Digital Camera Question

[Robert Edmonds]

Hey for christmas I got a new digital camera! A new D70. I was taking some pictures and I found some reoccuring stuff on some of the images. I remember some of you guys talking to someone else about dust on the camera sensor, so that's what I think is occurring. Since I'm new I thought I might throw it by you guys and make sure you guys think it's dust. If you look at this random picture I took out my window you see 4, what I think dust spots, on the sensor to the top right.

http://www.untitledimages.com/DSC_0010.JPG

So is it, and one more question do I ignore and edit? Or is there a way to clean these things off?

 

[Steve_Stuck]

Sure looks like sensor dust. I know there's lots of different ways that people prefer to use to clean their sensors. I like the kit from Copper Hill Images http://www.copperhillimages.com/
There's cheaper alternatives, but that's what I use to clean my Canon 20d.

 

[Dick McGowan]

Now I'm not positive on this but I think the new SLR's have a sensor cleaning function. Haven't looked or tried it out, but I think it's available with the Canon Rebel XT.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Yep, that's sensor dust. Bring it back. If it's that new, just demand a new one. That camera may have been used and returned already if it came with that much dust out-of-the-box. New cameras from the big two (Nikon & Canon) are usually pretty darned clean when you get them.

Barring that, you can always mail to to Nikon for free warranty service, but shipping is on your dime, which can be pricey when you factor in insurance.

Don't try to clean it yourself with one of those kits. Yes, it's doable, but it's also very easy to destroy the sensor in the process. One of those airbulbs tends to be pretty safe, but, in most instances, useless at dislodging dust stuck on the sensor protection plate. The way I see it, a professional clean job (which included disassembling the camera body and cleaning and lubing much more than just the sensor) is $40. A new camera is $1600. It's not worth the risk to me to do it myself.

 

[Robert Edmonds]

It's not new. It was off ebay but was only used for a few times. It came with all origional packaging and honestly you couldn't tell it's ever been used except for the little dust. Pls I know you run risks with ebay but I didn't buy the camera so I didn't choose where it was gotten from.

 

[B Ozanne]

If you decide to clean it yourself here's what you need to do:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/s...-cleaning.shtml

Personally, I'd wait a little while to clean it. Take pictures and just clone out the stuff that bothers you. In many cases the dust might not even show up.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Santa must like you...

Robert, holler if you can't find a cleaning kit for a reasonable price (the Copper Hill kits are absurd for what you get.) I'll send you a few of these and a small vial of 99.9+% methanol. I use this combination at work when cleaning 10K$ lenses, flats, mirrors, etc. Works great and won't harm the sensor window's coatings.

-Greg

 

[Andrew Khan]

If you know anyone with this dust problem....then it's ME. I have literally taken back 7 Canon EOS 3500 Digital Rebel XT's to the store that I bought them, and got a new one each time. The deal is, that new camera always will have dust on them. It's called "Factory Dust". The factories that make these cameras, do not have a personal vacuum to put together the parts and sensor so naturally dust is very liable to enter the sensor and other parts of the camera. Nothing is perfect in life. That is what I was thinking t least later on. At first....I got really scared and upset/worried like you and naturally wound up returning lots of them. I thought...that perhaps they were used before, but there was no solid evidence to support this theory. Then I read an article about Factory dust, and how easy it is for it to make it's way onto the camera while it's in production. What I would do is go and get a "Hurricane Blower", they are pretty cheap, blow a few times for practice and to get the dust out, push it into the sensor area, and squeeze a few times, and that should get the big chunks of Dust off the sensor, and the others, just don't even worry about. Honestly, your not even supposed to tough the sensor with anything, not even a camel hair brush. Methane is possible to clean it off with, but there is a lot of risk being taken, and could end up destroying your camera entirely. And I think you would rather have just some dust on some pictures, rather than just not having a camera at all. So, you can either get a hurricane blower, or just live with it. Factory Dust/Dust is really simply just a fact of life, and nothing is perfect.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Here's an article showing how partially disassemble a D70. Note the IR filter that covers the actual sensor, the window that is being removed.

Dust on the window's outside surface will be fairly easy to remove, with no danger to the actual CCD sensor. If canned air doesn't do the job, use optical cleaning pads with a small amont of solvent in them (flick the handle against the table edge to fling off excess fluid), and light pressure. If dust has somehow (seems unlikely) migrated to one of the inside surfaces, you'll need to have someone disassemble the camera, as shown in the article, or return it for warranty repair.

-Greg

 

[Andrew Khan]

Unfortunatly, I do not think Canon's have a cover on the sensor, like Nikons do. I can't remember, but there is a company right now that offers a sensor cleaning kit with there camera, specially designed for that purpose and not anomalic. I think it's either Pentax or Olympis....I don't know for sure though.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

All DSLRs that I know of have a IR cover over the sensor... this is what you actually clean. Canon actually made a special version of the 20d (dA) that removed the IR filter so you could do astrophotography.

Aaron

 

[Andrew Khan]

One brand of Digital Cameras, if I recall correctly, had an autamtic sensor cleaner built inside....

 

[Robert Edmonds]

Nikon has a program I've found out that 'removes' dust spots from images. The program aquires a white image you have taken with your camera to identify the dust and then uses it to remove it from other pictures. I've tried it, it's pretty good. Only thing is is cost $ and requires the images to be in RAW format which take up allot of memory.

 

[Scott Taylor]

Hi Robert,

Congrats on picking up a digital camera. You'll have a great time with it.

Did it come with the owner's manual? If so, there *should* be a section in there that instructs you on sensor cleaning. I've owned a 20D for over a year and cleaned the sensor twice. It's really not that difficult to do, but you do need to be careful. Someone earlier said something about canned air - DO NOT ever blow canned air into your digital camera.

Pick up a Giottos cleaning kit, you can't go wrong with this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...oughType=search

Good luck!

 

[John Diel]

Olympus with their E-1 introduced a "Sonic Cleaning Mode" which from what I understand does an 'OK' job of knocking off the major dust from the CCD.

Other DSLR's haven't gone to this yet, but Canon has a 'Cleaning Mode' which disables the CCD and locks the mirror up allowing you to clean it via the more conventional means. I would think that Nikon has a similar system. I know the older DSLR's did not have this feature and you could possibly void a warranty by attempting to clean your own sensor.