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Dust?
#1

I was talking to another photographer a few weeks ago, and naturally we were comparing cameras. One of his questions to me was about how often I clean my sensor, and how vulnerable my camera is to dust.

Dust?

Are DSLRs really affected by it, and what effect does it have on your photography?
I've never really heard a sensible opinion, and I have no practical experience to judge with.

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#2

I don't own a DSLR yet, but I have read a lot on the subject, and there is a very informative website regarding dirt on the sensor and the best way to clean it.

Check it out:
http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/image/15473243

Chris
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#3

If your lens is dusty, your images will be distorted. I sometimes have white circles on my photos, when i use flash. I think they are due to the fact, that my lens is dusty.
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#4

I've had those white circles too - one explanation I've heard is the flash reflecting off dust particles in the air, rather than on your lens...
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#5

It might be true, because I took photos in a just renovated room and there might be dust in the air. Hey, thanks for this tip. Smile I thought my lens was dirty.
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#6

I used to think it was my lens too (although sometimes it could be)... but just thinking about it - if flash light is being reflected off the dust, then the dust has to be in front of the camera. If it were on the lens, it would be shielded by the lens or camera body...

I think the article I was reading, was about these spots showing up in graveyards and people mistaking them for ghosts and spirits... Big Grin
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#7

I've seen examples of dust in the air creating visible reflections from an on-board flash; like red-eye, it affects cameras with the flash close to the lens. It's also a common problem for underwater photography, where it's called backscatter.

But, I'm wondering about dust on the sensor itself: how prevalent it is, and how it actually affects people.

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#8

Whoops, sorry for the Off-topic discussion...

I've only had my DSLR for a month, so I haven't noticed any dust or had to clean it from the sensor yet..


I'm very frightened of doing so though - only because I'm just uber freakish when it comes to cleanliness (must be the perfectionist in me). Once I start taking notice of it, It'll probably become an obsessive compulsive habit... Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin
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#9

stargazer Wrote:I don't own a DSLR yet, but I have read a lot on the subject, and there is a very informative website regarding dirt on the sensor and the best way to clean it.

Thanks for the link, Chris, I had a look. That's exactly the kind of article I was thinking about -- there are over 11,000 words written on the "comments" page, but yet I hardly ever hear stories of sensor dust outside of hardware discussion forums. That's why I'm wondering how big an issue it is in The Real World.

From the article:

THE FACTS OF LIFE:
No matter how careful and meticulous you are with your D-SLR, you WILL get dust particles on your sensor. Some of these specks will make you want to use a jackhammer to get rid of them.

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#10

Like I said, I don't own a DSLR yet because I am still learning, but I read that article a couple times, and it seems that eventually everyone will get dust on their DSLR sensor. It may not be a problem for a lot of people to have a few small specks in their photos, but it would depend on the size of the print you want to make, and the color of the subject. From the article, I gather that the cleaning procedure is not too difficult once you have done it a few times. Personally, I think this is something that I would do in order to keep my camera performing at peak level.


Chris
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#11

Yes, you will get dust on the sensor especially outdoors in the summer changing lenses! It can start to affect the image and then cleaning the sensor is necessary, but it's no big deal. It scared me the first time, but I've done mine several times now with no ill effects. Remefber, what you're cleaning isn't the snsor itself, but the glass filter that covers it. Smile
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#12

I have that problem as well... As NN said outdoors changing lenses make it dirty... I get black spots in my pictures... I clean it very often, I use a compressor...

A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.
Paul Cezanne
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#13

Personally, I use a hairdrier and a toothbrush. I dont do it often, as the ORBS wont let me. :o

Cave canem
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#14

Rufus Wrote:Personally, I use a hairdrier and a toothbrush.

I'm almost afraid to ask if you're kidding...

Olympus has this anti-dust system, but it's always sounded like the same school of marketing 'emphasis' that the sensor-cleaners use to sell their products. I've made it through six months of construction season, but rarely change lenses 'in the field'. I don't know if it works or not. But at least the existence of dust has been confirmed. Cool

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#15

The picture below is a 100% crop from a photo I took with a very dusty sensor. All I did to clean this was use a bulb blower and the sensor was fine afterwards. All the dark patches are dust marks.

[Image: sensor%20dust.jpg]
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#16

Thanks; what sort of real-world conditions/photographs do people actually notice dust in?

I followed the advice in the link that Chris posted, taking an f22 photo of a blank wall (handheld, so blur obliterated any chance of texture or detail) and running an auto-levels. There are a couple of little specks in the TL corner. But, before I run for some alcohol swabs, I'm trying to think of all of the times I've taken 15-second exposures of blank walls (or f22 and the sky). Even knowing exactly where to look, I can't see anything on snowy field photos that I took earlier today. (F5.6?)

I can imaging this being critical for large-print landscape photography, but it still sounds pretty rare. Am I wrong in thinking that the dust issue is overblown (if you'll pardon the pun)?

(Page 171 of my E-1's manual details which menu command to use to lock the mirror up so that the sensor can be manually cleaned. Page 170 covers pixel mapping. I imagine I'll just do both annually.)

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#17

That shot is a 1/5s shot at F32. Dust does really screw with landscapes and blue skies. The other times I have noticed it most is shooting into an overcast but bright sky. The blotches really show up against the gray.

I've never had to go as far as swabbing the sensor to remove them, always gotten the dust with a bulb blower. Phlip that posts here had some severe dust on his 20D sensor and that came away with the bulb blower too.
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