# I clean my 6d sensor with canned air, the bad kind and have no issues doing so



## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

This post describes the procedure to clean a DSLR sensor with a can of air (well, it's not really air), also known as a duster. I will try to be fair in outlining the concerns that people have had with this highly controversial method so we can come to some sort of consensus. Note that most photographers and most certainly the camera manufacturers are firmly against this method of cleaning due to damage that you can cause by being careless. If you are faint of heart or a klutz, please leave sensor cleaning to professionals. I will not be held responsible if you damage your camera and/or sensor doing this procedure. Perform it at your own risk. I have and will continue to do so, since it saves me a lot of time and allows me to clean my sensor more frequently and expeditiously.

Let me start by describing the procedure in detail:

1. Start by making sure that the straw that came with your can of duster is firmly attached to the can. You most definitely do not want the straw to fly off during the procedure and hit the sensor, the open shutter or the retracted mirror. Aside from the obvious possibility of damaging the sensor, the tip of the straw often contains a thin layer of congealed biterrant that will leave a mark on the sensor (which can be removed with alcohol [i.e., the "wet" cleaning method]) if it comes into contact. Tape the straw to the can head if necessary or if it has a habit of flying off and/or you are paranoid. I have never had the straw fly off, not even during dusting items (not camera equipment) at full flow strength as long as the straw was properly and firmly inserted into the can.
2. Before you begin, you need to do some pre-cleaning prep by blowing several full force blasts out of the can. Make sure that the can is not pointed anywhere near your camera (or anything/anyone else for that matter) when you do this. Also, make sure that the can stays upright after these pre-blasts and before you actually use it and that not much time passes before the can is employed for the rest of this procedure. This is done to hopefully eliminate any major liquid discharge from the duster if it has been sitting idle for a prolonged period of time.
3. After putting the camera body into sensor cleaning mode and holding it with one hand, you can start blowing gas out of the duster with your other hand at a constant rate. This is the rate that you will determine to be safe (see the Q & A that follow for help with determining a safe rate). You can use the forearm of the arm holding the camera body to check the flow rate/strength. It is imperative that you keep this flow rate constant, so as not to discharge any unnecessary liquid from the can. Do not bring the straw any closer than one inch to your forearm.
4. You want to perform the rest of this procedure indoors and in as clean an area as possible. I recommend an area that is not carpeted and does not have rugs, if possible. If not, do it wherever you can.
5. With the camera in sensor cleaning mode and the body lens opening facing the floor and at a good height from it, start positioning the can and straw so as to blow up into the sensor. Move the straw to the proper distance from the sensor gradually and methodically (see the Q & A that follow to help you determine this distance). You should angle the straw up, but I would not recommend going fully horizontal with the can. I tend to blow from one corner of the sensor along a diagonal to the farthest corner opposite it while holding the straw at about a forty-five degree angle. This seems to get the most dust and particulate matter off the sensor without it landing back and/or more gunk accumulating. You may want to move and/or tilt the body around slightly to blow at various angles to the sensor in order to dislodge any stubborn dirt. I try to avoid moving and tilting the can if possible after the straw nears the sensor, using the camera body to instead control distance and angle of spray. This helps to avoid any unnecessary non-uniform discharge from the can.
6. Finally, after about 5-10 seconds gently move the camera away from the straw and shut the camera body off while its lens opening is still facing the floor.
7. You will want to mount a lens on the camera as soon as possible without moving the camera much and without changing its orientation (from facing down).
8. Perform some test shots to see if the dust is gone and repeat this procedure if necessary. You may need to repeat this several times to get a relatively clean sensor. Depending on your environment, you may run into situations where the sensor has more dust than before the previous attempt. When this happens, I just repeat the procedure and try again.

Here are some questions and answers that will hopefully fairly address the concerns that have been or will be raised in this thread:

Q: It's not really canned air, it's difluoroethane and commonly a mild bitterant put in to discourage abuse (i.e., inhalation). Are these chemicals really safe for my sensor?
A: 
Well, let's get the facts out of the way, shall we. Difluoroethane in liquid form can discolor certain plastics. Whether or not it can discolor the plastic and or glass over the sensor has not been shown. I have yet to read or hear a first hand report of sensor and/or filter damage from difluoroethane, despite the fact that many people have cleaned their sensors using this method. 

