Got dark blobs appearing in the same place in every picture? That's sensor dirt, and no your camera isn't ruined, and no you don't have to send it into the factory to clean it. I'll show you how to clean any digital camera sensor yourself! I highly recommend reading the entire article before touching the sensor.
I'm not just speaking as a photographer who's cleaned only his own sensors. I've cleaned a lot of sensors, as I used to work for a retail camera store where that was one of the services, so I have a lot of experience in this area, and I never damaged any!
What you need:
Squeeze air blower
Sensor swab kit
Plain, clean, bright surface
Fully charged battery (for DSLRs)
Place the camera in cleaning mode
The first step is putting your camera in a safe mode for cleaning. For DSLRs, this usually means going into the setup menu and activating sensor cleaning mode. This flips the mirror out of the way and holds the shutter open. Since holding the mirror up and shutter open requires battery power, it's critical to start with a fully charged battery. If the shutter closes while you're cleaning the sensor, it's a major repair.
Mirrorless cameras work differently and don't all have a cleaning mode. Many mirrorless cameras will automatically revert to an open shutter as soon as you turn them off and remove the lens. In this case, just turn the camera off to put it in cleaning mode.
Some mirrorless cameras, like the Nikon Z9, have a protective curtain that closes when you turn the camera off that would prevent you from cleaning the sensor. Turn off the protective curtain in the menu settings, and then the curtain will open, exposing the sensor, when you turn the camera off.
Even with mirrorless cameras not requiring power for cleaning, you'll want a charged battery so you can take and review test images to inspect for dust spots.
Point the sensor down!
Always clean the sensor with it pointing toward the floor or, at the very least, vertically toward a wall, to prevent more dirt from landing on the sensor while you're cleaning. Don't place the camera face up on a table and then work on it! Before, during and after cleaning, keep the sensor facing down.
Start with squeeze air
There's debate on whether or not to use any air blower on the sensor, as it may introduce more dust or damage internal components such as the shutter, so I don't recommend it as a rule. However, if you see large dirt or debris on the sensor, it's better to blow it off gently with a squeeze air blower than to drag it across the sensor with a swab. It's not a rule, just how I do it.
Could you use canned air? Yes, but keep the can upright at all times or it'll blow liquid all over your sensor! Use quick individual bursts rather than long sustained bursts.
If you think you might have removed all the dirt with a simple squeeze of air, go ahead and take a shot and check for dust spots (more on my test shot technique below).
Bring in the swabs
For the best clean, I use sensor cleaning swabs from Vsgo, which I get on Amazon as of this publishing. Visible Dust also makes good products. Not all swabs are the same, as some leave more fibers behind, and some liquids leave streaks. I can't guarantee any specific brand will work, so if you experiment with different brands, there's some risk of smearing or leaving debris behind. But Vsgo has worked well on my expensive Nikon Z7 and Z9 cameras.
First unpack the liquid, and find a place to rest the swab where the cleaning tip won't touch anything. I often balance the swab on the rear cap of my upside down lens. I don't want the swab itself touching anything other than the cleaning fluid and the sensor.
Hold the swab in one hand and put one drop of cleaning fluid on each corner of the tip, and then flip it over and do the same on the other side. The cleaning fluid will spread through the fibers, so don't drench it! Only apply the minimum necessary to cover the width of the swab. I don't want to drag a wet mess across the sensor. I'm just looking for moist.
Touch the sensor (the scary part!)
Moment of truth: You have to wipe the sensor with the swab, which can be scary if you've never done it! After all, this is basically where all the money for the camera went. But sensors are rather durable. They have a glass shield, so it's not like you're rubbing the individual photo cells. The glass shield can take some swabbing!
I clean the sensor two swipes at a time. One swipe down, and one swipe up. Then I put the swab down where the tip won't touch anything, put on the lens, and take a test shot.
