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Sony A7R sensor not cleanable with swabs
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 9:13 am    Post subject: Sony A7R sensor not cleanable with swabs Reply with quote
Hallo Sirs,

I got a Sony A7R, which I carried for a walk in the woods.

I stayed within a country road and I changed optics only once, in the parking lot, before entering the green area (sensor was very clean before leaving for this walk).

There were some small trees very close to me when I changed lens.

When I came home I had several spots on my sensor, so I tried to clean them with the appropriate full frame swabs and isopropil.

Despite several passes almost nothing happened, much of the spots are still there.

I'm planning to get a fluid but I don't actually know how to proceed, since I don't really understand what might have caused such spots(maybe some sticky substance from the trees).

Asking for suggestions, especially in terms of cleaning solutions (I have one which is very effective for glass and lenses, made for opticians, which contains Phenoxyethanol and some other *paraben components, that might work here).

Regards


PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Isopropil on the swabs could evaporate or just was insufficient in quantity for the substance. It's a good idea to get sensor or even screen cleaning liquid and use your swab with it. In general, Sony sensors are covered with a protective layer, so you may not fear to hurt them with a bit more of dedicated liquid.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 11:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'm not sure where you are, so not sure what season it is there.

Could be anything from dust, tree resin (soluble in isopropyl, but you'll need quite a few cleaning passes), aphid droplets (sugary sticky substance, soluble in distilled/RO water), pollen (tough stuff, not sure about solubility), tree sap (likely soluble in water).

IF YOU USE WATER, DO NOT USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN PURE DISTILLED WATER. Tap water or filtered water will leave loads of mineral residues.

If you use distilled water, make sure you finish off with pure isopropyl alcohol; water is miscible with IPA and it will help evaporate the water with it.


This malarkey is why I sealed my lens adapter with nano AR coated glass and rarely take it off; I can change lenses all day long and don't get dust issues; just limits you to a single type lens mount whilst that adapter is on.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
RokkorDoctor wrote:
I'm not sure where you are, so not sure what season it is there.

Could be anything from dust, tree resin (soluble in isopropyl, but you'll need quite a few cleaning passes), aphid droplets (sugary sticky substance, soluble in distilled/RO water), pollen (tough stuff, not sure about solubility), tree sap (likely soluble in water).

IF YOU USE WATER, DO NOT USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN PURE DISTILLED WATER. Tap water or filtered water will leave loads of mineral residues.

If you use distilled water, make sure you finish off with pure isopropyl alcohol; water is miscible with IPA and it will help evaporate the water with it.


This malarkey is why I sealed my lens adapter with nano AR coated glass and rarely take it off; I can change lenses all day long and don't get dust issues; just limits you to a single type lens mount whilst that adapter is on.


Thanks.

I'm presently in winter, Italy, not too far from the Swss border. It wasn't a windy day. Trees around looked like plane trees

BTW

I took some test pics of a white computer screen (bright white canvas) and the spots do not appear anymore. Also some well exposed test images of leaves are spotless. But the tiny spots are still visible on the sensor, as I said. Some ten passes with isopropil have managed to weaken them but most of them are still there.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 4:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
https://eclipseopticcleaner.com/


PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
visualopsins wrote:
https://eclipseopticcleaner.com/


Ty I didn't mention it but I already have one in my shopping basket. If distileld water doesn't do the trick I will get this eclipse.

Or some pure methanol ethanol mix I can get directly from a pharmacy.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 6:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
pleto wrote:
visualopsins wrote:
https://eclipseopticcleaner.com/


Ty I didn't mention it but I already have one in my shopping basket. If distileld water doesn't do the trick I will get this eclipse.

Or some pure methanol ethanol mix I can get directly from a pharmacy.


The Eclipse is reagent grade methanol mixed with tiny bit of distilled water. Pharmacy costs way less than Eclipse. Just as good imho.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2023 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
visualopsins wrote:
pleto wrote:
visualopsins wrote:
https://eclipseopticcleaner.com/


Ty I didn't mention it but I already have one in my shopping basket. If distileld water doesn't do the trick I will get this eclipse.

Or some pure methanol ethanol mix I can get directly from a pharmacy.


The Eclipse is reagent grade methanol mixed with tiny bit of distilled water. Pharmacy costs way less than Eclipse. Just as good imho.


Thanks for confirming this. I hope to get enough of this methanol to clean my sensor and lenses cheaply and effectively.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2023 10:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you use a methanol/ethanol mix, do be careful;

Methanol & ethanol are fine for glass, but they are quite aggressive on plastics compared to isopropyl alcohol. Make sure you don't use a dripping wet swab and don't accidentally spill any on the plastics surrounding the sensor.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 6:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
RokkorDoctor wrote:
If you use a methanol/ethanol mix, do be careful;

Methanol & ethanol are fine for glass, but they are quite aggressive on plastics compared to isopropyl alcohol. Make sure you don't use a dripping wet swab and don't accidentally spill any on the plastics surrounding the sensor.


Thanks. Due to the necessity of being thrifty, I waited a bit and then I went for the distilled water + isopropyl combination.

One single pass of water followed by one single pass of iso for drying the excess water did the trick.

Clearly water was necessary since it probably was some organic substance.

Thanks you all for your help

I had taken a metal restoration course years ago so I know how much isopropyl is safe, with an important caveat, some old type of paint can be dissolved by this liquid. I ruined an ancient watch dial with isopropyl, it acted like paint remover.

It never gave me problems on cameras but one must be ever careful with painted surfaces, especially the more old ones.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
pleto wrote:
I had taken a metal restoration course years ago so I know how much isopropyl is safe, with an important caveat, some old type of paint can be dissolved by this liquid. I ruined an ancient watch dial with isopropyl, it acted like paint remover.

It never gave me problems on cameras but one must be ever careful with painted surfaces, especially the more old ones.


Not just old paint. I used some Isopropyl alcohol to clean some grease off the powder-coated baked enamel paint on a cheap but relatively new cooker hood. Bad mistake that was... Sad
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