It is not clear exactly what the mild bitterant is. Certainly it can interact with the sensor in unknown ways. Since it is usually ejected mostly at the start of a spraying cycle, you probably needn't worry about it as long as you pre-spray and follow the procedure as stated.

Please note that when the spray leaves the included straw it is still in liquid form. You can easily see this with your own eyes, by looking at the stream as it leaves the straw. However, after a certain very short distance the liquid evaporates and becomes gaseous. This distance depends on how hard you have pressed the trigger. I am in no way advocating cleaning the sensor with the spray coming out of the bottle at full force. You should be spraying at a pressure that is no greater than the pressure produced by a manual device such as the Rocket Air Blaster. So, if you choose to use a duster to clean your sensor make dang sure that you know at what pressure the air coming out of it should be by comparing it with a known blower such as the Rocket Air Blaster just mentioned. You can use the palm of your hand or better yet, the forearm on your less dominant arm to compare. Get used to being able to trigger that particular flow level with your dominant hand.

Furthermore, you really do not want to hit the sensor with liquid spray. Therefore, once you've figured out the correct pressure, make sure that you keep a reasonable distance between the straw end of the duster and the sensor. This distance should take into account the fact that you most certainly don't want to pressurize the camera chamber by not allowing the gas that you are spraying to escape the chamber fast enough. Also, you really want to make sure that you are not hitting the sensor with liquid difluoroethane.

Q: How can I be sure that the spray will not be liquid and leave a residue on and/or discolor my sensor?
A: The easiest way to do this is to take a blank CD or DVD. Once you've figured out the correct flow rate, spray the data end of the disc for about fifteen to thirty seconds and then check the disc for any residue or discoloration. If you see none, you are playing it safe, at least as far as distance from the straw goes. This is not a good way to measure maximum flow rate. Use the steps in the previous question to do this.

Q: But it says on the can that this spray can cause frostbite. I certainly don't want to freeze my sensor and/or cause cold related damage.
A: The sensor is made to tolerate extreme temperatures. There are photographers shooting with DSLRs in Antarctica. What the sensor may not be able to tolerate well is sudden changes in temperature due to pressure changes and evaporation of the liquid coming out of the duster. An easy way to avoid this is to perform the same disc test from the previous question, instead checking for a change in temperature of the disc at the point where the spray is hitting it. If the disc becomes very cold to the touch you are either spraying too close, the force of spray is too strong or you have been spraying for a very long time. Back away the duster can or reduce the flow rate and try again.

Q: What about damage to the shutter and mirror from that fast moving gas?
A: Well let's not be stupid about the process here. You have to make sure that the camera is in sensor cleaning mode as selected from the menu and that the camera battery is fully charged so that the camera does not disengage from cleaning mode mid-process. In other words, at the time of cleaning, the shutter should be open and the mirror should be safely locked up. Camera manufacturers generally allow for a device like the Rocket Air Blaster to be used, so they certainly have to open/secure the shutter and stow away the mirror in such a way that an air cleaning device can be used at a reasonable pressure and rate of flow. If you have followed the advice from the previous questions about controlling the flow rate and distance so as not to blow too much gas too fast into the sensor, I can't imagine that you would damage the shutter and/or mirror, sans some sort of carelessness or accident taking place.

Q: I don't want to propel a pebble into my sensor using the duster!
A: Well, let me start by saying that this cleaning method should not be employed if you have quartz crystals on your sensor. This is meant to remove soft dust particles from things like fabric, carpeting, clothing, etc... If you have been changing lenses in a sand storm, this cleaning technique is not for you. If you are performing the procedure indoors as suggested, any heavy particulate matter in the air will fall. The worst thing that is going to happen is that you will blow a nylon hair or tiny strand of fabric onto the sensor. If this happens and you notice this post-cleaning, just clean again. Hair and tiny fabric strands are very easy to blow off the sensor, either with this technique or with a Rocket Blaster and will not scratch or otherwise damage it.

Q: I have followed your technique, but my sensor is even more dirty than when I started.
A: In one word, repeat! This technique will not free your sensor from 100% of the particles on it. No non-wet solution will. Like other air/gas based techniques we're trying to get the sensor free of large particles and to remove as much of the small particles as we can in as short a time as possible, so that this technique can be applied frequently to keep the sensor relatively clean. There's no point in spending two hours to get the sensor flawlessly clean, for it only to get dirty again the next time you change lenses. The point here is to keep it clean by making the cleaning process easy and fast.