Let's take a detailed look at the actual cleaning technique. Hold the camera with the sensor positioned vertically and slightly tilted down (I have the right-hand grip to the top) so you can run the swab up and down the longest length of the sensor. Start at the top, angle the wand down about 30 degrees so the tip touches the sensor at an angle, apply gentle pressure so the wand bends slightly, and pull straight down.
As you hit the other end of the camera, maintain downward pressure and curl the tip of the swab down to the edge of the sensor. Immediately pick up the swab, place it back down where you left off, angle the wand toward the top of the sensor, wipe back up to the top with gentle pressure, and roll the tip to the edge to finish.
Immediately put the lens back on the camera, keeping the sensor vertical or pointed down, and then take a test shot.
Top-secret test shot
The test shot is where people use all sorts of wasteful props and techniques, setting up fancy white backgrounds and lighting, precise focusing, going outside to find a patch of blue sky to photograph. But I've developed an exquisite technique that you can use anywhere in just about any light, with no props.
All you need is a relatively plain, clean, bright surface. Usually a ceiling will work. But it doesn't even have to be white, or perfectly clean. It doesn't have to be well lit (though it should be reasonably lit). I just has to be a bright color so you have something to contrast the dark sensor dirt with.
Set your lens to manual focus and camera to manual exposure. Point the camera at the target surface and set the ISO to 100, aperture to f/16, and shutter speed at least a half second, or slower, whatever it takes to get the meter to read about +1 to +1.7 above 0. The slow shutter speed is required to blur everything but the dirt on the sensor. The aperture of f/16 ensures any blobs will be defined and sharp, sharper than how you'd normally shoot, and the low ISO helps ensure more detail and a slower shutter speed.
Fill the frame with the surface, press the shutter button, and move the camera around rapidly and vigorously within that plain surface. This will completely blur out all detail on the surface, but the dirt on the sensor will be sharp because it's stuck to the sensor and not moving in the picture! This will get you a perfectly clean background against which to see any remaining dirt.
Now play that image on your camera screen and zoom in until the zoom box height is about 1/3 to 1/4 the screen height. Move the box to the upper left of the picture and then scroll straight across to the right edge, looking for spots. Then move the box down, overlapping the first pass only slightly, and scroll across to the left. Repeat scrolling right and left across the picture until you've examined the entire image.
If there are no spots in the image, the sensor is clean! You did it, without paying the factory $100 or a camera shop $50! You can dispose of the swab, keep the lens on, and pack up the fluid.
If spots remain, repeat the cleaning process. Yes, you can reuse the same swab a couple of times providing it doesn't look dirty.
What about stubborn spots?
If you have stubborn spots that survive multiple swab passes, it's ok to scrub "a little" with the swab. What's a little? Really it's up to you how hard you're willing to scrub on your camera sensor.
Like I said, sensors have a glass shield and they can take some scrubbing. I can't describe exactly how hard I'd press, but I've scrubbed harder and longer than most people would feel comfortable with, and applied more fluid and used multiple swabs, to get stubborn spots off, with no apparent damage. Sometimes you can clean stubborn spots better with the corner of the swab.
If you're not able to get the dirt off yourself and uncomfortable with further cleaning, it's best to send it to the manufacturer or their authorized repair center for cleaning.
What size swab should I get?
Only get swabs matched to your sensor size, i.e. full frame swabs for a full frame camera or DX/APS-C swabs for APS-C. The idea is that the swab should cover the entire sensor with one swipe (but I use two swipes).
Can I use brushes?
In general, no, I would never use a brush on a sensor -- too dirty and harsh. However, I have used the Visible Dust brand brushes that are made for camera sensors, but brushes can't get off all dirt. Visible Dust makes good brushes and fluids, but they're relatively expensive.
Watch the battery!
If you're using a DSLR, keep an eye on your battery life between each cleaning. Most DSLRs won't let you start a cleaning if the battery is too low, but it's good to check.
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