New Sensor?

I caught my K10D sensor with the rocket blower nozzle the other day and now in certain circumstances I am getting this mark showing up on my photos.
Obviously this is only a small part of the image but when I want to sell the camera on I cannot keep something like that to myself.
Its easily rectified in most cases but very annoying just the same and I was wondering if anyone had an idea of the price with regard to getting a new sensor fitted by Pentax.

Are you sure you haven't just smudged it. Have you tried cleaning it with a good quality sensor cleaner.

I have given my sensor a nudge with the rocket blower on a couple of occasions and never damaged it. Even if it is damaged it will only be the outer plastic cover of the sensor not the sensor itself.

Hi Mike,

My sympathies, It's always worse when you do something like that so you know that you only have yourself to blame...

Before investigating a repair have you tried a 'wet clean'
it may just be a bit of dirt, or finger grease rubbed off of the end of the rocket blower?

Yes we all talk about cleaning the sensor but in fact we clean the 'anti-aliasing filter' which is in front of the sensor so remember that if asking for price of repair that it's very unlikely that you will need a sensor replacement but just a filter replacement.

Still a specialist job but much cheeper. I've even heard of people doing there own Infra Red conversions (on Canon) which requires changing this filter.

Good luck with getting it fixed
Bob

I have a sensor cleaning pen that is usually very good at getting crud off the sensor (although only a cheap solution) but it will not budge this in the slightest which leads me to the idea it is a scratch.

Will leave it until I get back to the UK in March and then do some investigating, I have emailed Pentax to see if they can give an idea of price.

As I say, it's quite small .. but bloody annoying just the same.


Oh no, it wasn't my fault .. the dog nudged me as I was blowing the camera through ....

Yeah yeah and I bet he ate your homework also.

How did you know ...

Well that was quick, I am to send the camera to Pentax who will take a look and email me a price for repair.
If I do not agree then they ship the camera back at no charge to me which seems pretty good.

They seemed to ignore my other question as to whether there is a new model coming out in the next few months though ...

Mike-P

Surely mailing the camera from Spain will be expensive - if you come back to the UK via Heathrow, why not wait until then and drop it off? The Pentax office is 10 minutes from Heathrow.

Yes, will sort it out in March when I return for good

Although looking on the bright side the vet still hasnt got in contact with the dogs blood test results so with any luck they may have lost them which means another 6 months.:

I was under the assumption that the sensor was covered with glass? even so it should be able to withstand a knock from a blower if its designed to be cleaned with swabs and the like.

I would invest in a "wet" cleaner before shipping it off to Pentax, this will always come in handy later anyway.

Looks like dust to me, not damage.

The sensor is coated with tough optical glass and a 'Teflon' type layer. It isn't that easy to damage.

I am now a bit confused.. I have always been told that I should not touch the sensor at all .. In fact I bought a new camera when my ist had a load of muck on it as I didnt want to mess up the sensor .. plus it was an excuse (to the missus) to get my k10d... like "No love the sensor is knackered and its just as cheap for me to buy a new camera" shhhh

Joking aside though I really thought that I could not touch the sensor at all.. I do have a pen thing but was concerned about using it on the sensor as it left a black mark on my finger and obviously black marks on the sensor is what I was going to try to get off..
Could someone explain plz
Pete

The sensor should be left well alone unless it's really necessary to clean it. In this case cleaning methods that don't make contact are the best way to start off.

The same applies to SLR mirrors and focusing screens - leave well alone as they are incredibly sensitive parts.

DIY jobs on modern electronic cameras are not for those of a nervous disposition. Don't do it!

Firstly, you can't actually touch, or damage the sensor itself. It has a glass IR filter in front of it, and in the case of the K10/20D it has a special antistatic coating.

If anything is damaged, it'll be that filter, not the sensor.

It is possible to replace them but it's not a job I would undertake.

This might be a good case for a conversion to IR where the filter is replaced with an R72 filter. The camera is rendered useless for colour work but IR photography becomes a dream as you have bright viewfinder and can use 'normal' shutter speeds.

I watched a Canon 30D with a damaged sensor/filter sell on ebay recently for over £200.

I have a lenspen. Would someone be kind enough to confirm that i could actually touch the sensor with the cleaning bit to clean it:. I thought touching the sensor to clean was a no no.

many thanks