Sony RX100 sensor cleaning.

[Joe]

I will be back in the UK for most of August. Would be nice to get rid of a couple of large sensor/lens dust spots on my

Sony rx100 mk1. I`ve emailed Sony uk - waiting for a reply. Does anyone know of another company that offers this servive in the UK?

 

Thanks

 

Joe

[spacecadet]

It's no big deal to do it yourself with digipads, but Fixation have been recommended here IIRC.

http://www.fixationuk.com/sensor-cleaning/

[MDM]

I was going to suggest Fixation http://www.fixationuk.com/sensor-cleaning/ if you are going to be in or near London. They are a highly reputable company, authorised repairers for Nikon and Canon and about to become the same for Sony shortly. They do on-the-spot sensor cleaning.

 

However, I then realised that the camera is a compact and they can't do cameras without detachable lenses. For that they say contact the manufacturer. However, given that Fixation are going to become authorised repairers for Sony, it may be worth contacting them in due course. That said I imagine that you are looking at a repair price rather than a sensor clean so it may not be economical to do so. Might be worth giving them a ring anyway.

[MDM]

1 minute ago, spacecadet said:

It's no big deal to do it yourself with digipads.

 

It's a compact camera for one thing.

 

Me I wouldn't touch a sensor on one of my cameras. I have not got the manual dexterity to do so and I value the kit too much to risk messing it up. I'd prefer to pay for an occasional professional clean.

[spacecadet]

6 minutes ago, MDM said:

 

It's a compact camera for one thing.

 

Me I wouldn't touch a sensor on one of my cameras. I have not got the manual dexterity to do so and I value the kit too much to risk messing it up. I'd prefer to pay for an occasional professional clean.

I realised that too late as well. Presumably they have to do what the Americans call a "tear-down".

You don't need the hands of a surgeon, just reasonable care. Depends on the camera, of course, with my SLT spots very rare but if I'd paid for a professional clean every time by SLR needed it I'd have paid for another one. There's nothing to mess up unless you slather on the fluid like you're sunbathing in the Sahara. The scare stories seem to come from purveyors of more expensive cleaning systems.

[Joe]

9 minutes ago, MDM said:

I was going to suggest Fixation http://www.fixationuk.com/sensor-cleaning/ if you are going to be in or near London. They are a highly reputable company, authorised repairers for Nikon and Canon and about to become the same for Sony shortly. They do on-the-spot sensor cleaning.

 

However, I then realised that the camera is a compact and they can't do cameras without detachable lenses. For that they say contact the manufacturer. However, given that Fixation are going to become authorised repairers for Sony, it may be worth contacting them in due course. That said I imagine that you are looking at a repair price rather than a sensor clean so it may not be economical to do so. Might be worth giving them a ring anyway.

 

Thanks, MDM. I may give them a ring if Sony UK can`t do it. I`ll be up north, so would have to post it.

 

There`s a youtube DIY rx100 sensor cleaning video. Not for the faint hearted.

[spacecadet]

Holy smoke. How you'd do that outside a clean room without leaving as much dust behind as you'd removed I don't know.

Whenever I do anything like that I end up with bits left over.

[MDM]

 

20 hours ago, spacecadet said:

I realised that too late as well. Presumably they have to do what the Americans call a "tear-down".

You don't need the hands of a surgeon, just reasonable care. Depends on the camera, of course, with my SLT spots very rare but if I'd paid for a professional clean every time by SLR needed it I'd have paid for another one. There's nothing to mess up unless you slather on the fluid like you're sunbathing in the Sahara. The scare stories seem to come from purveyors of more expensive cleaning systems.

 

That would depend on the price of your DSLR I think. For me I'm happier with a professional clean on a day trip to London once a year or so.

 

[Joe Gaul]

As stated above DSLR sensor cleaning is easy with the right, and actually cheap, gear. Had to do the 20d fairly frequently, but only needed to do the 60d twice in about three years.

Unfortunately with the RX100 having a fixed lens it may be time for an upgrade if the spots are bothering you too much.

