Sensor cleanings are part of the routine maintenance of your camera.  It is imperative to practice good camera hygiene since your images are the result of your practice.  Stop wasting time editing your photos when you could have easily taken care of it with wet swabbing the dust and static away.  

Why is it dirty? Because there are dust particles everywhere.  EVERYWHERE!  By changing lenses the chamber is opened to invite dust and debris into your camera sensor housing. Even if you never take your lens off of your camera the vacuum pressure caused by zooming and focusing and lack of weather sealing, contribute to the problem.  Ultimately there is an electrostatic charge that builds up inside the camera during use and it allows loose particles to adhere to the camera sensor. Some of the particles can be blown off but if you notice that they do not easily blow away the static charge is quite strong and it might require more stringent techniques. You will find out when you are in the digital darkroom wasting the beautiful day behind the computer screen.  Over and over… there is that spot again!  

What do I do if I notice my sensor is dirty? The first thing to do is to check what is on there.  The easiest way to do that is to set the camera to Aperture Priority at f:16, ISO should be 200, focus your lens to infinity, and you can point it at a blue sky and take a photo.  This will reveal the most obtrusive particles on your sensor.  But there is more than what you see, ALWAYS! 

Now what?  Some people are not comfortable attempting anything when it comes to getting inside their camera but I know a lot of people who would take the risk!  Send it to us for cleaning if you have not been able to do it yourself.  We can put it through the diagnostic and make sure that most, if not, all of the particles are cleaned from your sensor.  The sensor is wet swabbed until it is clean and the camera body is removed of noticeable debris.  In DSLR’s the viewfinder housing might require a cleaning as well which will come at an extra charge because the focusing screen has to be removed but we would inform you of that if necessary.  The Mirrorless cameras have a EVF that is fairly well contained. If there is more service that we deem necessary we would contact you before proceeding. 

If you wish to ship your equipment to our store front at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20006 for repair, please fill out form below if you plan to ship your equipment to us:

Request Form

Ship the completed form with your equipment. We will reach out to you by email or phone when we receive your equipment.