Fuji S1 CCD cleaning tips/hints

Hi All,

Frequent lurker, first time poster so please bear with me. I have a Fuji S1 camera (with an Ike MD housing and DS125 strobe). The camera is fantastic and love to shoot with it both above and below water. But, my CCD is obviously dirty as I'm getting consistent 'dirt' (for lack of a better term) on my images no matter what lens I use.

I know that the user manual says that you can self clean the CCD and has instructions for such. My question is have you done this before? And what tips/tricks do you use when cleaning the CCD. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much

--Patrick

Hi Patrick,

Lucky - I just cleaned my CCD last week - for the first time.

I bought a pack of "sensor swabs" from on online retailer (do a search). Some come pre-prepped with ethanol and dome you buy it separately. I followed the instructions in my S2 user manual to plug in the camera to AC power, and pressed the button combinatioin to lock up the mirror and the shutter.

Then I took one sweep across the CCD with a sensor swab and I was done.

Oooohhh, I forgot to put in "the disclaimer." These tips are meant only as a guide. Consult your user manual for details. Of course, I can't take any responsibility if your sensor is damaged during cleaning. No purchase necessary, see dealer for details - does not include TT & L...:-)

HTH

James

Hi James,

Thanks for the input. I'll hunt down some swabs. I'm going to try the 'blower' advice that the manual gives. If I can get away with not touching the CCD anything, all the better.

It defintely looks to me like it's dust vs a smudge on the images.

I'll post a quick note once I get this resolved.

Again, thanks

--Patrick

So how about posting some images? :-)

Cheers

James

Patrick, here's a link for you on how to swab your sensor, if you know what I mean.

Swab my Sensor, Please!

Cleaned mine for the first time last night. There was a black dot showing up on every image. The cleaning process was pretty easy but, considering all of the warnings about one little mistake causing a very expensive repair, I was somewhat freaked about the whole thing. It went okay, though. Afterward, there were NINE black spots on the subsequent images. Turned out the cleaning process had disloged some extra dust. Took the lens off, turned it face down, and used a rubber bulb to blow air across the CCD. That took care of it. Clean, smooth images. Just in time for our dive on Sunday. :-)

John

Thanks all for the info. Swabs have been ordered and should be here early next week.

Once the water around here warms up to 40 or better, I'll be sure to post some images.

--Patrick