One of photography’s inevitabilities is that if you own a DSLR you will end up with dirt on the sensor sooner or later. Most modern cameras have some sort of dust removal option in their menu, which works ….. sort of, as it just shakes the specks of dust off the sensor, to settle somewhere else inside your pride and joy for a while until it migrates back to the sensor again. But if you have “wet” dirt spots on your sensor, from moisture, salt spray from changing lens at the beach, oil drops from the shutter mechanism (as D600 owners would know!) then it’s not so easy.

Yuk !

If you are lucky you might be able to ignore one or two spots in the corner, hiding them in the foreground of your picture, but when you get dark spots all over the sky and get tired of cloning them out in Photoshop you know you have to do something about it.

You could go the DIY route and clean the sensor yourself, there are plenty of articles on the web preaching how easy it is, and also as many stories of what could go wrong.

You could send it off to the professionals to do the job, which is what I did last time my D7000 needed some TLC. Nikon Australia charged me $99 and took a week to do it. I have n’t used the D7000 for a long time, since I upgraded to a D800. I also have n’t used my fisheye lens for a long time so the other day I got them both out, only to find spots all over the sensor Probably a legacy of my Outback marathon drive around Australia.

Googling “sensor cleaning Bangkok” came up with an article by Kevin Revolinski at “The Mad Traveler” recommending AV Camera over near Saphan Taksin BTS station. The latest price quoted of 300 baht (approx AU$11/US$9) seemed ridiculously cheap for quality service, but when I went in there yesterday I was standing behind a pro photographer with 2 Nikon D4s, and judging by the way he and the manager joked he seemed like a regular client. If they are good enough for him they should be ok for me !

They tell me to come back in 45 minutes, but I give them an hour before returning to find a camera that looked almost as new, inside and out. Not a spot to be seen on the sensor, and all the exterior cleaned too, for 300 baht.

So if anybody ever needs a sensor cleaning in Bangkok I certainly recommend AV Camera over near the Robinsons store on Charoen Krung road.

AV Camera, from ferry and BTS

From the BTS station, or the Sathorn/Central ferry pier if coming from KSR perhaps, walk to Charoen Krung road, turn left and left again just before Robinson’s at the “Bangrak Bazaar” soi 50, AV Camera is on the left side about 15 metres from the main road. They also sell all sorts of photo gear and  accessories so might be worth checking out if you are in the market for a new toy

I believe AV Camera is a franchise chain as there are other stores with the same name. I don’t know anything about the other shops, either good or bad.

Just a test shot on the way home… not a speck of dust.

And just a test shot on the way home ..not a speck of dust to be seen.