Need Help - A7 Sensor Cleaning

[jaree]

Guys, I need some help here and will appreciate any info.

Here is what happened: I was changing lenses while hiking up a mountain range (bad idea) when a sudden drizzle landed one tiny drop of water on the sensor. With the wind and cold, all I could do was to try wipe it away with my finger. Now I have a mark on the sensor - see pic.

How do I clean it? Can I use LensPen? I also have Giottos "Professional Multi Optical Cleaning Solution" - can that be used on a soft cloth and lightly wipe the sensor? I have never done this sensor cleaning business on any camera in my life.

Lesson learnt, never change lenses when it is windy and cold. Or at least use some protection.

View attachment 88504

 

[Ario Arioldi]

First: Never touch the sensor with the fingers.
You may follow instructions and suggestions about tecniques and equipment as outlined is this article.
The Methods - Cleaning Digital Cameras - D-SLR Sensor Cleaning.
My personal suggestion is to use a blower first and finish with a sensor swab wetted with a few drops of isopropanol.

 

[GrahamWelland]

I agree regarding the blower method although the rain drop / grease mark do require a wet clean using a sensor wipe - the lenspen won't do it (and I avoid those as they seem to have some graphite element to them too).

At a pinch when on the road I've resorted to using a credit card/hotel room key card and a Zeiss eyeglass lens cleaning wet wipe ... but I wouldn't recommend it if this is your first cleaning attempt!!

If you're not comfortable cleaning the sensor glass (COVER btw), then have a knowledgeable camera store tech do it for you. That said, there's a lot more fear uncertainty and doubt about sensor glass cleaning than is really necessary. Remember, you are cleaning a piece of filter glass over the top of the sensor. It's not that fragile but you do want to avoid scratching it - you're very very unlikely to break it although I'd be wary of using any pressure due to the sensor cleaning mechanism in the Sony cameras.

 

[jaree]

Ario and Graham - Gents, thank you very much! I will attempt to do this myself.

 

[GrahamWelland]

My recommendation would be to use the full frame Type 3 SensorSwab by Photosol and the eclipse fluid.

Wet the swab with two or three drops on the very end, place the swab at the left or right side of the sensor glass and in a clean even wipe slide it across until you reach the edge on the other side. Flip the swab over and do the same thing back in the opposite direction.

You may see fluid on the glass but it should evaporate off quickly so don't be tempted to wipe it again.

Stop the camera/lens down to f/22 or more and shoot a white sheet of paper or something neutral and then review the image to see if you've removed the junk. You may need to do this a couple of times if the sensor glass is very dirty or the grease stubborn. Just remember to use a new swab each time.

Lot's of YouTube videos out there to help you.