Nikon Sensor Cleaning (London, UK)

[Jansos]

Can anyone recommend a good place to get your sensor cleaned in London? I used to use Calumet in Euston but they closed down a few years ago. I had a poor experience at Fixation and am loath to try them again. Are there any others that people know about? How easy is it to do it oneself? Thanks 🙂

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

6 minutes ago, Jansos said:

Can anyone recommend a good place to get your sensor cleaned in London? I used to use Calumet in Euston but they closed down a few years ago. I had a poor experience at Fixation and am loath to try them again. Are there any others that people know about? How easy is it to do it oneself? Thanks 🙂

Oh I was going to suggest Fixation as I've always had good service from them.  Other folk clean sensors themselves but it's not for me😉. Not sure whether Park Cameras do it, you could phone and ask, they are near Tottenham Court Road I think.

 

Carol

[Harry Harrison]

39 minutes ago, Jansos said:

How easy is it to do it oneself?

That probably depends upon what is on it, is it just dust or is it an oily stain or worse? Assembling the correct solution (Eclipse) and pads can be quite expensive in itself but the surface that you are actually cleaning is pretty resilient, it's not actually the sensor itself. Full frame is easier than APS-C in my experience because access is easier. I definitely recommend an LED magnifier/loupe such as the ones from Visible Dust. I see JJC do a much cheaper version but I've not tried it. Probably not something you want to do 'on the road' though, needs a clean space and some care and attention.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Harry Harrison

[Sultanpepa]

I don't have a loupe but it's quite easy to do yourself. I had a bad clean in one of the shops that will remain nameless so decided to do it myself. I always try a rocket blower first then go to the fluid if it doesn't work. The fluid will last but don't try to reuse the pads. I always do it twice as sometimes the first pass can leave smears.

 

[sb photos]

1 hour ago, Jansos said:

Can anyone recommend a good place to get your sensor cleaned in London? I used to use Calumet in Euston but they closed down a few years ago. I had a poor experience at Fixation and am loath to try them again. Are there any others that people know about? How easy is it to do it oneself? Thanks 🙂

 

Before I started to clean the sensors myself I drove to Fixation and just about squeezed into their tiny car park. Like Janos I had problems. It was a while you wait clean. I checked it outside and there was an obvious piece of crud on the sensor, so straight back inside and insisted it was properly cleaned as soon as anyone was free. It was then ok, but I caught heavy rush hour traffic heading home. At that time I had a single crop sensor body, and they were always having lens changes. Later I used 2 Nikon D750's, one had a 24-70 permanently attached, it never had problems. For a short time I would swap a 17-35 and 70-300, and a rocket blower kept that clean. Now I use 3 bodies with a lens permanently attached to each, no more problems other than a heavy backpack.

 

Best to clean your own, then you know the job has been done well and no down time.

Edited September 3, 2022 by sb photos

[sb photos]

26 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

That probably depends upon what is on it, is it just dust or is it an oily stain or worse? Assembling the correct solution and pads can be quite expensive in itself but the surface that you are actually cleaning is pretty resilient, it's not actually the sensor itself. Full frame is easier than APS-C in my experience because access is easier. I definitely recommend an LED magnifier/loupe such as the ones from Visible Dust. I see JJC do a much cheaper version but I've not tried it. Probably not something you want to do 'on the road' though, needs a clean space and some care and attention.

 

I used to use a JJC LED magnifier/loupe, it was adequate.

Edited September 3, 2022 by sb photos

[Dave Richards]

3 hours ago, Jansos said:

Can anyone recommend a good place to get your sensor cleaned in London? I used to use Calumet in Euston but they closed down a few years ago. I had a poor experience at Fixation and am loath to try them again. Are there any others that people know about? How easy is it to do it oneself? Thanks 🙂

 

I do my own sensor cleaning, it’s quite straight forward. Grays of Westminster are Nikon specialists. Not sure if they do sensor cleaning; maybe worth giving them a call.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Dave Richards
Added text

[Allan Bell]

I have always done my own sensor cleaning. As Harry says it is actually the filter on the sensor that is cleaned. found it to be easy enough but it does take time to do it properly.

 

Allan

[sooth]

once you clean your own sensor, you'll realize how easy it is. just need a blower, a clean dust free room or a setup that will gently suction dust away from the work area, strong light that will allow you to see any dust floating in the air and on the sensor. 