To be continued...


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## angelwalk (Jan 23, 2014)

How to Clean Your Canon EOS 6D Sensor - For Dummies


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

angelwalk said:


> How to Clean Your Canon EOS 6D Sensor - For Dummies



Using a Rocket Blower I can understand even if it takes much longer to do non-surgical cleaning with it and it works worse than canned air, since you can't get it to blow a prolonged stream of air/gas over the sensor to not just move dust but actually get it and any adjoining dust completely off. 

But, brushing a sensor with a spinning brush (and possibly smearing non-dust particles as well as scraping the sensor with any sand grains) is better than using canned air which results in no physical contact when done properly? This is _good_ advice?


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## SCraig (Jan 23, 2014)

If it works for you then go for it.  I think you've pretty much touched on all of the things that can go wrong.  Personally I'll stick to my Rocket Blower.


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

SCraig said:


> If it works for you then go for it.  I think you've pretty much touched on all of the things that can go wrong.  Personally I'll stick to my Rocket Blower.



That's pretty much what I'll continue to do. I was interested in hearing if anyone discovered any detrimental issues with regard to shutter, mirror and/or other issues from using a can of duster the "right" way. I've used the crappiest cheap canned air in the same way to blow dust off my glasses, CDs/DVDs and even LCD TV panels and never had any residue (or discoloration) issues, except for the one time when I forgot to pre-spray and got a little residue on my glasses which I will admit was somewhat tough to get off with water (91% rubbing alcohol did the trick though, almost instantly). 

So, if anyone has managed to actually get gunk on their sensor I'd love to hear about it and perhaps any issues with getting it off with Eclipse or a similar ethanol/methanol based solution. Now don't get me wrong, touching the tip of the canned air straw to the sensor or any form of plastic or glass is a good way to get canned air gunk/residue onto something. It does tend to solidify and accumulate at the business end of the straw, which should come as no surprise. This is probably why all the stories with people who have had the straw shoot off the can and touch the sensor resulted in gunk on the sensor.


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## KmH (Jan 23, 2014)

What is it costing these days to get a shutter replaced - $250 to $300? - plus the time the service center needs to have the camera and the shipping time and cost?

Shutter curtains have to be very light weight, which makes them fragile and easy to damage. Which is why pressurized canned air is not a recommended tool for cleaning the dust off of an image sensor.


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

KmH said:


> What is it costing these days to get a shutter replaced - $250 to $300? - plus the time the service center needs to have the camera and the shipping time and cost?
> 
> Shutter curtains have to be very light weight, which makes them fragile and easy to damage. Which is why pressurized canned air is not a recommended tool for cleaning the dust off of an image sensor.



Yes, but this is a very gray area. We're not talking about a full blast of canned air right into a closed shutter from a very short distance. I've actually played with this idea somewhat with an older Canon film camera body (1/8000 max shutter speed) and light bursts of canned air into a closed shutter with the mirror locked up, just to see how easy it was to reversibly "warp" the shutter without actually damaging it permanently. It doesn't take much air strength to displace the shutter leaves (although they do come back to their original form once the air flow stops and the shutter seems to operate normally), so you definitely don't want to do this experiment with a camera body you are actually still using.

With my canned air sensor cleaning approach, we're talking relatively weak continuous air flow around a retracted shutter (i.e., the camera is in sensor cleaning mode which lifts the mirror and opens the shutter, presumably leaving both in secure/difficult to damage positions?). Not to mention that the brunt of the airflow is towards the sensor and the retracted mirror/shutter is only getting some indirect involvement from the air that bounced off the sensor along with maybe some air pressure building in the chamber, which reduces its impact further still. The bigger issue perhaps, is that I am blowing from a sensor corner and so there is asymmetrical air flow, this is what worries me when it comes to impact on the retracted shutter - the asymmetry of the redirected bounced air force towards one corner of the shutter, but I don't know how strong the flow is when it gets to the actual shutter corner or how much affect it has on a shutter when it is fully opened and secured. I wish that someone who has experience with constructing and/or repairing these things could chime in.


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## runnah (Jan 23, 2014)

Might want to bookmark this page.

