I'm a 56-year-old woman and just completed cleaning my Lumix! I would suggest a magnetized 00 phillips screwdriver. This saved me a fairly costly repair bill. Thank you!
Thank you for your supremely excellent video. You just saved me a bundle. I magnetized my screwdriver bit a little with an old hard drive magnet. It made it pretty easy with the screws. I had no little puffer brush, so I used a drinking straw and a larger slide brush. The dust was pretty easy to see with plenty of light and a magnifier.
I recently bought a second hand TZ20 with a shutter count of aprox 2,500 shots, but it had a big spec of dust on the sensor. Thanks to your video I was able to open the camera and clean the sensor just like you did. Thanks a million!
I was just about to send my Lumix DMC-ZS10 back to Texas for repairs when I found your great video. Nice easy to follow step-by-step instructions. I had my camera sensor clean and back in operation in 20 minutes! Thank you!!
Intelligent person's instructions; precise and to the point. Beautifully musically arranged to keep your mind focused and hands steady! Great production. Thank you.
Thanks SO much. I had sent one camera in for repair and it took Panasonic 3 months. I ended up buying a new one in the mean time. Now I have TWO Lumix with dirty sensors and I was thinking : "I love these cameras but I'm not buying a 3rd one!" I'll use your video to clean both. You are the Man !
Just cleaned my TZ20 lens/sensor. From a camera full of dust and pollen leaving spots on my photos I now have an as new camera again. Very helpful and accurate video, Panasonic wanted £70 to clean it, it only took about an hour with a bit of care, what a saving! Thanks for the video
Very impressed by all your previous contributors who have seemed to fix their cameras so easily. Yes , it should be easy....the second time, but being in my mid 70's, I found the job somewhat tricky. The screws are unbelievably small and the way the camera is "clipped " together in sections takes some fiddling.to get apart. I made a mess of one part and ended up with rear screen and three cables out of their plugs and spent a serious amount of time getting the wires back in . Was close to giving up, but thought , having come this far, I might as well clean the lens so did as described in the video and then put the whole thing back together, not really expecting the camera to work at all. To my surprise and relief, it did and the dreaded shadow seems to have gone so will try outside when we get some blue sky to test it on. Thanks for your video, very good. (Four hours incidentally.....but for sure would be much easier and quicker the next time )
You sir, are a legend. 2020 now and this is still helping people. Breathed life into a 10 year old little point & shoot that is still fantastic. One small addition, make note of the position of the play/record switch and the placement of the corresponding lever when you re-assemble it.
Thank you! Second time my TZ18 sensor has had dust on it. Last time paid £60 + postage to have it fixed. Cleaned it in less than hour with the help of your video.
Great video, worked a treat on my TZ19. Slightly different config inside with no need to un-clip the screen. Also worth noting that the 6 outer screws are not all the same, the 2 slightly shorter screws are needed for the bottom of the case, the 4 longer screws for the sides. I've never been a big fan of this camera, low light shooting is poor so I wasn't too bothered if I killed the camera! However it's working fine and lives to shoot another day!
Just about to go on holiday tomorrow and again some dust on the sensor. This is now the 4th time I have used your video, getting quicker every time. Thanks again.
Thank you very much. I was out with my family taking some pictures when some dust or bug managed to get into my camera lens. I now know that I can fix my camera myself without having to take it to a shop. My camera is the exact same model as your video and I just love it. I will fix it on my day off when the kids are at school and have a bit of piece and quite. Thanks again
Perfect instructions. Clear and visually accurate. Just removed dust spot from my TZ20 14 months old, saved £60.00 and will not hesitate to repeat when the inevitable dust spots reappear - thank you!
Thank you. Even though I found that my Lumix is somewhat different and I needed to remove a couple of more screws, this video helped me a lot. The local camera shop wouldn't touch it and they told me not to attempt this on my own. They told me to buy a used one rather than cleaning mine out. I don't like throwing things away so I figured I might as well try it. Thanks again.
Great Video that restored life to my TZ20. I did put one screw back in the sensor after cleaning and turned the camera on to check all the dust had gone.
You're a lifesaver! The only advice I'd give anyone is to pay attention to which screws go where. There are three different sized screws removed during the process.
