[wulinka]

So I have only had my new camara for a couple of weeks, and I swear I have been keeping the front of my lense scrupulously clean, and only had the lense of once, twice at most, for seconds only.

but for a few days I have been seeing this spot in one corner of my pictures. in the example above I have pretty drastically modified the gray levels, to make it best visible. In some pictures it looks much more dense, and somehow even its appearance seems to vary with the focal length I am taking the picture at.

Is this caused by dirt on the sensor? How often do you have to clean your sensor and do you do it yourself? Or what else can cause such a spot?

any advice appreciated!

[EnglishBob]

That's dust on the sensor, go to the menues, look for sensor cleaning. This will flip the mirror up.

Then use a bulb blower and blow the dust off the sensor, no need to touch it with anything. The owners manual for my rebel says to not used canned air, but I have and have not had any issues with it.

[Petographer]

I used canned air also but I think the reason it is said not to is because it is so cold and create moisture when applied too close. I'm just carefully to keep the applicator tube a good distance.

[wulinka]

Thanks guys!
and, haha, I went around (this is New York City I'm talking about) today asking for a
"bulb blower" in all kinds of stores, from photoshops, over pharmacy , to opticians, and people just gave me that startled look...... anyway, I managed to explain what I was looking for, and the best one of the pharmacists pointed me to was an eardrop applicator for kids :-)))))

Never mind, the place where I get my pics printed has an airblower machine-thingy (whatever that would be called now...). that's pressurised air of course, but I guess you can control the pressure by varying the distance from the camara you hold it at, and anyway, they use it to clean their equipment. so they said I could come by with my camara.

will do next year :-)

all the best for you in this new one!!!!!!!

[Petographer]

What will also work pretty much as well as a rocket blower for your camera is an ear syringe. Same thing.

http://www.drugstore.com/qxp77706_333181...yringe.htm

[EnglishBob]

My Bulb blower is a Kids Ear syringe.



Edit: Dough should of checked Petog's post, that's the one I have.

[shuttertalk]

My gosh, it's a UFO!

p.s. I think they call them blower brushes too... the one I have has a brush cap which fits onto the end of the blower. The brush is more for cleaning filters - like the others said I would never dare use anything to physically touch the sensor.

[EnglishBob]

Well when I got mine I asked in the local photo store if they sold bulb blowers for lenses. The guy told me, "No, it's so much cheaper to go to the drug store and buy a childs ear or nasal syringe. You get exactly the same thing and it costs less than a third of the price."

[Petographer]

You just have to be careful not the blast wax all over the sensor.

[crazy_irish_chick]

lol that's a bugger sucker....suck the snots out of infants noses.. OMG my life is over isnt it?

[Petographer]

lol that's a bugger sucker....suck the snots out of infants noses.. OMG my life is over isnt it?

Actually it's for ear wax but it's a buggers ay?

[Schellamo]

I tried to clean my sensor last night using the 'booger sucker' I have at home (checked it was clean first LOL) but I couldn't move the speck of dust I could see and now I swear there is more dust than ever on there. Anybody got any ideas for me?

[EnglishBob]

Well, you could try professional cleaning, but I have used high pressure canned air on mine more than once with no problem.

[Rufus]

The reason canned air is frowned upon, is the risk in SOME brands of propellant pollution on the sensor.
But, hey ho! What do I know, and who cares?

[EnglishBob]

LOL, I Keep the can flat and level on the desk and angle the camera, so as not to risk tipping the can and getting propellant in the camera.

[matthew]

I care, very much.

Sensor cleaning isn't something I bother with much. But, for my six-month cleaning (done a month late) I did need to get rid of some stuck-on stuff. I used a very thin piece of very flexible plastic, a lens tissue, and some alcohol. This is probably a horrible idea, but it worked. (Blow loose dust and grit off first!) I've also heard of using a cotton-swab with alcohol - the paper-stick "Q-Tip" style, not the plastic ones.

[Rufus]

Ah Matthew, no. I didnt mean who cares about sensor cleaning! Naturally it's a job we all undertake from time to time.

[matthew]

Oh, I know, I meant that I care about you. You seem a little dejected recently.

I'm sending my Oly in for service in a month or so. I'm hoping that they clean my sensor for me, even though I don't see any problems.

Personally, I'm plagued by dust on my mirror.

I have used canned air, but only after checking that it advertised that it was "dry". A blower bulb also works, has less risks, costs about as much as one can, and doesn't generate as much garbage.

My problem is that the blower and can seem to introduce as much dust as they remove.

[Schellamo]

yes, thats my problem too matt. I think I'll try the canned air and see how it goes.

[Schellamo]

Hey, I just found this post on DPreview
"The trick, it seems, is to do the air blasting in the bathroom after running a hot shower long enough to dampen the air and rid the room of floating dust. I mounted the camera on my tripod extended above my head so I could work comfortably. I blasted before raising the mirror, then raised the mirror and gave it thorough blasting. I put the tip of the blaster just past the shutter, but held the front of the rocket to be safe while resting my fingers on the camera body for stability. After taking a test shot I can hardly believe it, but even at f/22 I find no evidence of dust at all. This is the cleanest my sensor has been ever since I've owned it. Needless to say I am happy about this."

Sounds pretty smart to me!!

[adam]

After my long hot shower I see water vapour flying around everywhere

[wulinka]

I keep having the same feeling as Matthew about the EarsyringeUFOBuggerBoogerSucker, they introduce more dust than they get rid of, i. e. in our place. Everyone in this neighbourhood complains about all the dust, I've never seen anything like it. And I seem to have to clean my sensor after every change of lenses, no matter how careful I am .

So it's been driving me crazy, and I can't think that spending night after night after night healing brushing should be the solution to this......