Dust bunnies

Oh my goodness!  The bunnies are back with a vengeance!  I don't remember when I last operated my camera with multiple lenses outdoors--it might have been during the hike up around the Forks of the Credit--but my sensor is full of dust bunnies.  I had no need to take my camera out but since I will be heading to Ottawa next weekend, I thought I'd bring my D7000 along and thought I'd check the sensor now.  I got the Tamron 17-50mm lens on, set the aperture to f/32, and shot away at my bright notebook screen.  Two test shots confirmed it--btw, the blur was intentional.  No fewer than 40 bunnies have made my sensor their home.  They are concentrated in the right side of the photo for some reason.  Well, it's time to clear the field of the invaders.



So, it took me six attempts to clean the sensor to remove most of the bunnies.  I started with a blower.  I knew it was not going to do much if anything.  I then proceeded with the Artic Butterfly.  Sure enough, it looks like these bunnies have burrowed themselves deep into the sensor.  I then tried the wet cleaning method.  My first attempt with a used swab left some bunnies behind.  My second attempt with the used swab made it worse.  I threw away the swab and got another one, new this time.  I applied the swab across the sensor and it looked like it was perfectly clean--except that when I did my test shot there were these funny artifacts and I thought there were residues of the cleaning solution on the sensor.  So I did two more wet cleaning only to realize the funny artifacts are flares from the lens.  The sensor is not 100% clean but good enough for normal shooting.

Having the tools at home is a heck lot faster and more convenient than sending the camera in to Nikon for cleaning.  Did I tell you their service centre in Mississauga does not open late on weeknights and is closed on weekends.

Artic Butterfly, or not?

I have used Visible Dust's Artic Butterfly many times over. It worked flawlessly, always as expected ... until a couple of days ago.

Returning from a camping trip, I decided to clean my sensor for this weekend of dragonboat festival at the Toronto Centre Island. I was confident the Artic Butterfly will remove a couple of annoying specks of dust on my sensor.

Here was the before-cleaning shot:


After brushing across the screen once, here is what I got:



Yikes! I brushed across the screen a second time, and a third time. The gunk was stuck firm on the sensor filter!


I believe the edges of the sensor was very dirty. I must have touched the edge and dragged the dust or some other gunk across the sensor filter. It was horrific! I could even see the streaks of dust or other deposit on the sensor filter with the naked eye. Well, it was ruined I thought. I guess only Nikon Service could fix this mess. That meant lots of wasted time and trying to make it to their office before they close at 5pm or something like that. Just then, I remember Cesar had bought a wet cleaning kit.

Cesar's wet cleaning solution is called "ultrapure optic cleaning fluid" made by American Recorder. A few drops on the swab and a couple of swipes across the sensor filter removed most of the gunk, and another couple more swipes to remove all the gunk. A strand of the swab or dust got left behind on the right edge of the screen after the wet cleaning. I then used the Artic Butterfly to remove it.

After the first application of wet cleaning (still some dusts):


After a second application of the web cleaning and then the Artic Butterfly:

Artic Butterfly, part 2

Today, I returned to the Toronto Photographic and Imaging Show at the International Centre by the airport. I had one thing in mind: get the Air Butterfly brush. Which one though? There are two versions: 724 and SL700. The 724 costs $30 more than the SL700. Which one to buy? In photography, you usually get what you pay for, so there is probably something about the 724 that speaks for the extra $30. After chatting with the technician, this is what I found out.

First, the brush for either the 724 or the SL700 is good for 10,000 uses. Second, the 724 brush is replaceable while the SL700 brush is not. Third, the 724 brush needs about 20 seconds of spinning to get ionized -- it does have two batteries so it spins faster than the SL700. The SL700 brush needs about 40 seconds of spinning, although the instructions say to spin it 5 seconds three times. I think I will go with the 40 seconds of spinning. Besides these two differences, the 724 and the SL700 are the same.

I bought the SL700 because it is rare that I will need to clean my sensor, and because I do not need to replace the brush for another 9999 uses. Mine looks like the one in the photo above but light green (green handle and green case).

To clean my sensor was simple, and it seemed to work fine. Here is what I did:

• Replace my D80 battery with a fully charged battery
• Remove the lens
  
• Select the mirror lock-up option in the D80 menu -- btw, the lock-up option is available only if the camera thinks the battery has enough juice
  
• Press the shutter button once to flip the mirror up and lock it in that position
• Leave the camera on
  
• Turn on the Artic Butterfly for 40 seconds
• Turn off the Artic Butterfly
• (At this point, if you want to be extra careful, remove the battery from the Artic Butterfly)
  
• I brushed the sensor in one smooth motion in one direction
• The bristles covered most of the surface of the sensor and that seemed to be good enough to pick up all the dust
  
• Turn off the camera to close the mirror
  
• Put the lens back on
• Turn on the Artic Butterfly for 20 seconds to free the dust particles it picked up
• Turn off the Artic Butterfly, and put the cap back on

My sensor is dust free!