• Please use real names.

    Greetings to all who have registered to OPF and those guests taking a look around. Please use real names. Registrations with fictitious names will not be processed. REAL NAMES ONLY will be processed

    Firstname Lastname

    Register

    We are a courteous and supportive community. No need to hide behind an alia. If you have a genuine need for privacy/secrecy then let me know!
  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Revolutionary sensor cleaning, that works!

Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
To the skeptics, it's a fact that most solvents, unless they are research pharmaceutica grade, have residues from their source of manufacture and every containor they were ever in.

When the solvent evaporates, the residues are left as a thin film on the glass! I doubt whether the material used in sensor cleaning kits are that pure. Anyway, the two pictures Nicolas has shown, demonstrate a remarkable difference. It could be merely a pure ethanol, for example or a mixture of several solvents.

The source for information that I'd trust would be the companies that remove IR filters professionally for Astronomy IR photography. These guys know how to look after sensors!

Meanwhile, I am impressed with the pictures. I'd want to take one picture in my own studio under controlled conditions and then repeat after the camera came back.

Let's get someone to send an older camera that is cleaned with peckpads or the like first!

Asher
 
Last edited:
M

Marc Hankins

New member
This really is spectacular, but i can't help but be skeptical. I struggle to believe he got it SO sharp that you got mazing artifacts on that barcode! Seeing that would make me suggest he DID take the AA filter out, but why? It wouldn't make sense to do that!

Wow. Simply wow.
 
R

Ray West

New member
http://mnclaris.free.fr/forum/capteur.jpg The first image, seems that the leaves are in focus, the second, they are not. What, exactly are we comparing? Two images with a different focus point? If it is said that normal fluids leave a residue, and this wonder fluid does not, then surely it is simple to coat a couple of glass microscope slides, say, and view them. I am not saying that this fluid is not something special. I am saying I see no evidence of it's superiority in this thread.

A better test would be to clean half the sensor with fluid A, then clean the other half with fluid B, then take a few photos.

Best wishes,

Ray
 
E

Eric Hiss

Member
still something wrong with this claim

Look people if one could really gain so much with this so called cleaning then don't you think all the pros in the world would be beating down a path to have it done? I reject these claims as false. The only possibility is that Nicolas' sensor was WAY more dirty/messed up than normal or he botched the test in a way that is misleading as Ray has pointed out.
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Nicolas' experience is great!

One cannot however scientically prove the cleaning capability of any method without a hell of a lot of work, even though one has a very convincing test.

If we witness a baby being born we dont need to shove the infant back inside to prove that it really was born and see it at least 3 times!

However, when we are dealing with a "superior" cleaning service, we'd need controlled tests and standards as to what we are cleaning. That is much more difficult than one might imagine. After all, one first needs a test bed that everyone can agree with! This could be anyone's camera or else a made-up test.

Maybe cleaning microscope slides and taking pictures could be a choice, as Ray suggests. We'd get a bunch of pathology slides for example. That way one can clean 20 times with the standard solutions and let the stuff evaporate and take photographs at intervals. So once we have confirmed a film then we can test removing it with different procedures. When we cannot remove a film then we can send the slide to the guy to clean.

Method 2 is to take a picture with a recently cleaned camera with standardized lighting and small aperture deep DOF focus and then send the camera to the guy. When it comes back, retake the picture with the exact same conditions.

To be utterly convincing, we'd need to have at least 3 cameras show the removing of the veil. It could be that any one photographer might feel he has cleaned his sensor aggressively whereas another photographer might be using a better batch of fluid.

These solvents are sourced from various places. One may come form New jersey USA and another from China! If there can be lead in childrens toys and solvents in toothpaste from China, then why should we expect consistency in solvents used for cleaning the sensors? Some workers have no idea that just transferring a solvent to a new plastic or glass containor can pick up contaminants which can appear on the camera sensor as a residue!

I doubt whether these small companies have the chromatography setup to test for contaminents. I know when I had my research lab going, almost all solvents had to be redistilled or treated in some way to get them clean! The only thing that was reliably pure was pharmaceutical grade ethanol and that mixed with fruit juices was excellent! :)

Asher
 
Last edited:
J

Jeremy Jachym

pro member
"Look people if one could really gain so much with this so called cleaning then don't you think all the pros in the world would be beating down a path to have it done?"

