Dust on CMOS, now what?

Hello everyone, i dunno if this is the right place to post this question.
but here is what happened to me.
Currently i m out of town ( i live in Canada, so now i m in Germany ), and i have 3 HUGE white dust stuck on the CMOS ( and yes u can easily spot them when i put it in the sensor cleaning mode ). which means that whenever i m taking pictures... there are 3 HUGE and BLACK spot on the pictures... it very frustrating... i used tried to clean it by using those hand pump blower... but unfortunately it didnt go away so i give up after a few tries... but the sad thing is that now i sitll have 2-3 weeks in Germany b4 i m go going back to Canada... should i attempt to find other ways to clean it or try to find a local Canon shop to get it fix? or i should just ignore til i m back to Canada ( but seriously i cant stand having the dust on the senor cuz it will make the pictures have the dots and i m afraid it will damage my senor cuz i dont have the money to replace the sensor nor getting a new one @.@ )

btw i use a Canon 30D for 3 yrs and yes this is not the first time to have dust on the senor... and god they cost a lot to get it fix at Canon everytime... just letting Canon fix my sensor alrdy costed me a few hundred dollars ( cuz a few times alrdy... and i starting to hate it... itz not resonable after a few time fixing it they still have dust or cost me that much... i really wanna give up my camera sometimes it so much to maintain it when i can save up for a new one or something...) Please help and advise! thanks!

KeesoN

Hi Keeson,

If you don't clean the dust off your sensor, it won't damage the sensor on the short term, don't worry. On the long term, it may get stuck there and will be harder to remove. But it still won't damage the sensor since it is behind a glass plate anyway. It will only ruin your images. If you shoot at f5.6 or lower, you'll see less of those spots than at higher aperture values. Some of the "damage" can be repaired by cloning those out in the post processing.

My advice is that you do not look for a Canon centre to have it cleaned. It may take a long time before you find one and if it is located in another city, you'll have to travel. Just go to any good camera store and buy a dry/wet sensor cleaning set. Or ask them whether they will clean the camera for you.

HTH,

Cheers,

Thank you for ur suggestions, but here is one thing about the cleaning kits and the shop. since i m not living in germany and i m here for short stop 2-3 weeks for holiday/work i dunno which are some good camera store where i can trust and let them handle my camera. and secondly, is that the wet/dry cleaning kits/method. i m really afraid that i will damage the sensor then i wont be able to use my camera or the money to replace it =\ is there any really safe and really common way of cleaning it that u guys do it yourself and it works perfectly everytime without damaging the sensor. i m currently at Furth/Nurembeg anyone that live in this area know any good camera shops? Thanks in advance. and btw what is HTH? heheh

Thanks

KeesoN

HTH: Hope this helps.

The wet method will always work, even though you may have some residue left in the corners. But it is better than no cleaning at all. I recommend kits made by the Visible Dust. I also use a "sensor pen" made by lenspen, which is a dry cleaning method. But you have to order it on the web from US. It is absolutely foolproof.

Unless you scratch the filter glass, there is no way you will damage the sensor permanently. In the worst case, the pro who cleans it when you go back home will undo any "damage" you'll cause.


HTH (LOL)

Cheers,

well thanks again, but i m a little worry about wet cleaning methods. becuz i m still adding liquid inside the camera it self... so i dont know if this is a good idea even tho i know it works. so i hoping to stick with dry cleaning method... so far the VisibleDust Arctic Butterfly looks really nice and simple... but dunno if it will scratch the sensor... since i dunno how much pressure i need to apply on it... and also itz bit too costly to buy it ( tho itz cheap to get it fix everytime at a shop... in a long run ) but if it would do the job right... i wouldnt mind getting it... also for the SensorKlear from lenspen... it is much cheaper but does it do the same thing as the VisibleDust? and how does it work? and is it for CMOS sensor? or just for lenses? which one will be better or worth getting it? sorry for the long and lots of question post... cuz i m really worry about my sensor and i wanna get it done so i can do some more photos b4 i leave Germany ( cuz i dunno when i will be able to go to Germany again )

Thanks and Salute!

KeesoN

Keeson

as Cem already told you, what you see down the camera body IS NOT the sensor but a piece of glass in front of it.

I've done wet cleaning since 2000 on Nikons and Canons… never got a scratch!

Below is an old but still up to date site on cleaning :
http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning
http://www.wetmethod.com/

Dry method and air blowers just blow dust INTO your camera body!


HiH

Greetings Keeson!

Suggestion # 1 Get the largest blower bulb you can find and use it. Squeeze it hard. ( I have yet to not have the higher air pressure of the larger bulbs clean later generation camera sensors)

If the above method is not effective you must use the next method

Suggestion # 2 Use a sensor swab with the latest sensor cleaning fluid. Only put as much as you can get to stay on the sensor swab, no droplets. Just wipe down the sensor with no conscious pressure then use a second swab to remove any remaining cleaning fluid. (the first generation cleaning fluids will damage the last few generations of glass sensor cover coatings)

In most cases of blowers not being effective the problem is a thin coating of condensed hydrocarbon or similar on the glass in front of the sensor that is like the film inside a car after being left in the hot sun that condenses on the inside of the windows. this is out gassing from internal plastics. manufacturers of later model cameras have reduced this problem greatly. Some of the early cameras had a thin sticky oily coating out of the factory. A friend of mine proved this by using a dry sensor swab on a new 1Ds sensor leaving what looked like worms all over the sensor where only some of the coating was removed similar to using a bad broom on a pile of dirt. A wet cleaning cleared this completely.

With the latest couple generations of cameras once they get a good and complete wet cleaning you may never need more than a large blower again!

Keeson,

First the blower, then again the blower, once more the blower. Then get the visible Dust brush and do the
dry cleaning method. very safe ( use the right brush ). I do it all the time. if you have not done
wet cleaning do not try it now. get a cam shop to do it for you.

wide apertures would reduce the effect. cloning too. you cannot damage the sensor, it is protected
by a filter. abuse not allowed.

Best of luck.

p.s take a lot of trees or intricate patters to hide the specks.