Camera/Lens cleaning

riiight!

Hi just having a problem with my camera, Nikon D80 and hoping for some advice.

For the last while I have had a piece of dirt showing up in my pics. There is sensor dirt showing up in all pics at small apertures on different lenses too, but there is a blotch which looks like a water mark on my 18-200mm lens. At the widest it is clearly visible and gradually moves up in the frame until I reach about 28mm when it is not visible anymore, so I'm assuming it's not sensor dirt.

I would post some examples but I'm on a different computer than usual, pc is having trouble too :rolleyes:

What would be the best way to get rid of this?

riiight!

Nobody can help?

Maybe I didn't explain what I was looking for. I'm guessing that the dirt is somewhere on the lens but when I asked this question in a couple of camera stores they said that dirt would not be visible on the lens.

magicbastarder

dirt on the lens usually won't show - because it'll be extremely out of focus, essentially. does the dirt appear at both ends of the focusing range?
plus, you should be able to see any dirt with the lens off the camera, simply by looking through it.

pete4130

Get a lens cleaning kit which includes alcohol, cotton buds, soft tissues and a soft cloth. Clean both front and rear elements with alcohol on the cotton buds wiping back and forth gently, rotating the cotton bud 1/4 turn each swips on the lens (change cotton buds after 3 rotations....or just use 1 for the whole lot like I do!?). Then get the soft tissues and gently work your way from the centre outwards in ever increasing concentric circles towards the edge of the lens (so any dirt/grease is moved towards the edge). This should sort your lenses out?

For the Sensor, buy a Rocket Blower and a lens pen. It's what I've been using the past year or so. Blow the mirror off, then pop your mirror up for cleaning, shoot the rocket blocker in there a few times while holding the camera face down.

Get the lens pen, twist it 2-3 times in the lid (creates static charge/cleans the lens pen) and gently rub it on your sensor. It's triangular shaped so it fits in the corners.

The repeat the Rocket blower on the sensor and it should be as good as new.

Feels odd the first time sticking something into your sensor but once your battery is charged then its fine. The USED to be a dust monster when new but its not so bad now. This technique is dry and safe and works every time (unless there is moisture dried onto your sensor, then web swabs would be your option there). There is an anti aliasing filter in front of the sensor so you aren't actually touching the sensor itself.

It's painless and easy to do once you get to grips with it. I only did it 2 days ago myself. Best way I've found for cleaning sensors.

riiight!

Thanks Pete. I'll take your advice when I look (soon) to shop for cleaning kits.

@ Magicbastarder
Did a test there and yes, the dirt appears at the shortest and longest focus points, shifting a bit to the side the further I focus. There is the tiniest speck of dust under the glass on the front of the lens but as I said, I was told by a few people that this would not be the problem.

Any ideas?

DaireQuinlan

Dirt or marks on the front element almost certainly shouldn't show up. Anything on the REAR element of the lens though is a different matter. Even at that, it'd have to fairly prominent to feature obviously on a shot, you wouldn't be likely to miss it if you examine the rear element.

Can you post up a shot ?

riiight!

Okay here are the pics. Both are shot at f22.

Pic 1096 shot at 18mm ( you can see the blotch in the top third of the pic)

1098 at 200mm... (blotch is gone)

DaireQuinlan

Can you see anything really obvious on the rear element of the lens ? Probably in the bottom left of the element.

spaceHopper

You could get it cleand by a pro if you aren't sure what you are doing

http://www.camerarepaircentre.com/sensor_cleaning

just did my camera really nice and easy to deal with and not to expensive

riiight!

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Can you see anything really obvious on the rear element of the lens ? Probably in the bottom left of the element.

Nope. Nothing obvious anyways. It does look like a watermark I think.
Thanks Daire!

riiight!

Thread seemed to get lost without me sorting the problem

Anyone have an idea what or where the dirt is and how it could be sorted out?

pete4130

you cleaned your sensor yet? you'll narrow it down after you clean your sensor and lens(es) as to what your problem is.

cnocbui

Is it possible to burn/damage a sensor by pointing it at the sun or other very strong light source?

There seems to me to be a second near identical mark. Both look elongated on the same axis as if they were star trails.

Do you have a second lens to try?

riiight!

@ Pete
I haven't cleaned the sensor yet. But am I wrong in thinking that it must not be the sensor if focal lenght affects whether the dirt can be seen or not?

@ cnocbui
I have a 50mm and tested it already. Theres no sign of this "blotch", just the other specks of dirt that are obviously on the sensor.

I have in the past pointed my camera straight towards the sun so possibly that could be the problem. Perhaps I am just better off bringing the camera and lens to some repair shop so they culd have a proper look at it.

pixbyjohn

I honestly think that the "blotch" is dirt on the sensor but lighter than the other specks so only seen at particular focal length. Clean sensor before doing anything else. Let us know the outcome.

riiight!

pixbyjohn wrote: »

I honestly think that the "blotch" is dirt on the sensor but lighter than the other specks so only seen at particular focal length. Clean sensor before doing anything else. Let us know the outcome.

Okay thanks for your advice. I'll get a kit to clean it as soon as I can. I will say that the "blotch" does move up in the image gradually as I zoom until about 30mm when it disappears if that maybe rules out sensor dirt.

FoxT

I know that sensor dirt shows up way more at small apertures - but it looks like focal length plays a part here as well. The 18mm shot has far more visible specks, especially in the top left quarter of the photo. So perhaps sensor goo is more visible at wide angles? I don't know. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable than I, can comment.

If your lens has no visible gunk on the rear element ( the front element is less important, to prove this to yourself take a shot of the sky at say f/4 with something small (few grains of salt, a black pepper seed, a matchstick, etc., sitting on the front element of the lens)

Anyway - as already stated by other posters, first step is to clean your sensor. This is easy to do. I use an Arctic butterfly ( which is expensive & not very effective) and also eclipse pads & fluid,( which are much less expensive and much more effective ) available from warehouse express or similar. Alternatively, get it done professionally.

If you decide to DIY, then important to read the manual! If the shutter closes for any reason while you are cleaning the sensor, bad & expensive things will happen... At the very least, do it with a fully charged battery, and Live view (if camera supports it) disabled, and use your camera's sensor clean function, do not switch to Bulb & clean with one hand while holding the shutter open with the other, etc..