Hideous crap on the sensor

Without changing lenses last weekend I ended up with two nasty spots on my
images. They showed up halfway through a four day weekend. Even on my f/4
shots they show up as dark oblong blobs and at f/22 they are solid black
banana-shaped spots a little larger than the typical dust specks that I've
have had since the last time I did a dust check.

I assume they were in the camera already since I didn't switch lenses during
this trip and they just gotten shaken around. I'm hoping that a blower will
be enough to remove them when I get home tonight since I don't have any
other sensor cleaning materials yet.

This is with my Rebel XT.

Greg

G.T. wrote:

Without changing lenses last weekend I ended up with two nasty spots on my
images. They showed up halfway through a four day weekend. Even on my f/4
shots they show up as dark oblong blobs and at f/22 they are solid black
banana-shaped spots a little larger than the typical dust specks that I've
have had since the last time I did a dust check.

I assume they were in the camera already since I didn't switch lenses during
this trip and they just gotten shaken around. I'm hoping that a blower will
be enough to remove them when I get home tonight since I don't have any
other sensor cleaning materials yet.

This is with my Rebel XT.

Greg


While I was hoping that I wouldn't need to deploy the wet, I just bought
a http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/image/39082096 a few weeks ago.

IMHO, most people will need to use a wet cleaner at some point in time.

Btw, I have the brushes too. While they are good, they won't get
everything, every time. YMMV
--
Slack

No, no! You can't have problem, according to some of the "dust doesn't
exist"
types around here.
However, there is a possibility that cameras exposed to heat are
experiencing
vaporization of lubricants in the camera or lenses and this is
appearing on
the sensors. If you've ever used Armoral or any other product like it
in a car,
you can see the stuff precipitation on the windows of the car after
it's been applied
to the seats, dash, etc.

RichA wrote:
No, no! You can't have problem, according to some of the "dust doesn't
exist"
types around here.

Oddly enough, saying dust is not a real problem is NOT the same as
saying it doesn't exist, Rich.

However, there is a possibility that cameras exposed to heat are
experiencing
vaporization of lubricants in the camera or lenses and this is
appearing on
the sensors. If you've ever used Armoral or any other product like it
in a car,
you can see the stuff precipitation on the windows of the car after
it's been applied
to the seats, dash, etc.

You don't need Armorall for that. You just need a car new enough to
have a lot of certain softer plastics in its interior construction
(that is nearly every car on the road today). The process is known as
"gassing off" and leaves the window interiors looking as if the vehicle
harbored a three pack a day smoker during all three packs.

I remember that Hasselblad stripped the cladding (it was some kind of
leather or plastic)
off the sides of it's cameras for the Apollo mission because they were
worried about this
effect.

"RichA" wrote in message
ups.com...
No, no! You can't have problem, according to some of the "dust doesn't
exist"
types around here.
However, there is a possibility that cameras exposed to heat are
experiencing
vaporization of lubricants in the camera or lenses and this is
appearing on
the sensors. If you've ever used Armoral or any other product like it
in a car,
you can see the stuff precipitation on the windows of the car after
it's been applied
to the seats, dash, etc.


I have one plastic mount lens, a 50mm f/1.8, and I swear it looks like the
two spots were tiny plastic filings. Who knows, they're gone now. I still
have 7 very faint specks along with 2 obvious ones at f/22. As mentioned,
the two that I got rid of were plainly obvious at f/4. It's more than
useable at the moment but I'll get some wet stuff sometime soon.

I think dust removeable technology would definitely have kept me free of the
2 nasty specks. I'm not so sure it would have gotten rid of the remaining
specks as the blower didn't loosen them.

Greg

"G.T." wrote in message
...
Without changing lenses last weekend I ended up with two nasty spots on my
images. They showed up halfway through a four day weekend. Even on my
f/4
shots they show up as dark oblong blobs and at f/22 they are solid black
banana-shaped spots a little larger than the typical dust specks that I've
have had since the last time I did a dust check.

I assume they were in the camera already since I didn't switch lenses
during
this trip and they just gotten shaken around. I'm hoping that a blower
will
be enough to remove them when I get home tonight since I don't have any
other sensor cleaning materials yet.

I have read other posts that suggest cameras are sometimes shipped with
debris floating around inside that can wind up moving and causing trouble.
I'd guess the blower will fix it. Good luck.

Bill wrote:
G.T. wrote:

I have one plastic mount lens, a 50mm f/1.8, and I swear it looks like the
two spots were tiny plastic filings. Who knows, they're gone now. I still
have 7 very faint specks along with 2 obvious ones at f/22. As mentioned,
the two that I got rid of were plainly obvious at f/4. It's more than
useable at the moment but I'll get some wet stuff sometime soon.

Don't get too concerned about dust on the "sensor" (anti-aliasing filter
in front of the sensor actually).

Unless it's noticeable in your photos, live with it and learn to ignore
it. Even brand new cameras fresh out of the crate will have dust on the
sensor.

For what it's worth, I've cleaned the sensor in my Rebel XT only once in
months. I cleaned it after about a week of use because I was doing a lot
of testing and took a wide variety of shots, including many at small
apertures. That's when I noticed all the "crud" on the sensor. So I
cleaned it once and haven't really bothered with it since then. I
occasionally take a shot of the sky and check it if I think there's dust
in the way, but so far I've never had a need to clean it again even
though the test shot always shows dust.

I do alot of shots at f/11 and smaller, often with sky or light colors
in several areas, so dust does show up. Recently, I have been changing
lenses on windy days a lot, and that adds to dust collection.

Big deal. Grab my washed brush, set the camera for cleaning, blow air
through the brush, three or four or five swipes, re-check by shooting
the sky or a white wall, and go on with whatever else I'm doing.

I think I've had my Pentax D about 18 months and have cleaned it a
total of seven times. It needs it now, so I'll do it later this
morning. Five or 10 minutes and that's over for another month or three.

Bill wrote:
So I
cleaned it once and haven't really bothered with it since then. I
occasionally take a shot of the sky and check it if I think there's dust
in the way, but so far I've never had a need to clean it again even
though the test shot always shows dust.



So if the front element of your lens is covered with dust, you wouldn't
bother cleaning it off? You won't "see" dust spots from that either.

I can't believe sensor dust doesn't have some effect on image quality even
if it isn't creating dark spots on the images.

--

Stacey

"Charles Schuler" wrote in message
...

"G.T." wrote in message
...
Without changing lenses last weekend I ended up with two nasty spots on
my
images. They showed up halfway through a four day weekend. Even on my
f/4
shots they show up as dark oblong blobs and at f/22 they are solid black
banana-shaped spots a little larger than the typical dust specks that
I've
have had since the last time I did a dust check.

I assume they were in the camera already since I didn't switch lenses
during
this trip and they just gotten shaken around. I'm hoping that a blower
will
be enough to remove them when I get home tonight since I don't have any
other sensor cleaning materials yet.

I have read other posts that suggest cameras are sometimes shipped with
debris floating around inside that can wind up moving and causing trouble.
I'd guess the blower will fix it. Good luck.

Unless you live in a "clean room" you will get dust, pollen and all sorts of
other crap inside a DSLR every time you change lens. Some of it ends up on
the sensor (or sensor filter), some sticks, some doesn't. My experience is
that it takes something more than air or soft brushes to clean off the crud.
If you don't use the larger f stops and don't shoot photos that include sky,
you may not notice the crud. Shoot photos of flying birds and you will see
the crud frequently.

Ron