Dirt spots on D50

[lamina]

I went out shooting tonight, nothing special, I was just bored. I download the photos from my camera and noticed some spots on my pictures. My lens is clean (from what I can see), so it's likely that the dust or whatever is on the image sensor itself

You can take a look at what I'm talking about here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mikejrisi/D50Spots

How much is it to get this cleaned? How could this have happened? I have only taken the lens off a few times to switch lenses.

 

[jlcharles]

Just once is enough to get dust in there, plus, the D50 isn't weather sealed, so crap can get in.

 

[compuwar]

I went out shooting tonight, nothing special, I was just bored. I download the photos from my camera and noticed some spots on my pictures. My lens is clean (from what I can see), so it's likely that the dust or whatever is on the image sensor itself

You can take a look at what I'm talking about here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mikejrisi/D50Spots

How much is it to get this cleaned? How could this have happened? I have only taken the lens off a few times to switch lenses.

It shouldn't be a big deal to get some sensor swabs, sensor cleaner and do it- just look in your manual for how to lock up the mirror, and make sure you do it on an AC adapter, or with the battery fully-charged. The cleaning stuff is relatively expensive, but you can Google for sensor cleaning and find lots of how-to advice.

If you don't consciously hold the body pointing down when you change lenses, it can happen. It can also happen from a dirty lens and shooting in a dusty environment. It's no biggie, you should get used to cleaning it anyway. Weather sealing generally doesn't affect dust intrusion, as it gets in even in my sealed D2x occasionally. You an try a blower first, but be very careful not to use canned air, solvents, or anything that could damage the anti-aliasing filter over the sensor.

You can change lenses and see if you get the same spots at a small aperture just to be sure it's not on the lens.

 

[lamina]

It shouldn't be a big deal to get some sensor swabs, sensor cleaner and do it- just look in your manual for how to lock up the mirror, and make sure you do it on an AC adapter, or with the battery fully-charged. The cleaning stuff is relatively expensive, but you can Google for sensor cleaning and find lots of how-to advice.

If you don't consciously hold the body pointing down when you change lenses, it can happen. It can also happen from a dirty lens and shooting in a dusty environment. It's no biggie, you should get used to cleaning it anyway. Weather sealing generally doesn't affect dust intrusion, as it gets in even in my sealed D2x occasionally. You an try a blower first, but be very careful not to use canned air, solvents, or anything that could damage the anti-aliasing filter over the sensor.

You can change lenses and see if you get the same spots at a small aperture just to be sure it's not on the lens.

VERY helpful. Thank you.

 

[lamina]

Crap. I tried a pure white shot with a small aperture, sure enough, the spots disappeared. I have a basic lens cleaning kit, so I cleaned the lens (both sides)

So, looks like the offending dirt is in my lens

What are my options?

Edit: I'm kind of confused. At "FNumber 25", the spots are clearly visible. at "FNumber 4.8", they're not visible.

 

[Abstract]

Crap. I tried a pure white shot with a small aperture, sure enough, the spots disappeared. I have a basic lens cleaning kit, so I cleaned the lens (both sides)

So, looks like the offending dirt is in my lens

Edit: I'm kind of confused. At "FNumber 25", the spots are clearly visible. at "FNumber 4.8", they're not visible.

I'm confused by what you said.

f25 is a "small" aperture, while f4.5 is a larger aperture. You should be able to see dust more easily when shooting at f/16, f/25, or smaller.

So when you took a pure white shot with a small aperture, did the spots disappear (like you said), or did it get more noticeable?

 

[lamina]

Now I'm totally confused.

The spots have disappeared... I'll keep my eye on this though, I don't want this happening when I'm actually taking important shots.

Thanks all for your help.

 

[compuwar]

Crap. I tried a pure white shot with a small aperture, sure enough, the spots disappeared. I have a basic lens cleaning kit, so I cleaned the lens (both sides)

So, looks like the offending dirt is in my lens

What are my options?

Edit: I'm kind of confused. At "FNumber 25", the spots are clearly visible. at "FNumber 4.8", they're not visible.

F-stops are ratios. Large numbers denote small apertures, f/25 is a teeny opening in the lens diaphram. Little numbers subsequently denote large apertures, so f/4.8 is a much larger aperture than f/25. You'll see dust on the sensor when the aperture is small, so shoot at the biggest number on the lens- typically a white wall or blue sky to see stuff on your sensor.

http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

 

[lamina]

F-stops are ratios. Large numbers denote small apertures, f/25 is a teeny opening in the lens diaphram. Little numbers subsequently denote large apertures, so f/4.8 is a much larger aperture than f/25. You'll see dust on the sensor when the aperture is small, so shoot at the biggest number on the lens- typically a white wall or blue sky to see stuff on your sensor.

http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

Thanks for clearing that up. I know the f-numbers, but I wasn't sure what setting would show which (ie a small aperture will show dirt on the sensor, while a bigger one will show dirt on the lens). At F25, I see the spots. I read the guide you pasted and decided to just use a little blower I have from my film days. 2 puffs of air seems to have cleaned the sensor off.

Thanks again everyone for your help.