Camera Labs

Hi guys,

I'm guilty of never cleaning my Canon EOS 60D, eekk sorry guys! Why? I just don't really know what I'm doing.

So I've carried out the whole exercise where you take a photo of a white wall or white piece of paper to make any dust or dity visible, and I have about 3-4 main dust spots which are visible when you zoom in and of course I think it just needs an overall clean.

I've watched a couple of videos on youtube which has given me a bit more confidence. So my conclusion is:

*Don't use compressed air, but you can use a rocket blower to loosen any dust within the camera as long as the camera is facing down when you do it, so hopefully most of the surface dust will fall out of the camera.
*Manually change your settings so the mirror is up and then use swabs to wipe the entire sensor, and then never use the same swab again.

Is this pretty much the crux of the process? Before I make an attempt I wanted to double check the above is correct and of course, seek any recommendations for the best rocket blowers and cleaning swabs to use?

Oh and lastly, I'm assuming the same swabs are fine to use on the back of the lens?

Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong section, I wasn't sure where to ask

Thanks
Richie

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richie lyons | sydney australia

photography by [ fresh ]
http://www.facebook.com/photographybyfresh

Personally I only clean the sensor if the dust is bad enough to be noticeable in normal images. First stop is to use a blower. This can only shift loose dirt, and can't move stuck on dirt. The latter, I use liquid + swabs. However I find I do that very rarely. Maybe 2 times a year at most on heavily used cameras. Some cameras I have never cleaned!

Dirt on the lens doesn't really have any impact on image quality unless you go really crazy. But keeping dust off the back can help prevent it moving into the camera. Dust on the front, just give it an occasional blow or use a good cloth or disposable wipe for the job.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.