Blackmagic Forum

Hi there,

I own and have been working with the Blackmagic Cinema camera lately and till so far love it.
But due to some inconvenient occasions the glass in front of the sensor got dirty. What is the best way to get it cleaned? Which tool should I use?

Greets,

Wander Andringa

might want to double check by calling BM support, but I would think any cleaning solution designed for DSLRs should be fine...

Do you know what is on it? Something sticky like an oil or a piece of dust?

Might want to try using a squeeze blower first though before doing anything a bit more complicated. Worked for me.

Jules

I agree with Jules.

You want to use a Rocket blower to gently remove dust from in front of the sensor.

But the most pertinent question to ask is why is this happening? You want to avoid any dirt or debris getting in there in the first place. This means ensuring your lenses are kept clean and when changing a lens get into the routine of replacing the dust cap in between changes, especially in windy conditions. Even the few seconds putting a lens back in your bag and getting the next one can let some nasties in.

Cleaning the sensor shouldn't be that much of a routine. It should only really be done where necessary. Cleaning too often will damage the glass.

I'd contact BM for their advice on the best method to use.

There's 2 pieces of glass in the optical path. The first is the sensor cover glass on top of that, there is another glass filter with anti reflection coating. You're only able to get onto that 2nd glass filter as the sensor is sealed behind it.

The glass of my camera got dirty once.

I cleaned it with these
http://www.amazon.de/Visible-Dust-Mini- ... sible+dust

1 wet swab to clean it and 1 dry swab to pick up the remaining liquid. The second step is not necessary when cleaning a usual sensor but I got water spottings on the glas.

So it's not dust, so blowing it out isn't an option. It's something sticky like an oil. I'm aware that these things shouldn't happen, but it did. So I'm just looking for the best solution, I figure Felix Steinhardt his solution is the best. Thanks!

I will contact BMD to be sure tho.

Cheers!

How do you know it's something oily/sticky? Does the sensor have a non-uniform colour?

You can just see little stains on the glass.
It's not that bad, only if you look really good you can find it back in the footage.
With the right tool it shouldn't be to hard to clean it up.

i have a similar issue. Is there a solution?

I also have the same issue and mine is also foggy. Did you find a solution ?

We had that on the original Pocket Cam. It was fungus on the outer sensor glass. We were on Kauai where the humidity is always very high.
The Pocket was shipped to BM and they replaced for about $50 US. Problem solved relatively quickly and inexpensively.