Dirt on sensor - help!

Damn. My sensor has become extremely dirty and the whole cloning process on high f-stops is starting to get annoying. I popped into my local camera shop today to be told £30-£50 to clean my sensor and they want my camera for four days.

What should I be paying ideally, can I do it myself (student option) any general advice?

Dan

You can get those little 'blowers' to try and remove dust, you squeeze it to get a burst of air:



So I'd try one of them first

for an extra £15 you can get an arctic sensor cleaning brush - that way you can clean the sensor as often as required yourself. It's not hard to do if you are careful.

Cheers for the reponses guys. So bloody annoying.

£65 and one off payment, they easy to use?

I have one of those blower thingies and its very good, use it outdoors and hold the camera facing down. Don't forget to use mirror lockup to get at the sensor.

Bazza

I dont but would a hair dryer on cool do the same job?

No it wouldn't
First because the air flow is too wide, you need a fine directional blast to get right into the sensor area.
Second you more than likely blow small hairs onto the sensor.

Harder/larger dust particles may need a camera brush to shift first, Whatever you do be very very careful and don't try using cotton buds, I can assure you from personel experience they are definately not to be used. If you must use something then get the proper camera kit for lens cleaning DON'T use anything else.


It takes a fine nozzle, as shown in the picture, to do the job properly. Also have a look under "tips" heading to check for dust particles posted by myself

Those rocket blowers can be bought on ebay for about £5 or less.

Remember you may not actually see any dust/hair on the sensor but be assured they will show up in the photo so after each blowing/cleaning session follow my tip to make sure the sensor/lens is clear.

Bazza

well thats just peachy. My naivety has got me in a pickle!

this is the state of my sensor and I'm really worried.This is the outcome of my attempt before I asked for help on here.

I suppose I best head down to jessops and get a cleaning kit.

OOPs you have let it get bad havn't you?

As it is like that I would suggest professional cleaning definately. A blower would get rid of possibly 50% but not all and a brush say another 10%. Not only have you got dust, but hairs as well which the blower would get rid of. Like everything one has to go thru a learning curve I did more or less the same with my old camera.

Bit late now but it pays not to change lens's too much and definately not in dusty conditions, I would suggest doing a check after each photo session as mentioned.


Bazza

I just tweezered the large hair out on the top right, is the 30-50 stated a good guide price for a professional clean?