Thanks a lot man ! Merci beaucoup ! Après avoir entendu dire que plus personne ne réparait ce genre d'incident et qu'il fallait racheter un appareil, en 10 minutes, le problème était réglé !
Thank you. This definitely helped with the process of cleaning my ZS10. A couple of small steps were left out but we figured it out. I put the screws from each step in a separate tiny bowl so that they wouldn't get mixed up. Manipulating those tiny screws was the hardest part. And we got great results.
I wish you listed what I overlooked. For sharing. Someone wrote that they magnetized the screwdriver and it helped a lot. Glad it worked for you. Cheers!
Thank you Tomislav. Really good video instructions. These Lumix cameras are very poorly designed regards dust getting onto sensor. It was cleaned previously without charge by store where I bought the camera.... Now out of warranty. Saved approx. £80 to get it sent for cleaning again. BRILLIANT ! Thanks again :)
I used a vacuum cleaner with an empty toilet paper tube placed over the extended lens assembly with battery removed. The toilet paper tube is a perfect power fit and large enough to extend over the telescoping gaps of the assembly. Place vacuum cleaner over tube. Worked on first try. Totally clean. A 1 minute job that worked flawlessly on my panasonic Lumix LZ8.
thanks, I followed this for my Lumix Panasonic DMC-TZ10 it was more or less the same. I had many dark blodges on my photos, they are gone now! thank you so much and the music helped calm my nerves! xx
YES!! I did this brilliantly successfully. Thank you. Lovin my pocket Lumix. And I learned not to keep this cam in a sock in my pocket. A sock protects the live view screen from scratches but invites lint to the sensor face. In fact I now preach do NOT keep pocket superzooms in your pocket. Get a lint free pouch. Thanks for this awesome contibution.
Thanks again. I used your video 3 months ago and had to use it again today. just a moment when your hand is right in front of the camera hiding what you're doing but easy all the same. Many many thanks to you
I did it! Have my Lumix ZR3 back again, after 4 years abandoned in a drawer because of blury spots on the pictures. Thank you for spending your time and effort doing this very helping video!
And a BIG THANKYOU from Copenhagen. It just fixed my camera problems. Very nice and detailed video - exactly what you need when you have several "UFOES" on your pictures. It saved my day...
Merci, fantastique, last time I paid 70 € and had to bring it to a shop and back. . The guy there told me he had to work on it for one hour and a half. Liars everywhere! Another time it was done under warranty THANKS A LOT. Very well explained. Easy to do. Facile à faire.Et la musique de Roger Chapman super LOL
Thanks. I was able to remove the dust from my ZS10 sensor in about 25 minutes. I used a dust blaster and a lens brush. Would not advise cotton swab for reasons already stated. Excellent video. Thank you.
Thank you for the great tutorial. I had the same issue and your solution worked for me. I have a Lumix DMC-ZS15. They should have put a small gasket around the sensor assembly to keep the dust out. I have had this camera for 4 years and did not have a problem until this May.
Thanks a bunch !!! ... This saved my DMC-ZS6 as well ... slightly different config, but very similar on the inside (the LCD screen is attached to the outer case, no side panel that needs to be removed on the outside). One thing to note: On my unit, that little rectangular rubber gasket over the bottom glass (not really a lens but a thin sheet of green glass) is actually a loose and can come off, exposing the entire glass pane, that also can be removed. In my case, I had to clean lint between the rubber and both sides of the glass pane using an alcohol wipe. Had the same shadow UFO's as Max and so far, after the cleaning, no more sightings. Excellent instruction video :-D !!!
I wish I had read this comment prior to starting since I was surprised by the screen being attached to the back on my ZS7 as well. Other than that the cleaning worked pretty well. Not perfect but I was afraid to be very aggressive with the Q-tip. Thanks for this video.
Thank you! Your TZ20 looks exactly like mine, and I cant believe I have just taken it apart and cleaned it, but I have - it still works and the blob has gone. All it cost me was a set of jewellers screwdrivers.
Thanks for posting this video, I cleaned my Panasonic DMC ZS10 same exactly way. I was disappointed with camera and after cleaning it is perfect and I am happy now.
