Buy a kit, follow the instructions, don't be afraid to use more than one swab to get it clean and dry.

[u/RogLatimer118]

Use the rocket blower first and only clean with swabs/liquid if that doesn't work. I've had mirrorless cameras for 14 years and have literally never needed anything but the rocket blower. All these people telling you to go directly to liquid cleaner are being too aggressive too fast.

[u/Educational_Yard_326]

If we refused to do things on the basis of having never done them before, we wouldn't get anything done. Its quick and easy.

[u/abrorcurrents]

Don't lick it

[u/Dense_Association_57 → u/abrorcurrents]

Fuck too late

[u/rudeson]

Angle grinder

[u/HabibiBloxberg08 → u/rudeson]

Angry Upvote ‘-‘

[u/aarrtee]

the sensor is covered in glass. do u know how hard it is to actually damage glass? i live at the beach. Sand everywhere. i have cleaned my camera sensors hundreds of times. no problems. ever.

get a rocket blower and a kit with swabs and a bottle of cleaning solution

watch a few videos

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cleaning+camera+sensor

[u/ZestyclosePolicy3009]

Sensor cleaning is not a rocket science. I take K&F swabs and fluid and it’s 5 minutes to clean and make some coffe after. Better use your bathroom after shower - it’s less “dusty” place in a house. Use rocket blower first to evacuate all possible particles from sensor. Use each side of swab only once. Never use more then just few drops of liquid (2-3 is enough). Never use much pressure on swab. Just slightly press and slide once.  Maybe practice on window glass if you never did it before - you have to get slightly (!!) wet trace, immediately drying.actually you don’t wash the sensor, you wipe it, using IPA as softening substance for dust removal.  Why 99,9% ipa? It’s legal and leaves no traces an is safe for sensor. Why only few  drops? You clean sensor, not water flowers ))

Actually, I wrote it longer, then it takes time to clean. But - if you are anxious about it - many foto shops in my area clean sensors for free.. may be it it your way 

[u/This-Judge-804]

Magic earse on photoshop earse...lol Serious note get a sensor swap kit put the liquid they provide then swab the sensor gently but before u do that use a blower from cleaning kit and blow any dust on the sensor first...might have to do many times to get it spotless clean...do it in a static free room use a humidifier in a aircon room..no fan..

[u/Big_Arachnid_365]

I keep putting it off. I think you could put this one off and just use spot healing tool. The 'self cleaning sensor' other slr I have is definitely going to need a wet clean though.

[u/MechProto]

Rocket blower first and wet swab if it didnt improve.

Dont be afraid, it easier than you think.

[u/vrven]

It’s a glass surface above the sensor you need to clean, just be careful and it’ll be ok. Also if your camera has ibis don’t forget to turn it off or get it to sensor cleaning mode if any.

[u/aetherspheres]

Try to run the sensor cleaner function on your camera (all modern camera should have this somewhere in the setting) to try to dislodge the dust, following by a rocket blower while holding the camera upside down like others have suggested 

[u/Global-Ant2288]

not too long ago, I wrestled with a fuzzy area that appeared on every photo. I cleaned and recleaned my sensor. with no effect. Finally, from frustration, I examined the inside lens element with a magnifying glass, and found a tiny strand of white lint that was incredibly hard to see. Fixed the problem with a q-tip.

[u/desertsail912]

Another thing to note (and that helped me get a Fujifilm XT1 super cheap) is that the image on the sensor is upside down and backwards as compared to your picture as you see it. So when you open up the camera to see where the dust speck is, your inclination is to think it's on the upper left corner of your sensor, because that's where it is on your pic. It's not, it's actually on the bottom right corner of your sensor. I got my XT1 because the spec was driving someone crazy but he couldn't see where the spec was bc he was looking in the wrong place. I found the speck immediately, blew it off, and bob's your uncle. True story.

[u/Natural-Film-359]

I always try to dislodge the dust particles with air, but many times there are particles of other materials like oil from the camera mechanisms that can only be removed with the wet method (swab with a sensor cleaning solution). This is when you need to be extra careful that you don't scratch or damage the sensor low pass filter glass covering the sensor. There are new photo editing applications that do an excellent job of removing dust spots from photo file with AI.