R5 Sensor Cleaning

SwissFrank

1N 3 1V 1Ds I II III R R5
Dec 9, 2018
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I've been shooting digital Canons (EOS-1Ds Mk I II III, EOS M, R, R5) from 2002-now and for the first time I have a dirty sensor.

Following the manual instructions on page 782 isn't making a dent in it.

All the dirt is in one corner so I fear I must have touched it :-(

So page 783 says in this case take it to a Canon Service Sensor.

Questions:

1) do you believe them? Is anyone cleaning the sensor manually?

2) how much is this going to cost me?

Here's the unphotoshopped version, and a version with contrast cranked way up.

R5_2023_05_15_999_8-dust.jpg

R5_2023_05_15_999_8-dust2.jpg
 
These guys have cleaned a sensor or two, at least.


I have the Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly 724 Super Bright and a Visible Dust loupe (an older model they don't sell any more), and that's always been sufficient for cleaning. I also have the Dust-Aid Sensor Stamp and a LensPen SensorKlear (the other products used by Lensrentals), but I've never needed to use them.

I have no idea what Canon charges to clean the sensor, I've never had them do it (though they did it for free with my 1D X when they did the shutter recall service). The Arctic Butterfly is not cheap, and if you get just that and the loupe it may cost more than paying Canon. But it's not hard to DIY, and over time it will likely be the cheaper option.
 
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I'd at least try a wet cleaning ,maybe even a second one, before sending the camera to Canon.
If you strictly follow the swab manufacturer's instructions - FULLY loaded battery - not too much liquid or pressure - nothing can go wrong.
I've done it several times with Leicas, which don't have "sensor cleaning" like Canon. In 8 Canon years, never had to clean a sensor. Strange?
 
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Be careful with pressure, the sensor is suspended on the IBIS cradle, not fixed like older cameras.

I’ve only had to clean my R5 sensor once so far, and it turned out to be a big grease spot on the RF100L back element!

My first step is visual inspection, followed by brushing with a sensor brush and blowing it out with a rocket blower. If that doesn’t help the swabs and fluid will have to get involved.

The shutter curtain keeps out a lot of dirt and debris, so I’m keeping a close eye on my R8, which lacks that feature. The R8 does run the ultrasonic cleaning when removing and attaching a lens, even when powered off. And the manual says to power off the camera when changing lenses :)
 
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That's one thing I don't think I'll ever do myself. Just way too many "I tried to clean my sensor" posts. Can't hurt to get a quote from Canon. Especially if you're unsure if you touched it in the first place. I'd 100% know if I touched my sensor or not.
 
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These are the prices of Canon Europe.

Are you living in a big city? There could be some promotional action (like "Canon days") in camera shops where your camera's sensor would be professionally cleaned at no cost to you.
That's pretty reasonable, actually. I have no problem dry cleaning my sensors, although I have only needed to do so a couple of times. For oil, I'd do as Mt Spokane suggests and send it in to Canon.
 
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These are the prices of Canon Europe.

Are you living in a big city? There could be some promotional action (like "Canon days") in camera shops where your camera's sensor would be professionally cleaned at no cost to you.
nice angle! yes, biggest city on the planet. That said the camera shops, or at least, Bic Camera, the only place I buy new gear, doesn't even have the Canon desk regularly manned any more. (For the last 20 years or so Bic's staff have become more and more specialists sent, I think, by the respective companies, and if the Canon guy is gone no-one else knows much about the Canon gear.) Sales are down 90%, and I think everyone's getting most of their questions answered on YouTube then are buying on-line. Of course that makes having "days" perhaps even more important and interesting, but also not sure I want to wait for a "day" to come.

OK, it took a few minutes to figure out exactly which terms to google but the link you suggested suggested some good terminology.

It looks like USD40 in Tokyo for a body PLUS a lens... no discount for body only or lens only! "While you wait." in Ginza, and 28 minutes door to door. And I'm headed up there for a haircut Wednesday anyway and have to check out a new toaster oven nearby.

 
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Hello,

are you a CPS member?

Here in Germany, as silver member, you get a 1x per year/body free Sensor clean and check!

I did that last year.

Might do it again before CPS will change to a subscription model!

Greatings B0B
 
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Hello,

are you a CPS member?

Here in Germany, as silver member, you get a 1x per year/body free Sensor clean and check!

I did that last year.

Might do it again before CPS will change to a subscription model!

Greatings B0B
CPS has already changed to a subscription model in the UK.
 
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Many thanks to all for their suggestions. Canon Service Center is less than 25 minutes north of here, 5-6 stops on the Akasaka line, so I just took it in.

The service is JPY5500, about USD40, and covers one body and one lens. No discount if you only do body so I took in my 24-105, which I've had since the month the R came out so I figured it'd be my dirtiest.

Drop off was annoyingly bureaucratic, with lots of serial number checks, inventories (hood, battery), I have to take the memories, etc. They CAN do it while you wait, but it takes an hour and the seem to only have one specialist on staff. So they have a reservation system, and no flexibility. They said it'd be done by 5PM but I didn't have enough to do in that part of the city to take that long so they'll mail it back to me for another USD7 or so.

And no, I'm not CPS. I shot stock photog briefly in the mid-90s but it was 90% business, 10% or less photog, pretty annoying. So any more I'm just amateur.
 
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Hello,

are you a CPS member?

Here in Germany, as silver member, you get a 1x per year/body free Sensor clean and check!

I did that last year.

Might do it again before CPS will change to a subscription model!

Greatings B0B
I'm afraid they've done it already...no more free CPS membership in Europe, not even if you used to be platinum member.
 
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Thanks again for all the help. The Canon Service Center in Tokyo's high-end shopping district Ginza was just 25 minutes from home, just a few meters from Higashi-Ginza exit A8. Second floor reception area had seating for 20+ but just a couple waiting at 1PM. Although they do service while-you-wait, it apparently does require a reservation. They had a cancellation and could service my camera at 4PM for a 5PM pickup but my other errands in Ginza would only take a few hours so I just dropped the camera off and told them to send it to me--about $7 overnight via Yamato. Camera came back today.

Most important thing of course is that they cleaned the sensor. There's no commentary as to what it was but the shape to me was clearly a fingerprint. The camera and the lens I had them clean (24-105, my first RF lens) looks basically new, but it wasn't that dirty anyway.

This image is an L JPG with min and max image levels adjusted to 0 and 255. I don't know if the stripes are a JPG artifact or a sensor feature or due to shooting a white LCD out of focus. I suppose I should do a deep dive into figuring that out and also finding how much lower the "peripheral illumination" correction is at lower ISO, but not my priority today. The spots are gone, which was my main interest.



1684496292687.png
 
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Try shooting at f/11 or narrower, that really starts showing spots on the sensor.
The vignetting certainly suggest the lens is not stopped down much, if at all. Wide apertures don't show sensor dust. Basic stuff.

@SwissFrank – shoot a blank white wall with even illumination or the clear, blue sky. Use a focal length from 24-35mm and stop the lens down as far as it will go. That's how to check for sensor cleanliness.
 
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Most important thing of course is that they cleaned the sensor. There's no commentary as to what it was but the shape to me was clearly a fingerprint. The camera and the lens I had them clean (24-105, my first RF lens) looks basically new, but it wasn't that dirty anyway.


View attachment 209090
Get forensics and claim against them.
 
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