Camera Cleaning

[LesWurse]

I'm a new owner of a used 60D that had about 5600 shutter events when I bought it. Seller says camera was never used in wet or dusty conditions and I won't do that either.

Given the above, how often is it generally recommended to have this type of camera cleaned by a professional repair station?  Or not?

[ScottyP · Accepted solution]

You can buy a Rocket Blower, or similar squeeze-bulb doohickey, and do a pretty good job of cleaning dust off of the sensor yourself. Just set the mirror lockup to raise the mirror and blast the sensor with air.   It won't clean a really dirty or water spotted sensor but it helps with the large loose dust particles. 

If you don't live near a good service place you can also learn to clean your own sensor.  I don't care to mess with the wet clean methods but I found one of the sticky-thing-on-a-stick tools works wonders, combined with a sensor pen and a sensor loupe. 

[RobertTheFat]

Every two or three years, probably. It depends a lot on how much, and where, a camera is used; so generalizations are difficult.

I'm a CPS Gold Member, and the annual dues include several cleanings for a camera body or lens. So whenever I'm going to be in the vicinity of Canon's New Jersey service center, I drop off whatever equipment is starting to look dingy or hasn't been in for a while. It's always a pleasure to see how great it looks when I get it back. But be warned: they always reset several of the camera's important settings to factory values. I've been burned a couple of times by going into photo shoots while forgetting that particular factoid.

[LesWurse]

Thanks - that gives me the time frame I was looking for.
leswurse

[ebiggs1]

A 60D with 5600 shots?  I wouldn't worry about it.  Unless you are a pro shooting a lot every day, you can go a few, to many, years before C&C is needed.

But like Bob from Boston says CPS does a fantastic job.  The camera looks brand new when you get it back.

When I was working I did yearly but now I am doing every two years.  (I could shoot 5600 shots in a weekend!)

[LesWurse]

Thank you - I'll be comfortable waiting quite a while unless I get caught in a dust storm or something like that.
leswurse

[ScottyP · Accepted solution]

You can buy a Rocket Blower, or similar squeeze-bulb doohickey, and do a pretty good job of cleaning dust off of the sensor yourself. Just set the mirror lockup to raise the mirror and blast the sensor with air.   It won't clean a really dirty or water spotted sensor but it helps with the large loose dust particles. 

If you don't live near a good service place you can also learn to clean your own sensor.  I don't care to mess with the wet clean methods but I found one of the sticky-thing-on-a-stick tools works wonders, combined with a sensor pen and a sensor loupe. 

[LesWurse]

Thanks for that info. I have avoided going in there because I was unsure how to do it.  This helps a lot if I ever need to do it.

leswurse

[TTMartin]

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@LesWurse wrote:

I'm a new owner of a used 60D that had about 5600 shutter events when I bought it. Seller says camera was never used in wet or dusty conditions and I won't do that either.

Given the above, how often is it generally recommended to have this type of camera cleaned by a professional repair station?  Or not?

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You really don't need to clean it, unless you can see something in your photos. If you want to be sure you're on top of it, periodically (like once a year) take a photo of the blue sky at a small aperture (large f/number). That will show contamination on the sensor, otherwise shoot away.

[LesWurse · Accepted solution]

Now that is a great practical idea that I can do without a lot of expense or messing around inside my camera which I'm pretty sure would not end up so well. Thanks!  leswurse

[ebiggs1]

"You really don't need to clean it, unless you can see something in your photos."

This may be the best advice you have gotten.  Unless you have reason, stay out of there.  It isn't hard to do but it is best to know what you are doing first.  There are things in the mirror box that don't react well to forgien objects.