Dirt....

[inkjunkie]

Anyone else have an impossible time keeping a cameras sensor clean. I have all 3 of the 1 DX models, the Mark III is incredible. I can understand when I go to the Motocross track dust finding its way on to the sensor but at the drag strip...not so much. I just shot at a drag strip. Changed lenses once. Camera mount was pointed at the ground the entire time. Lens mount was cleaned the day of the race. Lens was also blown out the morning of the race. Yet somehow I managed to get some boogers. They are not on every image...just randomly. I looked at the sensor with a loupe...several specs. I also have a 7D Mark II. Last time I was at the Motocross track I swapped lenses....as bikes were ripping by kicking up a dust storm. Went as far as laying the body down on a table, with the lens opening facing the track.....not a spec. Have fired over 100k shots on the 7D...never cleaned it.

All the gaskets on the lenses are good....except for the one Sigma which NEVER gets used. All the mounts are tight. Often times I can get by with just using a Rocket blower....but sometimes swabs are needed. Sure glad I am a CPS member. When I have the time I prefer to just send them to Canon.

[FloridaDrafter]

There is this one place that I travel to in southern West Virginia to shoot birds that have migrated from my home in Florida. I like to get them nesting. Anyway, every time I shoot there, both of my cameras get right down nasty. I have to clean them with sensor swabs every night. I use a 5D4 and 7D2 with an EF 100-400mm L II lens and sometimes an EF 100mm f/2.8 L macro to get flowers and insects. I really don't change out my lenses that frequently, but somehow crap gets on the sensors of both cameras. Now, that's not the case in Florida as I seldom have to clean them here. The area in WV is coal country, so I can only assume that the 100-400 is sucking in particulates. I do use a quality front, clear, protective non-filter. So other than the tiny air filters in the lens itself, I can't figure out how the crud is getting in there. I know the lens sucks/blows air, but it only happens in the part of WV I go to. Go figure, LOL.

[Waddizzle]

Do either of you use protective filters on the front of the lens?  Many lenses are not "fully weather sealed" until you add one.

[jrhoffman75]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Do either of you use protective filters on the front of the lens?  Many lenses are not "fully weather sealed" until you add one.

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Good info. The lens manuals will tell which ones.

The 16-35 f/4L and 50mm f/1.2L are two that I know of.

[shadowsports]

In general I don't make or recommend lens changes in exceptionally harsh conditions.

Places like 

Beach on a windy day with high surf

Sandy dunes in high winds

Africa during wildebeast migration

Trackside of a super dusty motorcycle race 

Pouring rain

These are all great places to take photos, but not to change your lenses.  My modern equipment, I've never noticed any problems with a lens or sensor, but I know it can happen.  I think that people who use their cameras under these conditions need to expect they will have issues from time to time.  So yes, being a CPS member is probably a good idea.

In the field, a rocket blower, and a big plastic bag or plastic dry cleaning garmet cover might help.  Not really much else you can do.  When I do change though, the body always faces down, start to finish.  I lost a long lens to fungus when I was 18.  Windy day at the beach, huge waves and losts of spray.  I though I had cleaned everything up.  Nope.  I had a filter on it as well which I removed and cleaned everything up first before putting things away.  That was a hard lesson at that age, and a chunk of $$$ out of a summer job to replace it.  Been paranoid ever since and have probably missed some great shots.

If there is any doubt, my phone comes out.  I have actiually been pretty amazed with my 6D2 and Sigma Lenses.  England, Germany, France and Russia are all very wet places in the winter.  Cold too.  On these trips I had water and condensation to deal with.  There were a lot of people who looked at my funny when they saw me put my gear in a big bag before going from 40* to 70*.  Body handled it like a champ.  Or maybe I got lucky. 

**EDIT, Rodgers suggestion of multiple camera's is one of the safest options for sure.       

[FloridaDrafter]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Do either of you use protective filters on the front of the lens?  Many lenses are not "fully weather sealed" until you add one.

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Absolutely ( I mentioned that in my post :)), and for me, it's just that one area I visit. No problems anywhere else I shoot. Just weird. A lot of coal truck traffic in the area is my only thought.

[inkjunkie]

I have clear filters on the ends of all the lenses that I can.

[wq9nsc]

I also have all three of the 1DX family models and a few weeks ago I was shooting a baseball game with dust in the air and I got some dust in the 1DX III which I am sure happened when I put a 1.4X extender on 400 f2.8 to shoot a few batters from the outfield fence area.

Sometimes it is just bad luck and at one soccer match a fragment of a blade of grass ended up on my 1DX sensor when I did a lens swap during the match.  I don't often check images while shooting but I was fortunate to catch that shortly after it happened before I shot the entire second half with a big grass blackout near the center of the sensor.

It doesn't matter if the camera is pointed down, if there is dust in the air it will get inside the shutter box area and odds are some of it will end up on the sensor.   I haven't had to clean the sensor often for any of my cameras but sometimes it is necessary.  Normally with a multiple camera setup, I can avoid changing lenses on site but sometimes the setup isn't what you expect.

Rodger

[inkjunkie]

I paid a visit to a guy in CA...yes I drove all the way from Spokane WA to Dixon CA...that teaches people how to clean their sensors. While there I stopped at local drag strip so it wasn't a total bust. Bought the brand of swabs and cleaners he suggested. My 1DX I managed to clean. The Mark II...not spotless but it will do. I rarely shoot over F/5.6 so...Just wasted an afternoon trying to clean the Mark III. No matter what I did I had lint come off the swabs. Went as far as hitting them with the Rocket Blaster before putting solvent on them. It will work for this weekend...a night time motocross race. Ordered more swabs today. Extremely frustrating...

[inkjunkie]

Probably should add that I do my best to avoid lens changes. With the Mark III's stellar low light performance...for the drag strip....I put a Sigma 50 f/1.4 on it. The Mark II gets my 70-200L II, the 1DX will get my 300L II on it. The 7D...it gets "Bertha". I have a first gen 400 F/2.8. Thing weighs a ton. I mount it on a Tri Pod. At the MX track I find a hill to set it on...and spend some time behind it. At the drag strip I put a remote radio on the 7D and the Mark II and fire it remotely.