[birder]

Hello. I have a problem with bits of 'dust' getting onto my mirror (?) on my D100 and these are appearing on the recorded image. Can someone please tell me how to clean them off? Thanks

[JonB]

There's an article (with pictures) about it here: http://www.pbase.com/image/11013788

I've done it a number of times to my D100 without problem (although it usually takes 4 or 5 cleanings to get it all), but as Nikon warns, be it on your own head if you damage the antialiasing filter!

BTW, I STRONGLY suggest you use the AC adapter for mirror lock-up. Indeed, mirror lock-up will ONLY work with the adapter. If you use a bulb setting, you're asking for disaster! One finger slip on the shutter and the mirror and/or shutter curtain crashes down and you're in for a major fix! There's been tons of threads on sensor cleaning on www.nikonians.org. If you search the forums there, you should find more sites with info.

Regards,
Jon

[Doug Greenberg]

Yes, you really should get the AC adapter. This enables the "sensor cleaning" function of the camera and elimates some of the potential problems people encounter when they simply hold the shutter open using the "B" setting.

In my experience (14 months of D100 ownership) people "swab" the sensor too often in instances when it is not necessary. I have only had to "swab" one time. When I see a few dust spots on my images I use a judiciously applied burst of air to blow it away, and it works nearly all of the time. The safest approach is to use a blower brush of some kind. Frankly, however, I take the "risk" of using canned compressed air. The danger of using this method is that you can contaminate your sensor cover with cold liquid, and this is very, very harmful. To avoid this, you need to perform a couple of preliminary "blasts" out into the room somewhere (the vapor issue always is associated with the "first blast" out of the can), avoid shaking the can, and hold the can upright. You also need to hold the tip of the nozzle well away from the target. These precautions pretty much eliminate the risks, in my experience.

Still, many people would not do as I do, and choose to use some kind of "safer" blower. But in any case, a gentle blow of air will eliminate your dust problem MOST of the time. When this method is not sufficient, you should use the "sensor swipe" method, as described in various websites online. Or else take it to the nearest Nikon repair person, who will charge you roughly $20 for cleaning your sensor.

[JonB]

I agree. In the early days, I suffered from dust-bunny paranoia and cleaned it whenever I saw dust after stopping down, shooting the sky, and boosting the levels (the recommended method of checking for dust bunnies). These days I generally ignore it unless I see more than a couple of blobs show up on a shot using regular settings.

I quit using canned air after I tilted the can and covered the sensor in goop. It took a fair bit of cleaning, but didn't seem to do any lasting harm. It just looks really ugly until you get it all cleaned off (which is a pain)! I kicked myself in a huge way after that, since I was chanting the mantra "keep it level, keep it level, keep it level" the whole time, yet I tilted it anyway. Duh! If you want to see the mess it makes of the CCD, have a look at http://home.golden.net/~brierley/Dsc_2840Compressed.jpg - my gallery of shame! The good news is it all cleaned off and my D100 works fine.