where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
Hello folks,
Me back after a long exile, so off late I'm noticing this dark spots on my photographs mostly on the right side of the image, sample below:
This image is captured on my new tokina 12-24 (used), had the same spots from a 35mm lens too. So I think it's not in the lens.
could be my stupidity to let dust go inside, I would like to if it's the dust on the sensor? if yes, can I use a push blower to clean it or send it to nikon to clean it up?
As a general rule, if dust appears sharp in your image, it's on the sensor. Dust on the lens can result in lens flare, but it will always be out of focus in your images and won't show up as small dots.
With most cameras (since you don't specify the model) you can lock your mirror up and the shutter open. At this point, you can safely use a product like Sensor Swabs (google it and you should find the manufacturer) with a small amount of cleaning solution to clean the dust off the sensor.
It's essential that you don't apply excessive pressure (which can scratch the sensor), use an excessive amount of cleaning solution, or allow the shutter to close while you're doing this (which will lead to a VERY expensive shutter repair.) However, if you're reasonably gentle and take appropriate care, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do this yourself. If you continue to have a dust problem, it is certainly possible to send the camera to Nikon to have them clean it, as long as you avoid causing damage by doing one of those things.
It's always safer to send it to Nikon for a clean.
However, if you feel comfortable enough with cleaning your sensor yourself, you can start by blowing air (camera facing down, mirror locked up and battery fully charged) and be sure to use a dust free blower...
If the dust is still visible on your photos, you can use a sensor swab with some eclipse (one or two drops max) and be very careful to follow all the correct instruction about this, or at this point you can go to Nikon or send them an email to see what they say.
Make sure you have the correct size swab for this...
Cheers,
Teo
Yes, definitely use a blower to start with. My comments were based on experience cleaning earlier CCD cameras, which tended to have more serious dust problems because their use of electrical charge would often cause dust to adhere due to residual charge even after the camera was turned off. Current CMOS cameras shouldn't have this issue and will respond better to air, but be careful to make sure you don't use air from a source that contains condensation, oil, or other contaminants. Anything purpose-built for cleaning cameras is probably OK.
Edit: If you feel that those conditions were an uncommon thing, sure, send it back to Nikon. They'll clean the camera thoroughly and safely. Not sure if or how much they charge for that. However, if you're struggling with dust due to the circumstances under which you shoot your preferred subject, you'll have the problem over and over again.
One tip which has helped quite a bit for me is to make sure to always tilt the camera slightly toward the ground when changing lenses. If you point the camera straight up to do this, you're a lot more likely to have ambient debris settle into the camera, but orienting the mount opening toward the ground lets gravity work to pull dust away from the sensor rather than toward it. Doing this is not a complete solution but it does help in any but the most extremely dusty environments.
mark_wilkins said:
One tip which has helped quite a bit for me is to make sure to always tilt the camera slightly toward the ground when changing lenses. If you point the camera straight up to do this, you're a lot more likely to have ambient debris settle into the camera, but orienting the mount opening toward the ground lets gravity work to pull dust away from the sensor rather than toward it. Doing this is not a complete solution but it does help in any but the most extremely dusty environments.
+1 and I always try to organise myself so that the camera internals and lens are only exposed for a few seconds.
Just a thought - have you set your camera to clean the sensor at start-up and switch off?
This looks exactly what I had with my D7000, it only started to show when I was shooting around f8.
I tried a rocket blower which never made any difference and it turned out to be oil on the sensor which seems to be pretty common.
I just bought some eclipse cleaning fluid and some swabs and cleaned it myself, now at f8 it is ok but still shows around f16 so I guess I should either give it another clean or take it to a dealer to have it cleaned. I never really shoot lower than f8 so I'm not so concerned now, I think I will eventually get it cleaned just in case I decide to sell the body later.
It's D7000, it's about 1.5 years old.
Thanks a lot guys, I did buy that "cleaning package" long time ago, that had the cleaning solution, cotton swab, lens cloth...etc
Will give a shot with @mark_wilkins steps, and will update this thread.
Thanks all.
shibang said:
This looks exactly what I had with my D7000, it only started to show when I was shooting around f8.I tried a rocket blower which never made any difference and it turned out to be oil on the sensor which seems to be pretty common.
I just bought some eclipse cleaning fluid and some swabs and cleaned it myself, now at f8 it is ok but still shows around f16 so I guess I should either give it another clean or take it to a dealer to have it cleaned. I never really shoot lower than f8 so I'm not so concerned now, I think I will eventually get it cleaned just in case I decide to sell the body later.
Sorry to hear that, hope mine gets cleaned fully. Fingers crossed!!!
You are braver than I...if it doesn't blow off or clean with the in camera sensor cleaning then I would send it in. The negatives of messing this up outweigh the positives of maybe doing it correctly. Good luck.
sqame_sp - 100% it's sensor
as for the rest of conversation, cleaning sensors is not that hard, You just need to be very careful and don't put too much force - start with blower (gently and be sure the air is clean) if this doesn't help, buy a cleaning kit or send it to specialist, shouldn't cost more than $15-$20.
As someone who owns 4 lenses and 1 body I've encountered my share of photos like the one above (although that one looks like a pretty nasty case). I've developed three ways to reduce the possibilities of dust.
1. Plan ahead (as someone mentioned) to minimize the amount of time that your sensor is exposed. Don't remove the lens from the camera until the back cap of the replacement lens is off, then put the lens on right away. Sound obvious but not everyone does that.
2. Point the camera down toward the ground when the lens is off. Again, seems obvious, but dust is more likely to travel downward then upward.
3. If you can't find a Class 5 clean room in which to change lenses, try and use rooms that have less fabric surfaces, like a kitchen or bathroom. Those will usually have less dust.
I usually shoot at low aperture settings, but last week was at f/8 and against a blue sky noticed dozens of spots ruining the pictures. I researched and then purchased Visible Dust 1.0 full sensor size swabs/solution and after blowing off the dust with a rocket, swabbed the sensor on my D3s. It removed about 80% of the spots, so I did it a second time and now there is not a single spot, even at f/11. It really is not that difficult. Now am I brave enough to do the same on my D4 which only has a few spots?
This is the easiest way to clean the sensor on your camera. It is just too easy for words. http://www.visibledust.com/instructions.php?pid=450
That is the brand which I used, works great, Visible Dust. I tried the pre-moist swabs from Sensor Swab on my D300s and it was worse afterwards than before. I think that Visible dust has the better product in my limited experience. On the D4 I was able to blow all the dust off except for one tiny spot near the edge, so decided to leave it alone for now, but if it gets worse, would not hesitate to use the Visible Dust product on it as well. Again, since I have usually shot at wide open apertures, you don't see the dust, but above f/5.6-f/8 it appears and very problematic at f/11. Just aim your camera to the blue sky, set it at f/11 and take a few pictures moving around, the dust is very apparent. I am not sure how to tell dust from oil, since the spots I am seeing are darker and round -- is it dust, oil, or pollen?
You must log in to post.
