Sensor dust!

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I took a couple of test shots at f/22 to check for dust and...youchers :cry:

Blue sky, 55mm @ f/22


Same picture after auto-balance in PP:


Blank white image on my computer monitor, 50mm @ f/22, focused to 2 ft, after auto-balance in PP:


Blank white image on my computer monitor, 50mm @ f/22, focused to infinity, after auto-balance in PP:


Is this pretty bad already? Do I need to get it serviced/cleaned? Any recommended places?

I had this camera since the end of May and change between my three lenses pretty often.
 
su_duster-feather.jpg
 
I'd say that's rather mild, unless you plan on taking photos at smaller apertures (f/11 or smaller), then they might get a bit annoying. But overall, not really that much of dust. All depends on how much it bothers you in the pictures you shoot. Before paying for a proper cleaning, I'd get a hand pump/blower like these...

giottos-rocket-air-blower_223.jpg


...and see if you can get at least some of the dust off the sensor by yourself. The blower is also a good way to keep dust from settling on the sensor, if you use it regularly. Remember to keep the camera pointed down when you blow air on the sensor, so the dust can fall out instead of just blowing it around inside the camera.

edit: Oh and btw, when you're taking a "dust reference photo" (like the ones in the first post) you don't have to use higher iso's to counter the smaller apertures. It doesn't matter if your shutter time is in the tens of seconds, as long as the object/scene you're shooting is evenly colored and lighted (like a clear blue sky) :)
 
I regularly use a hand-blower to clean the mirror and the sensor (using the camera's "mirror up" function), camera facing downwards.

edit: Oh and btw, when you're taking a "dust reference photo" (like the ones in the first post) you don't have to use higher iso's to counter the smaller apertures. It doesn't matter if your shutter time is in the tens of seconds, as long as the object/scene you're shooting is evenly colored and lighted (like a clear blue sky)
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Eh, I know it was at ISO 800, that was by mistake. Also, I don't use Capture NX, so dust off ref photos aren't very useful to me. I'd prefer the dust isn't there to begin with rather than having to clone them out anyway.
 
btw, when you travel keep your rocket blower on top of your bag... it looks like a grenade on an X-ray machine.
 
^ Not mine. Mine is actually a solder remover that I never really used for removing solder ;)

But, it works just as well for a blower.
 
I would take it to a Nikon Lab.

It isn't as expensive as you might expect to get your camera cleaned in a Nikon lab or any other camera lab.

They can do a much better job than you, me or any other bloke with a hand blower or a 4.99 cleaning kit.
 
Now that the question was answered, was anyone else expecting a Will it Blend? video that ended with 'sensor dust! Don't breathe this' ?
 
Just clean the camera yourself. How fragile the sensor is, is greatly exaggerated. I've both wet and dry cleaned a couple of my cameras, and I've never had a problem. And on my old eos 350d I wasn't exactly gentle either.
 
epp_b said:
^ Not mine. Mine is actually a solder remover that I never really used for removing solder ;)

But, it works just as well for a blower.
Click to expand...

Does it filter the air it sucks in? If not, it's just blowing more dust onto the sensor. A proper camera blower filters the air before blowing it.
 
Just clean the camera yourself. How fragile the sensor is, is greatly exaggerated. I've both wet and dry cleaned a couple of my cameras, and I've never had a problem. And on my old eos 350d I wasn't exactly gentle either.
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See, I've heard both that it is and that it isn't. I'm likely err on the side of caution.

Does it filter the air it sucks in?
Click to expand...
Hmmm, I guess not. I didn't think of that.

Does that rocket blower, as posted above, do that?
 
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Yep, rocket blowers suck in through a filter on the ass-end and blow out through the nozzle. All good camera-specific blowers do that, my cheap Optex Digi-blower does and it was like $5.
 
^ Thanks, BCS!

Now, where, in Canada, do I find one of these things?
 
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I think I got mine from Blacks, but any half-decent camera shop will probably carry them.




Note: I bought it before realizing what a shitheap Blacks is and refusing to shop there anymore.
 
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