What is sensor dust? It is dust that settles on your camera’s sensor. Your sensor can get dust on it when you’re changing lenses or anytime your camera’s insides are exposed to air. Sometimes even new cameras have sensor dust!

If you’ve ever seen those tiny spots in your pictures, usually noticeable on blue sky, you’ve seen sensor dust. You know it can be quite annoying and distracting and can ruin good pictures.

photo by puuikibeach

Why is sensor dust bad?

Sensor dust is not something you want in your camera. Like I mentioned above, it can ruin your images. You can Photoshop it out, but this is incredibly monotonous and time-consuming.

If dust stays on your sensor, it can become thicker, more noticeable, and harder to remove. If you notice sensor dust in your camera you should get rid of it as soon as possible.

Do I have sensor dust?

You should check your sensor for dust regularly. It’s usually something you notice anyway, but it’s still good to check.

There are two methods. The older, more common way is to put a lens on your camera, set it to minimum aperture (f/22, f/32, etc.), and shoot a photo of a blue sky. Open it in Photoshop, increase the contrast, zoom in, and check for spots. They’ll look like in the photo above. Remember that because of DSLR technology, the image is flipped 180 degrees vertically, so you have to figure out where the dust spots will be on the sensor.

However, there’s another option. Recently, a new product has come on the market, called a sensor loupe. A sensor loupe is a small magnifying device that allows you to see the dust on the sensor as you’re cleaning. It’s very convenient, as you can see where you need to clean right away—you don’t have to take a photo, check it, then take off the lens and clean more. This convenience comes at a price, though—sensor loupes aren’t cheap.

Should I Send My Camera In?

Some people like to send in their camera to the manufacturer or to a camera shop when it has dust on the sensor. I’ve found this to be not the best idea, for several reasons:

• It’s expensive. It costs money to ship your camera to be cleaned. Also, sometimes the manufacturer charges you. And all the time that your camera is away, you can’t use it.
• Manufacturers aren’t always reliable. Sending a camera in rarely gets rid of all the dust. Between cleaning, packaging, and shipping, some dust will probably find its way back into your camera. I’ve even heard of cameras coming back dirtier than they were! Basically, you can’t always trust someone else with your camera.
• It’s easy to do it yourself. I’ve found that most of the people who send in their camera, have never cleaned their own sensor. They just send it in because they’re scared to try. I’ve found cleaning your sensor to be like riding a bike—when you were first learning how, you were scared you might fall off. But once you learned how to do it properly, it became second nature. Once you gain experience cleaning your sensor, you’ll wonder why you were so hesitant in the first place. And you’ll be glad you didn’t spend money having someone else do it.

How Do I Get Rid of Dust?

There are three options for eliminating dust from your sensor. I’ll go over each in detail.

1. Bulb blower

   Bulb blowers like the Giottos rocket blower are one option for cleaning your sensor. When you have dust on your sensor, this is what you should try first. It’s the easiest, quickest, and least expensive method. Bulb blowers blow air onto the sensor, attempting to dislodge dust specks and blow them off. Take your bulb blower, set your camera in sensor cleaning mode, and simply squeeze the blower to blow air onto the sensor. Make sure nothing touches the sensor—not your hand, not the blower, nothing. Don’t let anything touch the insides of the camera either. You’ll want to practice blowing steadily before you actually perform the cleaning, so you’ll know how to keep the blower from touching the camera at all. You might be nervous at first, but it’s very simple and as long as you’re careful, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Once you’ve done it once, you’ll be able to do it easily in the future. Never use compressed air instead of a rocket blower. Compressed air sometimes contains oils from the inside of the can—these oils could damage your sensor. A bulb blower is the safe way to go here.

2. A dry cleaning product

   One such product is the LensPen. Sometimes dust is stuck on the sensor and can’t be blown off. Your next step is a dry cleaning. There are plenty of products on the market. Most are brushes that you brush your sensor with. Don’t use any brush—make sure it’s made for sensor cleaning. A brush is usually a little more expensive than a blower, but it works better too. Simply brush your sensor using the cleaning brush.

3. A wet cleaning kit

   If a dry brush still doesn’t do it, the final option for sensor cleaning is a wet cleaning. This is the strongest and most effective method. There are companies that sell wet solutions that you use with a brush, swabs, pads, or other tools. Make sure to use only the sensor cleaning equipment. General cleaning products that aren’t made for sensors could damage the camera.

When you notice dust on your sensor, start with a rocket blower, following the directions above. If that doesn’t get rid of all the dust, use a dry cleaning product like the LensPen. If there’s still some stubborn dust specks, you can move on to the third option, a wet sensor cleaning.

Do your research on which types of wet/dry cleaning products to get for your DSLR. As long as you’re careful and you use the right products, you should be fine. And even with the cost of sensor cleaning products, over time you’ll save money compared to sending in your camera to a company or shop. Plus, you’ll get to instantly clean your camera.

With a few inexpensive products and a little confidence, you can quickly master sensor cleaning and keep your sensor spotless—and get back to producing great images!