Extremely Dirty Kit! What to Do?

[Craig Brelsford]

Take a look at this image. I was in Jiangsu in China photographing the spoon-billed sandpiper. The spoon-billed is just visible in the photo bottom right. In the photo, I was trying to show the precarious position of the spoon-billed in the world. To do so, I shot at F/25, so as to include the fishing vessels in the BG.

The top left of the image is a closer crop, further illustrating the extent of the spots on my sensor.

The amount of spots is unacceptable. I bought my D3S in November 2010 and use it heavily. I often use mirror-up and blow air into the un-lensed body using my rocket.

But it's not enough!

How can I clean my sensor? Where should I go? What should I do? How much should I expect to spend?

I live in Shanghai. Nikon's Asian HQ is just down the street. Should I start there? The Nikon people there are highly trained. They can work on my camera.

What do you think?

More specs on the displayed image:

Device: Nikon D3S
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G + 1.4x TC
Focal Length: 850 mm
Aperture: F/25
Shutter Speed: 1/640
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 1600

[Lorant Voros]

That sensor looks nice. You can send it for a pro cleaning at Nikon for sure. But you need regular cleaning if you swap lenses often and if you do it in a dirty environment. I recommend you to have the Artic Butterfly sensor brush ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/712189-REG/Visible_Dust_5964480_Arctic_Butterfly_724_Super.ht ml ) and sensor cleaning swabs. In a dirty sensor like this both dry and wet cleaning can be necessary. Of course many people say you rick damaging your sensor if you clean it yourself. I never had any problem doing it.
Hope it helps. Greetings and good luck.

Lorant

[Grant Eldridge]

Hi Craig, I clean my sensors on a regular basis with the Copper Hill system (http://www.copperhillimages.com/index.php?pr=Copper_Hill_Products), your sensor will take a bit of work initially but it will come clean.

[Don Nelson]

Using an fstop of f25 means that you are also getting sensor dust in focus (Artie teaches this at his IPTs and lectures). Artie will tell you " you'll be spending a lot of time on image cleanup if you do this". Even after cleaning you will have an issue as the dust just comes back.

Perhaps a better way to approach the requirements you've set for this image -- using at an fstop less than f25, say f8 or f11, make an image with boats in focus, then make an image of the foreground/bird in focus. Combine the two in PS. Yes the larger chunks of dust on the sensor will appear as OOF blobs that need to be fixed, but many of the tiny particles just won't show up. (This tip given to me by Artie)

[Daniel Cadieux]

Oh look at that beautiful sensor dust...lots of bunnies there!! My good'old 40D used to look like that at smaller apertures too. Just get a "Rocket Blower" and "Lens Pen Combo" from the Birds As Art online store, you also get instructions on how to clean the sensor properly. The first time doing it can be nerve-racking, but then you realize it is all too easy. Click the banner above the page or the link below:

https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=9

[arash_hazeghi]

that's a lot of dust. you will need wet cleaning for that. I use sensor swabs and eclipse solution.

[Craig Brelsford]

Hello everyone!

Thanks for the tips! Update: Today I had my secretary take my D3S to the Nikon service center in downtown Shanghai. For 150 yuan, or about US$20, I got a thorough cleaning. Everything looks good. I need to learn how to clean a sensor myself, but as long as I live so close to a service center, my lessons can wait.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thnaks for the update Craig, glad things were taken care of for you.