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10/09/2005 10:41:34 PM · #1 |
I've had my Nikon D100 for 6 days now... On Friday I noticed some persistent black specks and recognizing this as sensor dust (but lacking tools or skill) I took it in to the shop and asked for their help. They demonstrated the cleaning process (and in doing so, cleaned the sensor) but in less than one day I am noticing specks again. I'm not sure if they are the same ones or new but I'm really wondering how often I need to be cleaning the sensor.
I am not leaving the body-cap off for long periods of time, I'm careful not to have it facing in to dust-storms and such, and I always have the camera off while changing lenses as I've heard this can cause problems with static electricity attracting dust. It obviously is not working... |
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10/09/2005 10:47:27 PM · #2 |
That's strange...I've had my Digital Rebel for over a year and shot a bunch of rodeo (dirty and dusty) while changing lenses constantly and I have hardly any dust on my sensor. I think I have one small visible speck.
The 1d I just bought has lots of dust on the sensor so I gotta clean this thing... |
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10/09/2005 11:03:09 PM · #3 |
Ugh... that's no comfort.
How do you unpack and assemble your camera body and lense? At what angle do you hold each, how long do you have the caps off for before the connection, etc.? |
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10/09/2005 11:06:15 PM · #4 |
| Turning camera off when changing lens is suppose to help the sensor from attracting dust. |
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10/09/2005 11:10:04 PM · #5 |
Yep, I always have the camera off.
I live in Calgary, a notoriously dry and dusty city, so I expect to be cleaning more often than most people but daily is obviously overkill. |
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10/09/2005 11:11:24 PM · #6 |
Quick note:
Sensor dust is far more visible at small apertures and especially when shooting smooth textures (such as skies). If all you shoot are large apertures or complex images, you may never notice the sensor dust.
Thus ... the new D100 owner who is seeing lots of sensor dust and the Digital Rebel owner who sees none, may simply be a matter of shooting style rather than an issue of taking better care of the camera or one camera being less or more sensitive to dust than the other.
For example, the first guy might be shooting scenics at f/22 with lots of sky (and lots of visible sensor dust) while the second guy may be shooting rodeos with very little sky at f/5.6 and never notice a thing.
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10/09/2005 11:14:50 PM · #7 |
Here's a quick test:
Point your camera at a white wall. Set it to Av mode and set your aperture to f/22 (let it figure out the proper exposure). DEFOCUS the lens (you don't want to see even the texture of the wall). Now take the picture. Doesn't matter if it's a handheld 2 second picture. In fact, feel free to purposely *move* the camera. Again, what's on the wall doesn't matter.
Now go look at the image you just captured. If you're shooting a DSLR you're bound to see "some" dust. The more you see ... the sooner you should clean your sensor. :-)
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10/10/2005 12:13:55 PM · #8 |
Ok, this dust is more persistent than I had previously thought.
I've had it cleaned once by a professional and twice by me within a period of 2 days and there is still dust on there.
I'm not being ridiculously light with pressure so I don't see why it wouldn't be picking up the dust. The body-cap stays off for a matter of 5 seconds after the cleaning is done.
Help?
One of my passions is aviation and I love sitting at the end of the runway taking photos, unfortunately the midday shots require a tight aperature like F/22 just to have avoid ridiculous over-exposure. I can't afford to just shoot at F/5 all day.
Message edited by author 2005-10-10 12:16:56. |
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10/10/2005 12:19:47 PM · #9 |
As another note, I just saw this post about
dust from pump-zoom lenses. My 35-135 is pump action, is this causing the problems I'm seeing? |
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10/10/2005 12:22:56 PM · #10 |
Why would you have to use f22 just to avoid overexposure, unless you are looking to use a specific shutter speed? I imagine that your camera would just set the shutter speed higher if you use a wider aperture (up to a limit of course), assuming that you are using aperture priority. With a long lens and a wide aperture, you'll almost never see the dust on your sensor. Also, I understand that f22 might lead to some CA being noticeable.
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10/10/2005 12:25:01 PM · #11 |
I have had my (used) 10D for more than a year now and I've never cleaned the sensor. I have seen some dust specks on stopped down images, but when I feel the need, I open it up and blow the hell out of the inside with a "squeeze-bulb" blower thingie.
-strange--happily a member of the non-sensor cleaning fraternity--ghost |
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10/10/2005 12:32:40 PM · #12 |
"Why would you have to use f22 just to avoid overexposure, unless you are looking to use a specific shutter speed?"
I like to have the freedom to use what is available. I don't have a ND filter yet so I'm left to juggle aperature and shutter speed to get the desired effect (ie. blur of a waterfall midday).
Define CA? |
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10/10/2005 01:20:31 PM · #13 |
I've had my D70 for almost a year now and have yet to encounter sensor dust, and this includes using it at my research field site (a sandpit, which gets mighty dusty in the wind). The need for 3 cleanings in 2 days just sounds completely ridiculous, even in adverse shooting conditions. Are you positive the spots you're seeing are sensor dust? Maybe you could post an image for people to see?
edit: I can't spell...