Precision Camera - Digital Camera Repair, Video Camera Repair


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

runnah said:


> Might want to bookmark this page.
> 
> Precision Camera - Digital Camera Repair, Video Camera Repair



Haha, by the way, shutter replacement is about $600 based on this link: Re: Shutter Replacement Cost: Canon EOS-1D / 5D / 6D Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Take that with a grain of salt though and compute the time and opportunity cost of using a lit loupe and Rocket Blower to clean the sensor vs 5-10 secs of canned air for a general cleaning vs not cleaning the sensor at all and spending time in ACR or Photoshop to locate and "heal out" the dust.

Time is money and lost opportunity - something most professionals seem to ignore in this argument.


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## runnah (Jan 23, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> Time is money and lost opportunity - something most professionals seem to ignore in this argument.



So what you are saying is that the potential $600 repair bill and the weeks of repair time is worth it because you save a few minutes of cleaning time?


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> Out of curiosity, what system do you use to clean your 6d sensor? I've had relatively good success with canned air (yes the evil kind that initially squirts liquid difluoroethane and a _mild_ bitterant to discourage abuse) which seems to get rid of almost all dust and hair. Of course I do not spray at full strength (more like maybe 1/8th to 1/16th of full strength and no closer than an inch form the sensor). I hold the can at a 45 degree angle to almost horizontal while trying to spray up into the sensor which is facing down (i.e., I hold the camera facing the floor, so that the dust falls down due to gravity after being blown off the sensor). I also do not use bursts, instead keeping a constant flow rate and allowing a second or two for any initial liquid to come out of the can, before moving it close to the sensor. It seems that spraying diagonally across the sensor from one corner does the best job of cleaning it. I am possibly getting some dust deep into the camera body doing this and may be causing some damage to the shutter, although in practice I have not noticed any long term effects and have managed to get the sensor relatively clean. Some may argue that there is a chance that I can separate the low-pass filter from the sensor, but I think that it is pretty firmly attached and if one is not blowing at full strength, this scenario is highly unlikely. The biggest risk in my mind is shutter and/or mirror damage, but this again is hopefully unlikely if one is not spraying at anywhere near maximum flow rate. I have never gotten any residue from the spray onto the sensor, because of the several second pre-spray combined with keeping at least an inch distance from the sensor and a reasonable (constant) flow rate.
> 
> Any thoughts other than the FUD (i.e., fear, uncertainty and/or doubt) that keeps getting posted about this method of cleaning due to reckless and careless use of canned air sprayers (e.g., straws that fly out because they are not firmly inserted, getting liquid on the sensor due to not pre-spraying and/or varying the spray rate mid stream, touching the sensor with the straw, spraying at full power and ridiculously close distance, etc...)?



I would never screw around with canned air on something like a camera sensor.  Get yourself one of these babies:

Sears.com


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > What is it costing these days to get a shutter replaced - $250 to $300? - plus the time the service center needs to have the camera and the shipping time and cost?
> ...



Try this - take a metal close hanger, grab the bottom section.  Bend it foward.  Then backward.  Then forward again.  Repeat enough and see what happens.  Let me save you the suspense, it snaps.

The shutter was never designed to live up to that kind of repeated stress.  Every time you do your shortening the life of your shutter, and your camera.


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## curtyoungblood (Jan 23, 2014)

If nothing else, you're at least playing with fire by using can air. All it takes it a moment of carelessness and you can really mess up your camera. I've seen a sensor with canned air gunk on it, and it isn't pretty. You'd have to either find a wet cleaning solution or send it in for repairs. 

On a side note, have you ever actually had an experience where there is enough dust on your sensor to effect your pictures?


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## tecboy (Jan 23, 2014)

Dude! Don't use the compressed air can!  It is not safe for the image sensor! It is like your breath blowing.  The compressed air can has moist inside that expels and damages the image sensor in a little at a time.


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

curtyoungblood said:


> If nothing else, you're at least playing with fire by using can air. All it takes it a moment of carelessness and you can really mess up your camera. I've seen a sensor with canned air gunk on it, and it isn't pretty. You'd have to either find a wet cleaning solution or send it in for repairs.



So then for camera sensor cleaning you recommendation would be to cut out the middleman and go directly to something like this?

ARMSLIST - For Sale: Flamethrower

Lol


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

tecboy said:


> Dude! Don't use the compressed air can!  It is not safe for the image sensor! It is like your breath blowing.  The compressed air can has moist inside that expels and damages the image sensor in a little at a time.



