Topics covered:
Introductions to Useful Modes and Settings on Your Digital Camera
Other Basic Camera Techniques
Camera Care and Maintenance
Composition Tips

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1) If you shoot macro or landscapes, a clean sensor is a must because dust will start to show even at f/8. As you stop further down to get more DOF, dust bunnies will become extremely obvious in your skies and light backgrounds.

2) What happens if the bulk of your shooting is wide open? Right, dust will not be noticeable, but then what happens if you decide one day to get into macro or landscape shooting? You now have a sensor that’s never been cleaned and I can tell you without a doubt that getting that sensor spic and span will take a lot of ‘scrubbing”. Quite a few people have had to swab their sensors about 30 times to get it reasonably clean. It’s a lot easier to keep a regular cleaning regimen just in case you want to expand your photography someday.

3) A huge accumulation of dust (as in the case above) will cause a decrease in contrast, leading to dull images without any “pop”.

4) TIME & COST – Although Canon et al. cannot officially endorse any sensor cleaning tool, Chuck Westfall of Canon USA posted this in an Openphotographyforum in April, 2007: “Your camera’s low-pass filter can be cleaned by Canon Factory Service or an Authorized Service Facility for a nominal fee. But we would encourage you to explore the possibility of learning how to clean the filter safely on your own. If you’re successful, it will save you tons of time and money, and it will give you a lot of peace of mind. There are several effective cleaning methods, and each of them has its own group of supporters. I do not specifically recommend any single method over another, because all of them can be effective when executed properly. Thus, choosing a method becomes largely a matter of personal taste.” NOTE: Chuck then suggested a few websites to explore, one of which was this one.

5) You will read how effective or ineffective the current crop of dust-shakers perform, but there is another factor that works mightily against them – chamber lubricant. All Canon D-SLR’s are notorious for the over-the-top amount of lubricant that gets distributed on the sensor in the normal course of shooting. But it seems that more and more of the newer cams are copying Canon in this regard. We have heard and read many reports of this with the Nikon D3 and others. So even though the shakers can repel a lot of loose dust on the sensor, it’s a constant battle when the lubricant starts building up again and actually glues the dust-bunnies in place.”

[via Copper Hill Images]

AFTER

There is still that “hair,” although in a “better” spot, and a few minor specks. But for my first attempt I’m pretty happy.

I used Copper hill Images Sensor Cleaning tools & method.