Thank you from Germany, mit deiner Anleitung traute ich mich und es war wirklich ganz einfach. Meine Kamera hat jetzt endlich wieder ein fleckenfreies Bild. Dankeschön
Thanks very much, this helped me a lot. I have a Lumix DMC-XS3, quite easy to dismantle but the last 3 screws were star shaped so I used a Nielsen Star Screwdriver Set - T4 / T15 and one of those fit. I am pleased to have my point and shoot back!
Brilliant video, saved me £60 I was quoted to get it cleaned. Thank you very much. Good tip as said in other reviews, use a magnetised good quality screwdriver, it is a great help especially when re-assembling.
Thank you so much ! It took me a while to open up the camera (and put it back together), but I managed to wipe that black shadow away ! Great choice of music too - it helped to keep me calm. :)
Thanks for this video. I applied this procedure on my DMC-TZ10. Small difference: To remove the inner sheet, the two screws on the left side holding the front housing part have to removed, too because the latches have two screw holes each. I used as special camera brush and bellow kit for cleaning the sensor and the len from the inner side. Result: Nearly all dust spots are away (much better than before). Before I had the same dust spots as shown in the video. To check the result, it's best to set the highest camera resolution (12 megapixels in my case) and take some photographs from the sky in different zoom levels. When each photograph is spot free the cleaning was successful. In my case I suppose some remaining dust between the lens (neither reachable from outside nor from inside after removing the sensor holder plate).
Thanks for the video, it all worked like a dream once I'd located the small screwdrivers from my previous job. My Brother in law's camera so no pressure! The grunt of thanks was worth the effort.
Followed these instruction to cure same problem on a TZ14. All went well and no ghosts on the pictures. Note however that the TZ14 screen attachment ribbon cable is much shorter so had to have help holding the screen so as not to damage ribbon. Whole operation took about 20 mins. Thanks for a useful video.
thanks, this video gave me the confidence to tackle my DMC-TZ10 which had been bugging me for months. The layout is slightly different and I had to remove an additional two screws on the outer casing before I was able to lift out the inner silver cover. The LCD screen was attached to the outer case as in the post by tend2it below.
Awesome, thank you so muchTomislav. I just saved $175 (plus shipping and taxes). The sensor is spotless. Just one note. Be careful as the bottom screws are not the same size as the side ones on the outside. About 30 minutes from start to finish. Cheers
Thank you soooo much. My Lumix TZ20 is taking clear photos once again. Your tips were perfect and ever so helpful. Much appreciated. Saved me buying a new camera. Ta
Used these directions for the DMC-ZS8. Worked well. Slight difference, the LCD is connected to the back panel so the back half doesn't come off, you have to work around it.
Just cleaned my Lumix LF-1 and although it was a little more complicated than this camera, it worked and the sensor is clean. I'm used to cleaning sensors on full frame cameras but taking apart a small compact camera is quite a different story! I would strongly suggest NOT using Q Tips as small fibers can be left on the ccd, lens or inside the cavity. I would recommend a can of compressed air (not pointing down!) and sensor brush or similar product designed for that purpose. Thanks and good luck!
This is great, thanks. Had the problem on my Sony DSLR, and thought I'd be immune switching to a compact, so very annoying to find it happening here too, but at least there's a solution!
A great video that worked great on my older Lumix camera. Unfortunately on my newer Lumix DMC ZS25 Panasonic changed the screws holding on the back of the lens to extremely small star screws. I was unable to find a small enough driver to remove them.
Thanks for the great Vid. 2 suggestions: 1: don't let the battery door spring open, eventually the hinge pin can break. 2: Use blower first, then brush, then Qtip
Gute Anleitung - war damit erfolgreich bei meiner TZ7. Da ist es noch einfacher, da die große Abdeckplatte innen fehlt. Du brauchst nur Rückseite der Kamera aufschrauben . Die nächste Reinigung schaffe ich in 5 Minuten .
Thanks for the demo! I didn't know what it was, perhaps acrack in the lens or so. I like my little camera(TZ20), it was a good buy. I have ordered a TZ40, it will be fun to compare. Great song, Simon Philips on drums, I think.