What nonsense, air has moisture in it. People use Canon cameras in 100% relative humidity environments (with condensation, even). There is more B.S. to the perpetuated advice given on this topic than any other I've seen in a long time.


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

curtyoungblood said:


> If nothing else, you're at least playing with fire by using can air. All it takes it a moment of carelessness and you can really mess up your camera. I've seen a sensor with canned air gunk on it, and it isn't pretty. You'd have to either find a wet cleaning solution or send it in for repairs.
> 
> On a side note, have you ever actually had an experience where there is enough dust on your sensor to effect your pictures?



I agree, you can damage parts of the camera due to carelessness. There is absolutely no denying this. But, if you are that worried and/or careless, you should leave sensor cleaning to Canon or a professional. This topic is for those of us that don't want to ship and/or take our camera in for a cleaning twice a month (or more).

With regard to whether sensor dust is visible, if you shoot at apertures of f/16 or greater and have any sky or other low-contrast areas in your images (i.e., landscape photography, anyone?) then yes, sensor dust is a major nuisance. As a matter of fact, large particles can even be seen blurred at f/11 .


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Try this - take a metal close hanger, grab the bottom section.  Bend it foward.  Then backward.  Then forward again.  Repeat enough and see what happens.  Let me save you the suspense, it snaps.
> 
> The shutter was never designed to live up to that kind of repeated stress.  Every time you do your shortening the life of your shutter, and your camera.



I would tend to disagree here. First of all, we're not talking about a wire. Second of all, it is not clear that there is any strain on the shutter at all using this method. Certainly, we're not bending the shutter back and forth like a wire as you suggested. In fact, that is one of my questions: Is there any strain at all on an open and secured shutter from airflow into the sensor and/or slight pressure changes in the chamber. I have seen no evidence or convincing arguments that there is.


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> tecboy said:
> 
> 
> > Dude! Don't use the compressed air can! It is not safe for the image sensor! It is like your breath blowing. The compressed air can has moist inside that expels and damages the image sensor in a little at a time.
> ...



Ok, well there is more than just moisture in a can of compressed air, but honestly the moisture content isn't the really the biggest concerns.  The first of course is that even small dust particles propelled at high speeds are really bad for the sensor.  Bad combination, bad idea.  Second of course is that high pressure on the shutter blades is a terrible idea.  Yes, they will probably (note the word probably) come back into shape at first as long as you don't use to long of a burst and keep the PSI at least somewhat under hurricane force by moving the can back a bit, but your stressing them in a way they were never designed to be stressed and honestly it's just a really terrible idea right there.  Also keep in mind that the shutter blades are pretty small - which means that it really doesn't take a lot of air pressure for it to suddenly be a tremendous level of PSI of force (Pounds per square inch).

As another real world example, do you know why old vinyl records will usually have the popping and hissing sounds in them?  The reason for that is that every time you play a record on a record player, the surface of the vinyl melts from the pressure of the needle and any dust particles or debris inside the groves of the record will actually melt into the surface.  How can that be?  Well your looking at the tracking weight of the needle being distributed onto the record with nothing but the tiny surface area of the needle to support that weight.  When you work that out into pressure expressed as pounds per square inch, it's a pretty scary thing indeed.

Same thing happens when you hit those small, thin shutter blades with compressed air.  To you it may not seem like much, but to those little blades it's more akin to hurricane force winds.  It's just a really, really bad idea.

Then add in Boyle's law - see the thing about compressed air or any gas is that it expands you get a noticeable drop in temperature - which can be bad for your sensor but even worse for the shutter blades - again they were never designed to deal with that kind of stress.  So yes, they'll probably hold up under that sort of abuse for a while, but eventully - well, eventually your looking at replacing your shutter long before you would normally have to because of all the abuse it's suffered.

This of course doesn't even mention the fact that you have to.. how was it you put it, "pre-spray" to get any buildup of gunk out of the way so your not saturating your shutter with that - and well I think you've come up with a cleaning procedure that will damage the shutter almost immediately if not done with tremendous care and even if done with tremendous care will probably shorten the life of the shutter considerably.


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## tecboy (Jan 23, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> tecboy said:
> 
> 
> > Dude! Don't use the compressed air can!  It is not safe for the image sensor! It is like your breath blowing.  The compressed air can has moist inside that expels and damages the image sensor in a little at a time.
> ...



