Fuji Camera S1

[Peter Stedman]

My colleague bought his Fuji S1 camera back in February and now finds he has had to return it to have the thing cleaned as dust gathered on the CCD giving spots on the resulting prints. It appears that this is a standard problem with this camera.
Anyone got any comments on this? Does this happen on all 'Pro' type of digital camera? I've never heard about this on my Olympus amatuer models.

Is there a DIY method of cleaning??

[petermillard]

Hi there.

My colleague bought his Fuji S1 camera back in February and now finds he has had to return it to have the thing cleaned as dust gathered on the CCD giving spots on the resulting prints. It appears that this is a standard problem with this camera.... Is there a DIY method of cleaning??

This is common to all "SLR-bodied" digital cameras; while the cameras are light-tight (obviously) they are not hermetically sealed, so dust and fine debris will find their way into the body, and onto the CCD, in time. It doesn't affect non-interchangable lens "consumer" cameras for obvious reasons...

Before doing anything else, try following the cleaning routine as described in the S1 manual (p114) - this will shift fine dust, but not those big blobs...

My S1 showed the "big blob" problem from new, and quickly deteriorated; I returned it to Fuji, and it came back a week later(!) better, but by no means perfect. To cut a long story short, I cleaned the CCD myself using a Sinar cleaning kit that I bought for my Leaf system.

Basically, this kit comprises a number of lint-free cloths, a metal spatula and a small bottle of Ethanol (industrial meths). You fold the cloth round the spatula, moisten it with Ethanol, and carefully wipe it across the CCD in even, steady, strokes; don't scrub at it, and try to keep the cloth in contact with the CCD evenly at all times.

I don't see why this shouldn't work using any soft, lint-free cloth and regular Ethanol, but BE AWARE - if you have the slightest hesitation about doing this, then DON'T. You will almost certainly invalidate your warranty if it goes wrong and replacing the CCD will be a big and expensive repair if it's damaged.

I needed to swab the chip several times before all the gunk was removed, and several more times before the surface of the chip dried without streaking; it is not a 2-minute job!

One of the particular problems of these cameras (and the D1, D1X, and I think, D30) is that they have the anti-aliasing filter built directly over the surface of the CCD, where it attracts muck far more easily. In the Kodak digital SLRs for example, the anti-aliasing filter is away from the CCD, so although it still attracts dust & debris, it doesn't show up as clearly.

Anyway, good luck if you do decide to go ahead with the DIY approach; all you need is a deep breath and a steady hand...

Best.

Peter Millard
-------------------
peter@petermillard.com


[This message has been edited by petermillard (edited 28 July 2001).]