[wiskerke]

34 minutes ago, Joe Gaul said:

As stated above DSLR sensor cleaning is easy with the right, and actually cheap, gear. Had to do the 20d fairly frequently, but only needed to do the 60d twice in about three years.

Unfortunately with the RX100 having a fixed lens it may be time for an upgrade if the spots are bothering you too much.

 

I had dust bunnies in my RX100 mk1. The local Sony repair service dealt with it in under 3 days. As far as I remember it was around 60 euros. It may have helped it's the same company that services Canons and I'm CPS with a turnaround of 3 days and they may have known my face/name from that.

If you search for it on Youtube there's an instruction on how to DIY it. Takes a day; no guarantees. For the price of 2 DSLR cleanings I would not think twice.

 

wim

 

edit: if the camera is relatively new (and otherwise clean) it may even come under warranty. Mine was neither. ;-)

[Joe]

29 minutes ago, Joe Gaul said:

As stated above DSLR sensor cleaning is easy with the right, and actually cheap, gear. Had to do the 20d fairly frequently, but only needed to do the 60d twice in about three years.

Unfortunately with the RX100 having a fixed lens it may be time for an upgrade if the spots are bothering you too much.

 

 It`s a quick fix in Lightroom to remove the dust spots; remembering to do it is the hard part.

 The mk 111 is on the shopping list.

[Joe]

13 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

 

I had dust bunnies in my RX100 mk1. The local Sony repair service dealt with it in under 3 days. As far as I remember it was around 60 euros. It may have helped it's the same company that services Canons and I'm CPS with a turnaround of 3 days and they may have known my face/name from that.

If you search for it on Youtube there's an instruction on how to DIY it. Takes a day; no guarantees. For the price of 2 DSLR cleanings I would not think twice.

 

wim

 

edit: if the camera is relatively new (and otherwise clean) it may even come under warranty. Mine was neither. ;-)

 

I`m waiting for a reply from Sony UK, Wim. Like yours, mine is neither new or unscathed. I bought it in 2013. Paid for itself

several times over.

[Joe Gaul]

Thanks for that info Wim. I presume your dust bunny problem was solved.

[wiskerke]

1 hour ago, Joe Gaul said:

Thanks for that info Wim. I presume your dust bunny problem was solved.

 

Yes and it has not come back since. The second has stayed free, despite being the most maltreated of the 2.

 

wim

[Joe Gaul]

That's good to hear. My 2 is also battered and abused, Hardy little things just a shame about the battery cover which opens at random, I reckon the Sony screen protector has earned it's keep.

[wiskerke]

1 hour ago, Joe Gaul said:

That's good to hear. My 2 is also battered and abused, Hardy little things just a shame about the battery cover which opens at random, I reckon the Sony screen protector has earned it's keep.

 

You mean you have no gaffer tape?

 

A new one is $27,25 on Ebay

However it could be a simple repair if the metal part is still straight. Then it's one screw. If the housing got a dent on the corner, but the plastic rim is still there, a little bit of bending back could do the trick. If it's just that the tiny latch that's not latching properly, it could just be a bit of dirt/sand. First blow vigorously, if that's not enough, then 1 drop of silicone oil with a needle may be all that's needed. Blow and clean afterwards, you don't want any fluids inside.

 

wim

[Joe Gaul]

Thanks again for your wisdom Wim. I'll check out your suggestions if I ever get any free time, (currently trying to get a useable workflow between a FlashAir card and IPTC app on android phone) it's more annoying than anything else but the gaffer tape sounds good.

 

Cheers

Joe

15 hours ago, wiskerke said:

 

You mean you have no gaffer tape?

 

A new one is $27,25 on Ebay

However it could be a simple repair if the metal part is still straight. Then it's one screw. If the housing got a dent on the corner, but the plastic rim is still there, a little bit of bending back could do the trick. If it's just that the tiny latch that's not latching properly, it could just be a bit of dirt/sand. First blow vigorously, if that's not enough, then 1 drop of silicone oil with a needle may be all that's needed. Blow and clean afterwards, you don't want any fluids inside.

 

wim