Turn the air can upside down and empty all the liquid and see what will happen.


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## GlennT (Jan 23, 2014)

Canned "air" is NOT compressed air.  There is propellant in the can, and besides the pressure coming out of the can, the chemical propellant is what is expelled... NOT air.  Whether or not the propellant expels as a vapor or liquid, it is there.  I personally wouldn't risk using it for that reason alone.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## tecboy (Jan 23, 2014)

GlennT said:


> Canned "air" is NOT compressed air.  There is propellant in the can, and besides the pressure coming out of the can, the chemical propellant is what is expelled... NOT air.  Whether or not the propellant expels as a vapor or liquid, it is there.  I personally wouldn't risk using it for that reason alone.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk



Oh yeah, that's right.  I keep thinking as compressed air.


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> robbins.photo said:
> 
> 
> > Try this - take a metal close hanger, grab the bottom section. Bend it foward. Then backward. Then forward again. Repeat enough and see what happens. Let me save you the suspense, it snaps.
> ...



Your not?  Hmm.. ok, you said you actually did this using another camera as a test.  I'm taking it you didn't actually watch the shutter blades, or perhaps you didn't watch them closely enough?  They aren't made out of high tensile titanium here - they are super thin and not really made to withstand any sort of abuse.  You start firing compressed air inside the camera with the mirror up and yes, you are going to be stressing that shutter in a way that it was never designed to be stressed.  You will be pushing on it and then it will be trying to return to it's original shape - do that enough times and eventually it won't return to it's original shape anymore.  Do it with enough stress and eventually, yes, something will go so far as to snap.

In short what your doing here is a really horrible idea.


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## pixmedic (Jan 23, 2014)

I used carb/choke cleaner to clean out my old vhs camcorder once. 
It did not end well.


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## Derrel (Jan 23, 2014)

There were some people back in the FUji SLR Talk days on dPreview, and these guys cleaned their S2 Pro d-slr sensors using Scotch brand Magic Tape, as I recall the standard, 1/2 inch wide "811" SKU number product....NOT kidding...they took a loop of the Scotch tape, and pressed it onto the AA filter array, and then pulled it off, and the tape removed any junk that was on the sensor. Look into it. Might be awesome, FocusTester. Scotch tape by the roll is surely cheaper than canned air.

Oh, by the way, my great great great grandfather was said to have picked his teeth with a Bowie knife...


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## SCraig (Jan 23, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> ... There is more B.S. to the perpetuated advice given on this topic than any other I've seen in a long time.


Sorry, but you started this thread knowing it was going to be controversial.  I know of nobody who uses canned air to clean their camera sensor and odds are good that you don't know anyone else either.  It should come as no surprise that nobody is going to agree with your methods.

How you clean your cameras is entirely your choice.  As I said, I'll stick to my Rocket Blower and an occasional wet swab.


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

Derrel said:


> There were some people back in the FUji SLR Talk days on dPreview, and these guys cleaned their S2 Pro d-slr sensors using Scotch brand Magic Tape, as I recall the standard, 1/2 inch wide "811" SKU number product....NOT kidding...they took a loop of the Scotch tape, and pressed it onto the AA filter array, and then pulled it off, and the tape removed any junk that was on the sensor. Look into it. Might be awesome, FocusTester. Scotch tape by the roll is surely cheaper than canned air.
> 
> Oh, by the way, my great great great grandfather was said to have picked his teeth with a Bowie knife...



Grandpa Snaggletooth?  Oh ya, heck of a guy.  He used to clean his cameras the old fashioned way I'll bet.  Climb up the top of a really tall tree and jump, let the wind clean them out as you fall.  Now that's a man's man there.. lol


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## tecboy (Jan 23, 2014)

Hmmmm...with all the comedians going on in this thread, the "OP" stills not convinced.


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

tecboy said:


> Hmmmm...with all the comedians going on in this thread, the "OP" stills not convinced.



Well in the end SCraig is right, it's his camera and if he wants to destroy it that's his business.  I think the point has been made well enough to anyone else who might be new to the DSLR world that this is not a good cleaning method to use.  Hopefully the OP will reconsider as well, but you can only do what you can do.


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## Derrel (Jan 23, 2014)

Scotch Tape Cleaning Method post on dPreview, one of multiple....

