Clean and tune. How often?

[Ozarker]

I've had my 5D mark III since the fall of 2015. Honestly, I don't get to use it much. I might have 7,000 clicks. I'm wondering if it might be time to send it in for a cleaning and "tuning". I say tuning because years ago we sent in our XSi for a shutter replacement and I believe it included a cleaning and what they called tuning. It seemed the colors were better after that.

Thanks!

 

[ahsanford]

Ooh, #subscribe. I've always been curious about this myself.

- A

 

[pwp]

I've had my 5D mark III since the fall of 2015. Honestly, I don't get to use it much. I might have 7,000 clicks. I'm wondering if it might be time to send it in for a cleaning and "tuning". I say tuning because years ago we sent in our XSi for a shutter replacement and I believe it included a cleaning and what they called tuning. It seemed the colors were better after that.

Thanks!

Seriously? It's not like a car that needs oil changes, brakes checked and so on. You won't need to give it a thought for years. If the sensor is clean, don't clean it. What else is there to clean? My 5D3 was retired after around 450,000 clicks (and two replacement shutters) and it went in to CPS just twice in that time, for the new shutters. There was no "tuning" involved. My old 1DX is up around 750,000 clicks (new shutter at 480,000 clicks) and other than a few over the counter sensor cleans, the only time it's ever been to CPS is for that new shutter. No tune-up!

Just forget it and enjoy your great 5D MkIII.

-pw

 

[Ian_of_glos]

I have had my 5D mark 3 since they first came out in 2012 and in all that time all I have done is replaced a battery that was no longer holding its charge. Also I have the sensor cleaned professionally once a year.
It is still going strong and it has now chalked up well over 100,000 clicks. One thing you can say about Canon cameras is that they are built to last.

 

[ahsanford]

I have had my 5D mark 3 since they first came out in 2012 and in all that time all I have done is replaced a battery that was no longer holding its charge. Also I have the sensor cleaned professionally once a year.
It is still going strong and it has now chalked up well over 100,000 clicks. One thing you can say about Canon cameras is that they are built to last.

That's the bit I'm pondering. MY 5D3 is 5+ years old and has never been serviced. Works like a top, but I always wonder if it could use a closer look from someone more knowledgeable than I am.

Further, Canon opened up a new facility not far from me at all (within quick driving distance). Hmm... :

- A

 

[Ian_of_glos]

I have had my 5D mark 3 since they first came out in 2012 and in all that time all I have done is replaced a battery that was no longer holding its charge. Also I have the sensor cleaned professionally once a year.
It is still going strong and it has now chalked up well over 100,000 clicks. One thing you can say about Canon cameras is that they are built to last.

That's the bit I'm pondering. MY 5D3 is 5+ years old and has never been serviced. Works like a top, but I always wonder if it could use a closer look from someone more knowledgeable than I am.

Further, Canon opened up a new facility not far from me at all (within quick driving distance). Hmm... :

- A

I am always very careful when changing lenses so I don't often find that there is dust on the sensor. However, occasionally dust does find its way in and that is why I have it cleaned. I would not dare to try and clean it myself and I think it is worth paying for it to be done professionally. Alternatively you might find that you can have your sensor cleaned for free at a photography event in your area.
If you want to check for dust then stop your lens down to its smallest aperture - F11, F16 or F22, turn autofocus off, point the camera at a plain white surface such as a wall, and take a picture. Don't worry if your shutter speed is very slow - in fact the slower the better, and it is a good idea to move the camera around whilst the shutter is open. Yes it is the opposite to what you are normally taught, but because the dust is stuck to the sensor it is not affected by camera shake and it will show up clearly as grey dots against the plain white background.
If you cannot see any dust then happy days - maybe you don't change lenses very often, or maybe you are just very careful when you do change lenses.
If you do see some dust then it is worth having the sensor cleaned. Most of the time you will not notice, but it can really ruin plain subjects like a clear blue sky or a bride's dress.

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi Ian.
I have had the opportunity to have a free sensor clean at a few shows, do watch the ‘technician’ first, some of them are good, some not so much especially when they are peering out over an overwhelming stack of cameras to clean, the well organised ones stop taking cameras when they have reached a set number so they don’t have to rush through them and that is it for the morning, or day and you will get yours back at lunch or close of play! No rushing set time for each sensor. Some cleaning booths are out of the way, behind a screen etc, some just in the corner of a dusty show hall with Joe public flapping around near by. ???