Um, yeah, but if the ability to clean a sensor that well hasn't been discovered yet then there's no path to beat down. Nicolas has just recently discovered the possibility of this path, which I agree needs to be explored in a scientific manner. How cool would that be if his experience prooves correct? If not then at the very least we got to enjoy entertaining the possibility or disputing it.

"The only thing that was reliably pure was pharmaceutical grade ethanol and that mixed with fruit juices was excellent! "

Asher, you crack me up. Awesome.

JJ
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
The whole system of cleaning the sensor is ridiculous. Very poor design to have to clean into a dark well!

Someone should train ants of go in and lick the bloodly thing clean!

Until then, anyone who finds a technician that does a particularly good job should treasure them!

Asher
 
K

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
Can't say I like my method.

I clean my sensor by going shopping down in Irvine, having lunch with a friend that lives there while the Canon Techs clean it for me and I end up driving 160 miles to have a nice day while my cameras go to the Canon Spa. Last time, I just charmed my husband into going and they cleaned while he had lunch.
 
E

Eric Hiss

Member
That's one big advantage to the MFDB's and my leica DMR

It's a PIA to clean DSLR sensors, except if you have a leica R8/DMR...just unlatch the back which then swings out revealing the sensor which is then super easy to clean. Blow or dust off or if its really dirty wipe with eclipse 2 and a pec pad. Close and you are done.

On my phase P20 its just a simple. For two reasons I hardly every clean my sensors - 1st is that I most often shoot f/8 or larger and dust is not visible at large apertures unless its really nasty, 2nd is that I am very careful how I change lenses. If I go someplace where its really windy or dusty, I don't change lenses at all.

note: I do not use push pull lenses anymore. My 100-400 L IS lens blew a pile of dust into my mirror box every time I used it. Great lens optically but so glad I sold it! Every lens that has a lot of movement for focus draws air in on extension and pushes air out on retraction. The push pull just does it faster which means a lot of dust from the outside gets blown into your camera.
 
N

Nikolai Sklobovsky

New member
Brian,

Brian Lowe said:
Maybe this is how he is cleaning the sensor, take a look at this. Would any of you try this?
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=VCM2Us0JP_I
Brian
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link!

I have read about this before. Looks promising, albeit a bit time consuming. Did they say how long does it take to dry? (my Deutch is virtually non-existent:)

I also think it's not a replacement for the old good alcohol-based cleaning, but rather a supplement. 400/40D/MkIII sensor cleaning deals OK with the regular dust bunnies, but those it can't shake off this film most likely wouldn't be able to pick up either :-(
 
S

Steve Saunders

New member
I've been using Eclipse for years and never had a film on the sensor that I know of. But there is one way that this might happen, ie leaving the cap off the bottle while you wipe the sensor will see some of the solution evaporate from the bottle. A few times doing this will see the solution left in the bottle being less concentrated and it will take longer to dry off. You need to have someone put the cap on the bottle as soon as you have the drops on the swab and don't take all day getting the swab onto your sensor either.
 
R

Ralph Eisenberg

Member
This is certainly enticing. What is the turn-around time for the cleaning? The next time I'm in Bordeaux, if I make an appointment in advance and the turn-around time is not too long, I just may try it. Thanks for the information.
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Bonsoir Ralph

And we'll get time to have an OPF drink!

Normally 24 hours, can be a bit less if you call him before…

MAybe some one has a good suggestion for a more "scientific' test ?

What as for ONE shot before and ONE shot after?
 
R

Ralph Eisenberg

Member
Nicolas Claris said:
Bonsoir Ralph

And we'll get time to have an OPF drink!

Normally 24 hours, can be a bit less if you call him before…

MAybe some one has a good suggestion for a more "scientific' test ?

What as for ONE shot before and ONE shot after?
Click to expand...

Having my camera cleaned was just an excuse to be able to have an OPF drink! I knew I could count on your hospitality!
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
PM me some time in advance so we can get organized!

It's a very busy period for me, but I wouldn't like missing the opportunity to share some good liquid;-) !

Maybe some others could join, even Asher! who knows!
 
R

Ralph Eisenberg

Member
Nicolas Claris said:
PM me some time in advance so we can get organized!

It's a very busy period for me, but I wouldn't like missing the opportunity to share some good liquid;-) !

Maybe some others could join, even Asher! who knows!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear that it is a busy period for you. Shall PM you. Looking forward to it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top