Anyone tried the Copper Hill method?

rymus

Just curious really. My 20D's sensor is in a bad way, it looks like I sneezed on it then made a half assed attempt at wiping it with an oily kleenex. I've ordered the copper hill kit from switzerland and it should be here by the end of the week or start of the next. Anyone here already use it to clean their sensors?

dublinguy05

rymus, I have the copperhills cleaning kit and I use it for cleaning my 10d and 20d it works a treat, the instructions with the kit are very good, I practiced on a cd first, don't apply to much pressure and it may take a couple of swips to get the sensor totally clean...just make sure that you recieve the 'eclipse' cleaning solution as I ordered mine from america and for some reason this cannot be shipped from usa, but I orederd some from 7dayshop. You can order the pec pads from 7dayshop also...I would'nt go near my sensors with a kleenex....

rymus

well no the kleenex was a joke... I'm not quite that stupid.

I saw that on the copper hill website about the eclipse fluid not shipping outside the US.. I ordered it from a copper hill distributor in europe so no problems hopefully. Good to see youre getting good results from the kit, cant wait to finally get the gunk off my sensor.

DotOrg

i've done it on my 20d, it's scary and my sensor was filthy and i didn't get all the dirt off but it's so expensive if you only use each pad once i just left it with some dirt on it. i might get canon to do it if i come into a bit of money and i need the camera for something that'll use above f8 which i rarely do at present

rymus

I dunno about the expense. Works out alot cheaper than the alternative. the kit is around €60 vs. Canon's €45 + VAT cleaning. Same process, although granted they have a wee bit more practice at it.

bigred

You can get Pec Pads, Sensor Swabs and Eclipse from www.warehouseexpress.com they're based in the UK.
I've gotten this stuff from them before, two day turnaround cant be sniffed at. Get yourself some laytex gloves as well, you'd be amazed the gunk that can be transferred from your paws...

rymus

Just thought I'd post a followup... Got my kit today, nervously got down to work on it this evening and the results are in. Great kit, wonderful cleanup job, no more mysterious dark spots on photos.

More, including photos at http://blog.rymus.net/?p=336

obewan

What "Kit" exactlly did you get? Was it already on the site or did you "make" it up yourself?

Also any idea how long Canon would keep the Camera for cleaning purposes?

Mick.

rymus

by the kit I mean the items sold on chili pix. The kit consists of a packet of pec pads, a rubber spatula to wrap the pad around and a small bottle of eclipse fluid; all of which can be gotten from numerous suppliers no doubt.

Photologic do Canon cleaning in Ireland and after talking to someone up there I was told the turnaround time can be as low as 24 hours if the cleaning is booked about a week in advance. Otherwise it could be a week or as Canon said "anything up to 6 weeks".

After using the eclipse fluid & pec pads I can't believe I was considering paying someone nearly 60 quid to do the exact same thing. mind boggling

obewan

Rymus, thanks for the fast reply.

Mick.