Cleaning the low-pass filter on a Nikon D80

I am very, very new to digital but have had Nikon film SLR's for
years.

Does anyone have any insight in to how factory authorized service
facilities clean the filters on DSLR's?

And are there also high-pass filters that have to be cleaned?

And since the sensor is fitted with a filter, does the sensor still
get dirty?

I have read that dirty sensors don't make a difference until f16 or
so, but at some point I assume they all have to be cleaned.

If you are seeing vague blobs in areas of light color, like skies, then
there is probably dust on the filter.
It is invevitable this will happen unless, possibly, you live and work in a
clean room where microprocessors are made.
The instruction manual tells you how to lock the mirror up.
There are several dry/dustless swabs available that can be used with a very
light touch and, at least for me, have been effective.
If that does not work there are liquids you can very lightly saturate the
cleaning pads with.
Or if you are not willing to do this contact Nikon for service.

"gowanoh" wrote in message
t...
If you are seeing vague blobs in areas of light color, like skies, then
there is probably dust on the filter.
It is invevitable this will happen unless, possibly, you live and work in
a clean room where microprocessors are made.
The instruction manual tells you how to lock the mirror up.
There are several dry/dustless swabs available that can be used with a
very light touch and, at least for me, have been effective.
If that does not work there are liquids you can very lightly saturate the
cleaning pads with.
Or if you are not willing to do this contact Nikon for service.


I've got a reral mess on my sensor and contacted Nikon UK today. They have
a 10p minute number that routes you through to some guy in Dublin who has no
idea how long it will take to clean the sensor and return my camera. When
asked if it was a matter of weeks, a month or months he said he had no
idea at all.

Ken Brown wrote:
I am very, very new to digital but have had Nikon film SLR's for
years.

Does anyone have any insight in to how factory authorized service
facilities clean the filters on DSLR's?

And are there also high-pass filters that have to be cleaned?

And since the sensor is fitted with a filter, does the sensor still
get dirty?

I have read that dirty sensors don't make a difference until f16 or
so, but at some point I assume they all have to be cleaned.

First get a rocket blower (rubber bulb) then try a brush... if you do
those regularly you probably will never need to do a wet cleaning.

--
Paul Furman Photography
http://edgehill.net
Bay Natives Nursery
http://www.baynatives.com

On Fri, 7 Sep 2007 20:20:24 +0100, "jon" wrote:


"gowanoh" wrote in message
et...
If you are seeing vague blobs in areas of light color, like skies, then
there is probably dust on the filter.
It is invevitable this will happen unless, possibly, you live and work in
a clean room where microprocessors are made.
The instruction manual tells you how to lock the mirror up.
There are several dry/dustless swabs available that can be used with a
very light touch and, at least for me, have been effective.
If that does not work there are liquids you can very lightly saturate the
cleaning pads with.
Or if you are not willing to do this contact Nikon for service.


I've got a reral mess on my sensor and contacted Nikon UK today. They have
a 10p minute number that routes you through to some guy in Dublin who has no
idea how long it will take to clean the sensor and return my camera. When
asked if it was a matter of weeks, a month or months he said he had no
idea at all.

That sounds like an American business model. The Dublin guy must have
been trained over here.

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 07:28:56 -0500, Ken Brown
wrote:

I am very, very new to digital but have had Nikon film SLR's for
years.

Does anyone have any insight in to how factory authorized service
facilities clean the filters on DSLR's?

And are there also high-pass filters that have to be cleaned?

And since the sensor is fitted with a filter, does the sensor still
get dirty?

I have read that dirty sensors don't make a difference until f16 or
so, but at some point I assume they all have to be cleaned.

Thanks to Gowanoh, Jon, and Paul Furman for your experiences and
suggestions. I will try the least intrusive first and go from there.