You know you have sensor dust when:
.jpg "sensor_dust-3")
annoying little gray spots show up on your digital files. They are especially troublesome/noticeable when they overlay on skin tones, or in places that make them more tedious to Photoshop:
.jpg "sensor_dust-4")
Sensor dust is nothing new (Google it.) When I bought my first digital SLR in 2005, I also bought a brush from Visible Dust to clean the sensor. Back then, I used it all the time. Last year, when I moved to the D700, I set my menu options to “clean sensor at shutdown.” I’m careful with my gear. I take proper precautions when changing lenses. All of those things combined bought me some time, and I got out of the habit of paying attention to dust.
Even still, sensor dust is inevitable, and when it starts to regularly cost me time spent Photoshopping, I get annoyed, and I want it fixed — quickly. So I dug out my old Visible Dust brush.
If I had read more than I did before I started, I would have learned that sensor cleaning has changed in the last few years. What happened to xrdbear is exactly what happened to me:
.jpg "sensor_dust-1")
And I got very, very scared. So scared, in fact, that I set everything down and walked away for a full day rather than face what I imagined to be a nearly catastrophic error resulting in a very costly repair bill.
The next morning, I went back to reading. I started with bythom, and then moved on to this photo.net thread. I looked at Ken Rockwell, but I quickly clicked away because he was telling me what I already knew, that I shouldn’t be messing with my sensor.
I used a brush cleaning solution to clean my sensor brushes, and then I swept them over the trouble spots (in some cases, several passes, in others, probably a dozen or so) to rid my sensor of the oil streaks.
WHEW! I got my images zeroed back to a no-visible-dust default:
I’ve since returned to Ken Rockwell’s page advising me to never do as I did, probably to avoid the exact dilemma I found myself in (or worse); he cleans his cameras with a vacuum and sends them back to Nikon when they get really bad.
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4 comments
Paul Metzgar - I HATE sensor dust… It seems like no matter what you do it just won’t stay out of there! I have only tried cleaning my sensor once, on my old D80. The dust had gotten very bad, so after much reading around, I decided to very gently use canned air. I shot a few full blasts off first (away from the camera, to clear out any gunk) then very gently blew off the sensor. It worked great for me, hopefully wont have to try it anytime soon on the D700!
christine - I’ve tried canned air, but I’m always worried it’s going to shoot liquid onto my sensor.
A lot of people in forums have recommended Giottos bulbs, around $10 from B&H. I haven’t tried it yet.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/423072-REG/Giottos_CL2810.html
kate gardiner photography - i actually only recently discovered that setting in the menu about it’s self-cleaning mode. which is funny since the mirror lock up option is right above it. i use canned air all the time. i shoot a couple shots of air away from the camera to avoid the liquid problem. so far so good. i do have the advantage that since i don’t do a lot of studio work i normally shoot with wide apertures so the dirt may be there i just don’t see it.
Mike - Love the little girl you are using as a demo for sensor dust.
I am going to send a family to you who needs some newborn pics.