Possible dust on sensor?

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PostmanPot

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Good morning all

I am still very much a noob with my D40.

I was looking at the sky through the viewfinder and noticed a small speck of black. I noticed it afterwards while taking normal shots in bright conditions. I cleaned the viewfinder and the lens.

Dust on the sensor? Solution?

Thanks. :o
 
Then it is probably just dust in the viewfinder / eyepiece section. No hassles with that - not entirely sure how to get rid of it - but it isn't a problem.

Dust on the sensor is usually seen when taking photos at really high F-stops like F22 or so - then you'll see dark spots on the pictures. Best way I've found to check for it - is to go stand infront a white wall .. set the camera to like F22 or higher and take a picture. Then see if any spots are in the pictures.

Usually you can get rid of dust on the sensor by blowing it out (be veeeery careful when doing that) with something like Dust-Off (available at most camera shops) - Dont shake the can when spraying .. otherwise the propellant comes out in a liquid form.

If that doesn't help - then take it to a good camera shop and ask if they can do a sensor wipe. Or you can send it in for a service. - this is just sorta future reference material.

For now .. have fun with the camera and just ignore the little black specs in the view finder :)
 
Thanks for that. :)

I'm going to get an ear bud and clean the viewfinder with it. Unless it's inside the camera?
 
Prolly on the mirror. If you have a blower, try that. Whatever you do, don't use any physical contact method to clean the mirror. The silvering is *very* thin and easily damaged.
 
Just another 2c - if it isn't a big / distracting dust spot on the viewfinder or mirror - then best leave it. Otherwise, opening the camera and taking your lens off and on and blowing will just increase the chances of really getting dust into the camera :)
 
BigAl-sa said:
Prolly on the mirror. If you have a blower, try that. Whatever you do, don't use any physical contact method to clean the mirror. The silvering is *very* thin and easily damaged.
Click to expand...

Never heard that before. I always use a brush similar to the one I clean my sensor with. Is a mirror more easily damaged? :confused:
 
PostmanPot said:
What's a blower?
Click to expand...
http://www.outdoorphotoshop.co.za/pBLOWER/Pro-Blower.aspx

Bwana: read the blurb in the ad I've posted above. Google is your friend:
dslr mirror cleaning

Merc: the blower is the safest, but I've found the sensor shaker on the newer cameras to be very effective. Using a wet cleaning method is the most efficient. Whatever you do, don't use canned air as it can contain oils which will make matters worse. It can also cause water vapour and other contaminants to freeze (through adiabatic expansion of the gas leaving the nozzle) on the sensor, which could result in a bigger mess. Reichmann recommends using canned CO₂, but this freezes even more readily than air.
 
@merc: forgot to mention, I also like Bwana's brush method - it's also one of the safe methods.
 
BigAl-sa said:
Merc: the blower is the safest, but I've found the sensor shaker on the newer cameras to be very effective. Using a wet cleaning method is the most efficient. Whatever you do, don't use canned air as it can contain oils which will make matters worse. It can also cause water vapour and other contaminants to freeze (through adiabatic expansion of the gas leaving the nozzle) on the sensor, which could result in a bigger mess. Reichmann recommends using canned CO₂, but this freezes even more readily than air.
Click to expand...

BigAl-sa said:
@merc: forgot to mention, I also like Bwana's brush method - it's also one of the safe methods.
Click to expand...

Thanks :)
 
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