Where to get 5DIII sensor cleaned?

[transpo1]

I bought my 5Diii about 2 months ago and have used it on one trip to Italy for olive harvesting season and have come to find out there is a dirty spot on the sensor. Not a huge issue, but I'd like to have a perfectly clean sensor and entrust it to the professionals to clean.

Does anyone have any recommends on where to have this done?

Canon? B&H (I hear they do this)? Any good / bad experiences?

 

[unfocused]

Wow! I can't believe no one has responded. If it were me, I'd send it directly to Canon. Wouldn't risk having anyone else do it.

 

[rpt]

Wow! I can't believe no one has responded. If it were me, I'd send it directly to Canon. Wouldn't risk having anyone else do it.

Absolutely! No question there that you should go to Canon.

 

[privatebydesign]

Wow you guys take it too seriously sometimes.

It is very easy to clean a sensor yourself, if you really refuse to get a kit and do it yourself then any camera shop can do it, if they have an in house repair dept even better.

 

[9VIII]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eyelead-Dust-sticking-cleaner-cleaning-Olympus/dp/B0046VBEE0

Ever since I've heard of Eyelead I want to try one. Apparently Leica uses something almost identical at their factory.

I've also heard of people using PEC pads, though it's not recommended by the PEC pad manufacturer.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

A rocket blower or better yet, a Artic Butterfly is the preferred tool for removing dust from a sensor. A inspection loupe is also a nice tool to have. You can get into wet sensor cleaning, but its a pain and you can seriously mess up a sensor in one of several ways. I clean my own, but I am willing to take the risk.

Only consider sending a camera to Canon or other shop if these simple 5 minute processes don't work.

Also be aware that there is no such thing as a perfectly clean sensor, dust is always there, it gets objectionable when its fairly large and there are several of them.

Expect to see dust on your sensor right after it comes back from a cleaning, there are about 1.2 million particles of dust per cubic meter Fortunately, most of them are very small.

 

[Shooter]

I've been cleaning my own sensors for well over a decade. Visible Dust products are head and shoulders above others. Yes CPS will clean a sensor, but you are without your camera and shipping gets pretty expensive, because dust comes back on a regular basis.

Done carefully, there is virtually no chance of damaging your sensor. Visible Dust has plenty of video tutorials to walk you through it. A key is hold the swab vertically for a few minutes after you place a couple of drops of Sensor Clean on the leading edge of the swab, this allows the liquid to soak in, and evaporate a little. One pass down the sensor, rotate it 180 degrees and make another pass in the same direction. Look at the sensor with a Visible Dust sensor loupe, shoot the sky at f16, see if you got it all. If you did, great, if not repeat until you do.

Very little pressure is required/suggested. Once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder why you ever went through the time and trouble to send it off. I have four or five bodies at any given time. I had to learn to do this.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've been cleaning my own sensors for well over a decade. Visible Dust products are head and shoulders above others. Yes CPS will clean a sensor, but you are without your camera and shipping gets pretty expensive, because dust comes back on a regular basis.

Done carefully, there is virtually no chance of damaging your sensor. Visible Dust has plenty of video tutorials to walk you through it. A key is hold the swab vertically for a few minutes after you place a couple of drops of Sensor Clean on the leading edge of the swab, this allows the liquid to soak in, and evaporate a little. One pass down the sensor, rotate it 180 degrees and make another pass in the same direction. Look at the sensor with a Visible Dust sensor loupe, shoot the sky at f16, see if you got it all. If you did, great, if not repeat until you do.

Very little pressure is required/suggested. Once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder why you ever went through the time and trouble to send it off. I have four or five bodies at any given time. I had to learn to do this.

I do my own as well, but I also see a lot of posts from failed cleanings. The devil is in the details. Done properly is a nebulous term, not every one has the dexterity or manual skills. Some people think more is better and douse the swab with cleaner. The cleaner runs under the AA filter, and its a mess. Some rub too hard and scratch or otherwise damage the surface of the AA filter. And some reuse swabs and end up putting more junk back on the sensor.

Never underestimate a fool, we are just too clever.

 

[unfocused]

Wow you guys take it too seriously sometimes.

It is very easy to clean a sensor yourself, if you really refuse to get a kit and do it yourself then any camera shop can do it, if they have an in house repair dept even better.

You are probably right. I just have a life-long collection of items I've f*cked up trying to do it myself. There's a reason I've spent my career in office jobs.