Just observe a bit before handing over your camera to what could be the local exspurt, ex being a has been and spurt a drip under pressure!
I clean mine at home when I find dust, I can control the environment, and have as long as I want to do it right. I only use an arctic butterfly brush now, I used to use wet swabs, never done any damage.

Cheers, Graham.

Alternatively you might find that you can have your sensor cleaned for free at a photography event in your area.

 

[Ian_of_glos]

Hi Ian.
I have had the opportunity to have a free sensor clean at a few shows, do watch the ‘technician’ first, some of them are good, some not so much especially when they are peering out over an overwhelming stack of cameras to clean, the well organised ones stop taking cameras when they have reached a set number so they don’t have to rush through them and that is it for the morning, or day and you will get yours back at lunch or close of play! No rushing set time for each sensor. Some cleaning booths are out of the way, behind a screen etc, some just in the corner of a dusty show hall with Joe public flapping around near by. ???

Just observe a bit before handing over your camera to what could be the local exspurt, ex being a has been and spurt a drip under pressure!
I clean mine at home when I find dust, I can control the environment, and have as long as I want to do it right. I only use an arctic butterfly brush now, I used to use wet swabs, never done any damage.

Cheers, Graham.

Alternatively you might find that you can have your sensor cleaned for free at a photography event in your area.

Graham - yes cleaning the sensor yourself is a good option as long as you know what you are doing and you are careful. The trouble is that I am completely hamfisted and it is likely that I would damage the sensor or leave smears all over it so that is why I prefer to have it done professionally.
I often go to the LCE camera fair in Southampton every April and there the cleaning is done by Thomas Camera Services. They are an approved Canon repair service, they are very careful and they always make a good job of it. If I am unable to attend the show in April then I pay for the sensor to be cleaned. It costs about 30 quid.

 

[Ozarker]

I've had my 5D mark III since the fall of 2015. Honestly, I don't get to use it much. I might have 7,000 clicks. I'm wondering if it might be time to send it in for a cleaning and "tuning". I say tuning because years ago we sent in our XSi for a shutter replacement and I believe it included a cleaning and what they called tuning. It seemed the colors were better after that.

Thanks!

Seriously? It's not like a car that needs oil changes, brakes checked and so on. You won't need to give it a thought for years. If the sensor is clean, don't clean it. What else is there to clean? My 5D3 was retired after around 450,000 clicks (and two replacement shutters) and it went in to CPS just twice in that time, for the new shutters. There was no "tuning" involved. My old 1DX is up around 750,000 clicks (new shutter at 480,000 clicks) and other than a few over the counter sensor cleans, the only time it's ever been to CPS is for that new shutter. No tune-up!

Just forget it and enjoy your great 5D MkIII.

-pw

Well yeah, seriously. You've been very fortunate like most, I would think. That doesn't mean there aren't things that shouldn't be checked, verified, and cleaned and lubed now and then. The same for lenses, I guess. I worked in the instrumentation / automation field for 30 years in the printed circuit board industry. No matter how good something was there were always adjustments that had to be made as something aged. Thus, I asked the question. Tuning doesn't only have to do with cars. It applies to musical instruments, electronic instrumentation, analog instrumentation, calibrations, etc.

I think a lot of people calibrate their monitors at home. There's a reason for that. It would make sense to me that Canon would check that on the camera along with the metering system and shutter speeds. Just a guess.

Thus, I asked an innocent question. Logical too. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Sporgon]

I have had my 5D mark 3 since they first came out in 2012 and in all that time all I have done is replaced a battery that was no longer holding its charge. Also I have the sensor cleaned professionally once a year.
It is still going strong and it has now chalked up well over 100,000 clicks. One thing you can say about Canon cameras is that they are built to last.

That's the bit I'm pondering. MY 5D3 is 5+ years old and has never been serviced. Works like a top, but I always wonder if it could use a closer look from someone more knowledgeable than I am.

Further, Canon opened up a new facility not far from me at all (within quick driving distance). Hmm... :

- A

In England we have a saying: "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

Applies very well to cameras.

 

[Luds34]

In England we have a saying: "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

Applies very well to cameras.

Haha, across the pond us Yanks have that saying as well!

Cheers!

 

[slclick]

I've had the 5D3 since launch and the only maintenance I have done is sensor swabbing. This is very easy, just go slow, use YouTube to guide you along and if you start with a quality product and have steady hands, nothing will go wrong. Besides that, unless you have humidity, sand/dust/grit, infestation issues...does it work? Take Sporgon's advice.

