Beginner Dust?

Stevieraith

Stevieraith

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Steve
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Had my (new) D7200 a couple of weeks now and have been out playing with it a fair bit. Just noticed this morning that there is a mark on my images (circled in red). It is showing with both lens so I am assuming dust on the sensor? It definitely wasn't there on images taken a week or so ago!

Whats the best way to clean this off, never having done this before?

Thanks

dust.jpg
 
Simple speck of dust on the sensor (probably).
  1. Try to blow it off with a Rocket Blower or equivalent.
  2. Do a wet clean with a swab (correct size for your camera sensor) and suitable cleaning fluid.
  3. Use a genuine Eyelead gel-stick as an alternative.
  4. Ignore it and remove in processing (not the best option). :)
 
Stevieraith said:
Thanks

Frustrating as only had it two weeks and only changed lens 3-4 times!! Always pointing camera down
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Irritating but a fact of digital life, you will never overcome it ... ignore it or deal with it are the only options unfortunately. :)
 
I wish my sensor had such a small amount of dust on it. :D
Depending on your type of photography (lots of small aperture stuff) it shouldn't be a big problem. I think you would find it hard to find many camera's around with a totally dust free sensor.
 
Every time I buy a used camera there are loads of spots like that.

A Nikon I bought on here the other week was the worst I ever had.

I use kits to clean them myself and it works ok
 
Stevieraith said:
This a brand new camera, so must have been something i did :(
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Were you indoors or outdoors ?

If you open curtains a little bit in bright sunlight have a look how much dust and fluff is shining in the light.

Even a split second could contaminate the sensor
 
GTG said:
Were you indoors or outdoors ?

If you open curtains a little bit in bright sunlight have a look how much dust and fluff is shining in the light.

Even a split second could contaminate the sensor
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I was indoors.

Thinking back to when it appeared, I got a second hand 55-200mm lens which I think may have had dust on it when i put it on.

Basically I am the idiot :)
 
At least it didn't bother you too much when you come to shooting. On my Fuji EVF I can actually see the dust before I even trigger the shutter! The worse thing is nothing I can do about it because I didn't take a rocket blower with me.
 
Even if you never change lenses you'll still get something on the sensor sooner or later as dust works it's way in via some little opening somewhere or something comes off the cameras moving parts. Unfortunately it's a fact of life with these cameras.
 
I've often wondered if the great popularity of shooting with wide aperture lenses wide open is because then you never see the dust :-)
 
Alan's right. About 2 years ago a lump of something appeared on my sensor between shots without changing lenses. It's just the one. I've had other, tiny, dust spots but the self cleaner usually deals with them over time and while I'm waiting the clone brush does a good job. The cruddy mark, though, is still there - slightly smaller and lighter than it was but still there. I have no idea what it is (a speck of grease from somewhere - is there such a thing in the works of a dSLR?) and because of that I'm not going to attempt to clean it off. It hasn't spoiled an image yet. It's top and the middle of the right hand side, so it gets cropped or cloned depending on the subject, but if it isn't in the sky or water you often can't see it. If it's just the one dust spot and it isn't causing you a problem I'd leave it be.
 
Don't worry about it, you have taken that against a plain background which will show the mark, on other things you'd probably not notice.

Things like that are really easy to correct in Lightroom etc and wont take a second.

As said above try blowing it off if you can, careful not to blow more on! if that don't work think before doing a wet clean. It's only going to be a matter of time before you get more marks on it so if you can live with that wait a bit longer and do it when you feel it is unacceptable.

I'm extremely fussy when it comes looking after stuff but honestly some people are almost afraid to use their camera because of what may happen... just enjoy it and use it... deal with the dust etc when it happens.
 
Stevieraith said:
The image above was to demonstrate, it usually shows on sky and cloud
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Exactly that is where it would normally show, which is why people often take a photo of that to spot dust. On something like that though correcting it will take one second.

If it bothers you and you're not going to be happy then clean it, no other options, all I'm saying is don't over do it and I've seen far too many people end up with worse sensors after they've tried wet cleaning it. If you're expecting to avoid getting more dust r oil etc on it in the future then you'll be disappointed.
 
Stevieraith said:
The image above is f/5.6 on a 35mm prime
Click to expand...

Normal dust will only show up if you shoot something like f11 - f16 etc. If it shows up on f5.6, it must be pretty big and obvious. I would suggest, just take the lens out in a dust free environment and use a rocket blower to see if you can get rid of the problem.
 
Jannyfox said:
I have no idea what it is (a speck of grease from somewhere - is there such a thing in the works of a dSLR?) and because of that I'm not going to attempt to clean it off.
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Yes, there's lubricant of some sort in DSLR's to aid the moving parts. You might remember that one manufacturer had a particular problem with oil or somesuch that ended up being splattered over the sensor.

Waaaaay back I paid Canon to clean my sensor and all they did was move the dust bunnies about and ever since then I've done it myself. Once you get over the fear it's not a problem for anyone with even average dexterity. What I normally do is shoot a series of out of focus shots of a white door, starting at the smallest aperture and opening the aperture in steps. I then review the results and if there's anything visible at aperture I may use I first use the cameras own cleaning cycle and if that doesn't do the trick I use a rocket blower and if that doesn't shift it I do a wet clean.
 
Probably more dust indoors in even the cleanest house than outdoors when calm.
 
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