Message edited by author 2005-10-10 13:21:23. |
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10/10/2005 01:35:36 PM · #14 |
I have my D70 for almost a year now. Changed the lenses pretty often, inside and on the street. I look if the room I change in has lot of dust in the air, else I move to a kitchen or bathroom. But outside I am not so picky.
Altough I know there is some dust on the sensor I haven't cleaned it yet because it is not visible in my photos. I seldomly shoot beyond F8, because at F8 you have plenty of DOF and beyond F8 lenses tend to get softer again and you suffer also a bit from diffraction.
Got a Visble Dust kit, but it remains unused.
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10/10/2005 01:37:12 PM · #15 |
I used to have to clean my sensor twice a month, but being careful has helped a lot. When I change lenses I have the camera off I blow the area around the lens and then take off the lens mount cap and blow out the back of the lens and then quickly change lenses. I have not cleaned my lens in a moth and a half and it is just now getting a spot. To see dust I shoot at the blue sky at F22, shows up really well. There are cleaning kits out there which with a bit of practice work really well.
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10/10/2005 01:44:26 PM · #16 |
I just bought a new 350XT and saw sensor dust after my first lens change - pretty disappointing, but it wasn't the camera's fault. I have a good mid-size bulb that I use to blow it out with every lens change now and really don't see any sensor dust any more. If you keep the sensor clean with a few bursts of air, then you shouldn't have to do the liquid cleanser and pec pad cleaning nearly as often.
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10/10/2005 01:58:43 PM · #17 |
These are the full-size photos so don't try it on dial-up.
The original
Marked version
Are compressed-air canisters (computer dusters) ok for use on cameras? Obviously I'd avoid shooting directly on to the sensor but would a general blowing out of the compartment be a problem?
Message edited by author 2005-10-10 13:59:46. |
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10/10/2005 02:02:35 PM · #18 |
| If you are not heavily invested in Nikon glass, it may be time to consider the Olympus dust free system :) |
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10/10/2005 02:06:10 PM · #19 |
Judging by how sharp these are, I assume you shot at a really small aperture in order to see these, correct?
To be honest... I look at it and think, you really don't have much of a problem. There aren't that many specs of dust (I have had a LOT worse!!!!). After a good cleaning, I probably have about half as many dust spots left as you have now (meaning: they never completely go away).
You can easily clone out the few that land in the sky when you shoot with small apertures.
Otherwise, look for alternatives to shooting small apertures. I bet that if you could shoot at f/8 you would *never* even seen the spots. At f/11 there may be a "hint" of the spots, but definitely not sharp edges like these have. |
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10/10/2005 02:11:34 PM · #20 |
Both of those were taken at f29, smallest aperature possible on this camera. The reason I did that was because I wanted to clearly identify how much dust was there.
"After a good cleaning, I probably have about half as many dust spots left as you have now (meaning: they never completely go away)."
That's fine and dandy except that I have this much dust after 3 careful cleanings in two days... something has to be wrong here. I look at many of the crystal clear shots here on DPC and I'm left to wonder whether I'm doomed to a life of cloning out dust to get anywhere close to them.
Even at lower aperatures, I can see smudges or discrepancies where the larger dust spots are. It's driving me mad. I understand what has been said about avoiding those smaller aperatures but I hate the idea of having abilities but being unable to use them.
Message edited by author 2005-10-10 14:19:22. |
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10/10/2005 02:15:11 PM · #21 |
here is my dust on my sensor.. have never cleaned it :S .. i am scared to.
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10/10/2005 02:18:34 PM · #22 |
I'm no expert, and I wouldn't know the difference between spots on the sensor and dirt in the lense. However, I remember reading thread that mentioned a dirty lense being the culprit.
If you search "sensor dust" in the forum, you will find a zillion threads on this topic. Good luck.
PS, my camera came loaded with dust, brand new. I feel your pain! |
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10/10/2005 02:24:37 PM · #23 |
I've cleaned the lense thoroughly (Zeiss spray, Rodenstock cloth) and, if I understand what has been said previously, specks showing up at tight aperatures signal sensor dust. I might be mistaken about that though.
That sparks another question. What's to say that this is not dust inside the lense? The Nikkor 35-135 isn't exactly ultra-high quality and the pump zoom has, in the past, been suggested to be a dust magnet. |
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10/10/2005 02:24:48 PM · #24 |
Originally posted by leaf:
here is my dust on my sensor.. have never cleaned it :S .. i am scared to.
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:( That is nasty!!!
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10/10/2005 02:42:46 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by ShorterThanJesus:
That sparks another question. What's to say that this is not dust inside the lense? The Nikkor 35-135 isn't exactly ultra-high quality and the pump zoom has, in the past, been suggested to be a dust magnet. |
That's what I meant. Here's the thread that I saw the dirty lense post. However, I've also read that this doesn't show up in images? Hope you figure it out. |
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