 

use the cleaning pads and a drop or two of eclipse fluid if the blower doesn't work. Eclipse fluid is basically  minimum 90% methanol with ethanol mixed in; i don't know if they are using reagent grade for the highest purity product, that's what i would use if i had access to a lab to make my own.

 

  

[Allan Bell]

14 hours ago, sooth said:

once you clean your own sensor, you'll realize how easy it is. just need a blower, a clean dust free room or a setup that will gently suction dust away from the work area, strong light that will allow you to see any dust floating in the air and on the sensor. 

 

use the cleaning pads and a drop or two of eclipse fluid if the blower doesn't work. Eclipse fluid is basically  minimum 90% methanol with ethanol mixed in; i don't know if they are using reagent grade for the highest purity product, that's what i would use if i had access to a lab to make my own.

 

  

 

At the cost of a small bottle of Eclipse I would think they are using a high purity grade.

 

Allan

 

[sooth]

1 hour ago, Allan Bell said:

 

At the cost of a small bottle of Eclipse I would think they are using a high purity grade.

 

Allan

 

Yeah. I would hope alamy would market our high quality photos the same way, cost wise

[Steve F]

I also clean the sensor myself, same process with the blower and swabs/liquid as described above by Sooth and others. I'm using a full frame sensor cleaning kit by VSGO.

 

[spacecadet]

Same here. Digipads as a company are long gone but plenty of generic kits on ebay. Though it's a rare event with SLTs, even rarer when you hardly take any photographs.

Photograph a white screen at 100ISO and f32 to see if there are any spots, rocket blower in each corner, Eclipse the pad, 2 drops, wipe in both directions, recheck.

I have always re-used the pads a few times without incident, but I don't get oily stuff.

[Nigel Kirby]

Always used Calumet in Leeds or Euston. When they closed l started doing my own cleaning when the dust bunnies became noticable. I always remember the guy at the Euston branch saying to me, when changing lenses do so pointing the lens downwards, bit less chance of dust entering.

Edited November 11, 2022 by Nigel Kirby

[gvallee]

7 hours ago, Nigel Kirby said:

Always used Calumet in Leeds or Euston. When they closed l stared doing my own cleaning when the dust bunnies became noticable. I always remember the guy at the Euston branch saying to me, when changing lenses do so pointing the lens downwards, bit less chance of dust entering.

 

I have been told the same here in Oz by the company I use to clean my sensors.

[sb photos]

On 05/09/2022 at 12:41, Nigel Kirby said:

Always used Calumet in Leeds or Euston. When they closed l stared doing my own cleaning when the dust bunnies became noticable. I always remember the guy at the Euston branch saying to me, when changing lenses do so pointing the lens downwards, bit less chance of dust entering.

 

Going back to when I had 2 bodies and 3 lenses with me, so would often change lenses when out and about. I would try to avoid lens changes if near the sea and sticky drops were settling on my glasses, it was windy with no option to shelter. Shelter from the wind by turning your back to it, change lenses before leaving the car, go back to the car if parked close and use the boot or inside with hatch open, shelter in a door way and if walking 'try' to point the rear of the lens down and the camera's throat downwards, difficult without 3 hands. Carrying clean lens rear and body caps in a clean zip-loc bag can assist. Use your camera's clean sensor option, it may assist. Finally, check for dust before leaving home and use a rocket blower to remove.

[Vic Thornley]

I clean my sensors as well, usually rocket blower, then an Arctic butterfly - never had to do a wet clean though. It is a fairly straightforward process, nothing too daunting.

 

[Cal]

On 03/09/2022 at 14:18, Jansos said:

Can anyone recommend a good place to get your sensor cleaned in London? I used to use Calumet in Euston but they closed down a few years ago. I had a poor experience at Fixation and am loath to try them again. Are there any others that people know about? How easy is it to do it oneself? Thanks 🙂

 

try these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01B0TO8UC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

You can get them specifically for FF or APS-C sensors, the FF ones will fit an APS-C sensor almost perfectly though if you perform the wipe vertically rather than horizontally, great if you have bodies with both sensor sizes. Application is dead easy and even on my most stubborn sensor two passes was all that was required.