GPS - Scotch Tape cleaning method: Nikon DX SLR (D40-D90, D3000-D7100) Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

"Here is what I do................1. Use only Scotch Magic Tape no 810 or 811. .
2. Use only a clean piece of tape (check it visually for contamination and discard if necessary) and store the roll in a sealed plastic bag. Use it ONLY for this purpose and take care not to touch the surface to be used with your fingers or allow it to come into contact with anything else.
3. Cut a piece approximately 6" long. Fold it in half, "sticky" side facing out.
4. Perform a mirror lock-up, making sure you have a fully charged battery to avoid shut-down during cleaning
5. Make sure you work under a good light - a desk light is ideal. A magnifying>SNIP"

it goes on...check it out for yourself...


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## snowbear (Jan 23, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> I would never screw around with canned air on something like a camera sensor.  Get yourself one of these babies:
> 
> Sears.com




No - come on, now.  One of THESE:
Sears.com

with this:
Sears.com

And for that really stubborn dust, one of these:
Sears.com


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

snowbear said:


> No - come on, now.  One of THESE:
> Sears.com
> 
> with this:
> ...





Well ok, the impact hammer might work for dust.  But stubborn dust?  Well, for stubborn dust I say go all out:

FREE SHIPPING  Ingersoll Rand Rock Drill  60-lb. Class, Model# JH40C1 | Rock Drills| Northern Tool + Equipment


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## tirediron (Jan 23, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> curtyoungblood said:
> 
> 
> > If nothing else, you're at least playing with fire by using can air. All it takes it a moment of carelessness and you can really mess up your camera. I've seen a sensor with canned air gunk on it, and it isn't pretty. You'd have to either find a wet cleaning solution or send it in for repairs.
> ...


Way too hot!  One of these would be much safer!


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## Trever1t (Jan 23, 2014)

To the OP. It can be done, sure. 


To everyone else. : it's not a good idea, I don't recommend it.


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## tirediron (Jan 23, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> I used carb/choke cleaner to clean out my old vhs camcorder once.
> It did not end well.



:lmao:  Shocking!


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## robbins.photo (Jan 23, 2014)

Trever1t said:


> To the OP. It can be done, sure.
> 
> 
> To everyone else. : it's not a good idea, I don't recommend it.



You know, every single trip I've ever made to the emergency room was predicated on that exact same line of thought.. lol


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## tecboy (Jan 23, 2014)

Didn't the OP changed the first post?


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## tecboy (Jan 23, 2014)

tecboy said:


> Didn't the OP changed the first post?



It is sooooooo looooonnnnnggggg!!!


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## Derrel (Jan 23, 2014)

A long,long time ago, 
In a hamburger restaurant far,far away...


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## FocusTester (Jan 23, 2014)

tecboy said:


> tecboy said:
> 
> 
> > Didn't the OP changed the first post?
> ...



TL;DR
Clean sensor with canned air for great justice.


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## DarkShadow (Jan 23, 2014)

I use a gas powered leaf blower.


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## tecboy (Jan 24, 2014)

Seriously?


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## bigal1000 (Feb 11, 2014)

Why not just use a Dyson it will get done real fast are you kidding............To be continued I hope not !!!


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## 71M (Feb 11, 2014)

"there are chances that your tape leaves adhesive trails"


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## bigal1000 (Mar 5, 2014)

FocusTester said:


> runnah said:
> 
> 
> > Might want to bookmark this page.
> ...



Do you believe everything you read on the internet?


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## Gavjenks (Mar 5, 2014)

The logic of this thread seems to be "Even though there's a much less risky option available, maybe I can get away with this risky option, succeed, then brag about it on an internet forum to highlight how much of a badass I am and get a date for this weekend."


I especially enjoyed this quote:


> using canned air which results in no physical contact when done properly?


Um... What exactly do you think is moving the dust? WIshes and the power of friendship? No, it's gas (and liquid) particles *physically contacting* the dust...
*facepalm*


Unless by "when done properly" you meant "leaving the can in the drawer and not using it at all," in which case you are correct: that IS how to use it properly, and DOES result in no physical contact.


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## TCampbell (Mar 5, 2014)

Pffft!  Why would anyone want to clean the sensor?  Just tell the client that the dust on the image is all part of the "patina" and makes the images even MORE valuable!  ;-)


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