 

[cayenne]

What all exactly can you get CPS to do if you're a member?

I checked and I have plenty enough points to have the top two tiers levels of service.

I gather from this thread, you can get you sensor cleaned....checked.

Can you send in the body, and 2-3 lenses to check that they match and focus is working properly?

I've been finding when shooting at times, I hear the beep, but don't see the focus points flash red.....and when this is happening, I find at times...that I've been missing focus.

I'm wanting to get my body and like my 3 main lenses I use, especially shooting concerts, 70-300 2.8 II, 24-70 2.8 II, and the 11-14mm........

Also, if you ship this in, what's usually the turnaround time? How do you go about packing to ensure safe transit?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

 

[RunAndGun]

I'd say it just largely depends on the environment you shoot in, how often you shoot and how hard are you on your gear. Just for a frame of reference, when I was covering racing all of the time(~10 months/year, ~30 events & average shooting 3 days/event), I sent my broadcast camera(I know, not a stills cam) in for a 'clean & check' at least once a year. Now granted I was probably shooting in a much harsher environment on a regular basis than you are and my professional livelihood depended on it working properly. And with all of that being said, I've never sent any of my still cams away for a clean & check with the exception of one, just because CPS were usually at two of the big racing events I'd cover every year and I could just bring it with me to the track at my "home event" and get it back in a few hours.

 

[Talys]

I've had the 5D3 since launch and the only maintenance I have done is sensor swabbing. This is very easy, just go slow, use YouTube to guide you along and if you start with a quality product and have steady hands, nothing will go wrong. Besides that, unless you have humidity, sand/dust/grit, infestation issues...does it work? Take Sporgon's advice.

For me, most of the stuff is on the mirror/prism, not the sensor. I rarely have had to do a sensor clean on any DSLR; then again, I avoid lens swaps in unfavorable conditions, if I can (I'll duck into my car to do it, or whatever).

 

[ahsanford]

+1 to Talys on the sensor not being the only area to consider.

I change lenses fairly often, 2-3x per outing I'd guess. I've never seen any sensor trouble or dust, but I have had an eyebrow or eyelash fall in the inner cavity before. It was in the optical path (that's how I found it), but it was not difficult to sort out once I knew what it was and where it was.

- A

 

[ethanz]

Good timing for this thread. I'm a CPS Platinum member here in the USA. With that I get 10 free CMS (Canon Maintenance Service) a year. Basically they clean and check things, take it apart, to make sure its working well. With the platinum service, they pay for overnight shipping to and from. Last week I sent my camera and four lenses on Monday. I got them back on Wednesday!

Regarding focus, I asked about them calibrating the lenses and camera, but that involved extensive and expensive work (+$200 per item), so I declined that.

For non-CPS you can pay $50 or 70 for this service. For lower level members, I don't remember what you get, maybe just a few free CMS a year.

I'm sure all my equipment would be fine without this (except the for sensor dust on 1dx...) but I'm the kind of guy that goes to the car dealership and has my car serviced once a year, just to make sure its in tip top shape.

With these benefits, I don't know why you wouldn't be a CPS member in the USA. I also received several really nice straps and a CPS camera bag. That was worth the membership fee right away ;D

 

[Loswr]

I would not dare to try and clean it myself and I think it is worth paying for it to be done professionally.

It's quite easy, with the proper tools. I trust Uncle Roger's shop, they have oodles of cameras and clean the sensors between rentals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRW9AmDPqr0

The above is their 'old' method, I use it routinely and have never had to go beyond the Arctic Butterfly (but I have the sensor stamps just in case).

There's also LensRentals' new method:

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/04/guide-to-cleaning-your-camera-sensor/

 

[RGF]

I lucky that I am a 45 minute drive to the Canon service center in Itasca. As a CPS member I have my camera cleaned and tuned after every "dirty" trip (i.e., Africa with all the dust). Cheap insurance if you ask me. The cost of the trip is over $10,000 (once you factor in all costs - land, air, prep at home, ...) so spending a $100-150 seems like nothing.

 

[ahsanford]

All of that is not for me, if I'm honest.

Would I work on my own car? Sure, and I have. But I wouldn't tinker with critical componentry or tear the engine down.

I'm not averse to learning something new, but I likely smaller stakes than might permanently damage the most irreplaceable component.

Also, I'm not a pro and I almost never lean on the shutter button in what I shoot. So even 5+ years of use with my 5D3, I doubt I've hit 100k actuations.

- A