Automotive Photography Competition #163

[RacingManiac]

henk4, you need to clean your sensor.....

[pat_ernzen]

henk4, you need to clean your sensor.....

Yeah. Sensor dust is always annoying, I don't clean mine enough. Fortunately, it's a pretty easy fix in Photoshop.

[RacingManiac]

I just did about 2 weeks back....finally got rid of them dust bunnies...lol

[NSXType-R]

henk4, you need to clean your sensor.....

How do you do that?

[Manik]

How do you do that?

You take the lens off and find a sensor cleaning option on your camera, when enabled, the mirror pops up and you can clean the sensor. (At least this is how you do it with Canons...) Using air you can blow dust off.

[RacingManiac]

If you don't notice the dust, don't bother cleaning as it is a delicate process and not doing properly will make it worse. To check for dust, take a shot against some white background stopped down to the highest available f-number. If you see black dots you'll know you have dust. Small amount of dust can be blow out by using a blow bulb. I'd do it on a tripod with the SLR facing down(just so to have gravity work for you). Use the cleaning mode to lift the mirror up and blow lightly to get the dust out. Take a shot again to check if the dust persist.

If that doesn't work, you might want to make a decision. You can have it cleaned professionally, leave it alone and do it Pat's way of removing it via PS, or invest in a cleaning kit and DIY. I took the last route...

I use this system...works quite well, but quite costly....
VisibleDust - DSLR Camera Sensor Cleaning

[pat_ernzen]

Yeah, I'm at like 87,000 shutter cycles and I've just cleaned it myself with a blower. And I switch lenses on location all the time. Though, I do try to always do it quickly and try to be weary of keeping everything face down and the like.

[henk4]

henk4, you need to clean your sensor.....

normally the boss does that for me...but I'll remember, you also have to consider that I look at these pictures on a dirty laptop screen, where it is not immediately clear where the actual dust is...and yes, using photoshop for removing dust picks a legitimate application...

[kvisser]

Be very careful cleaning your sensor. I managed to scratch the translucent cover over my sensor because I had to go back to clean one more time. I inadvertently picked up a tiny speck of dirt or something.

Copperhill Images has a very good website on doing this properly. I bought my kit from them and have done it quite often now. I learned from my mistake, never use the same cleaning cloth twice. Its not worth it!

Make sure you have a fresh set of fully charged batteries so that the shutter doesn't close on you during the cleaning process.

Follow your own logic on how to approach it, just be careful!

ken

[kvisser]

Yeah, I'm at like 87,000 shutter cycles and I've just cleaned it myself with a blower. And I switch lenses on location all the time. Though, I do try to always do it quickly and try to be weary of keeping everything face down and the like.

This is so tough when the wind is blowing, especially in dusty environments or at the beach! I've converted mostly to shooting with prime lenses but hate that it has me swopping out lenses on a regular basis. I would love to have 1 to 2 extra bodies just so I wouldn't have to risk the dirt factor.

regards

ken

[NSXType-R]

I see. Thanks!