DIY Cleaning Digital Cameras

Friend Saverio sent me a link for this site which discusses user-cleaning methods for the imaging devices in digital cameras with removable lenses.

In a traditional film camera, dust and debris can be forcefully removed from mechanical components by compressed air, and gently removed from optical surfaces as necessary. Dust which may land on a piece of film negative will be scraped off by the film canister, but won't affect subsequent frames. In digital cameras with removable lenses, the film is replaced by a permanent solid-state sensor. This sensor is fragile, valuable, and may not be replaceable - and user cleaning is limited or forbidden by the manufacturer.

We've owned a Pentax digital SLR for two years, and some time in the last year, I noticed subtle blobs on a couple of images which turned out to be debris on the CCD sensor. I dared only a couple of ineffectual puffs from a bulb-type lens blower (as described in the owner's manual), but eventually took the camera to a Pentax-authorized service shop - where it took 2 or 3 days and $55 for an "imaging block" cleaning. I still consider that a modest price to pay for a year or more's use of the camera with no other incurred expenses. When we're traveling and I need to do a lens change (almost always to a very long lens for something), I won't wait for "clean" conditions, so this will just be an ongoing maintenance issue.

We'll see if I dare to do DIY cleanings in the future.