Does this look like a camera fault?

woodsy2k said:
Are you shooting through a glass window? because if so i believe that is what causes the dark line on image three that can be seen quite clearly (this will also be the cause of all the other flare on that image as well).

As for the diagonal lines on image 2 i dont have a clue im afraid.

No, was outside.
 
*ahem*

annoying4.jpg


So I went to clean the sensor, and there it was - a large hair hanging in front of it. I tried to shift it with air and a brush (all I have) and I think I've moved it out of the way of the sensor. No tweezers though, so I couldn't pull it out completely. I suppose I'll wait until it dislodges and then tweezer it.

I still need to get a bunch of dust off, but don't have the right tools to do it myself. Are there places that'll do sensor cleaning for me? Cheaply?
 
Hi Growse,

Did you manage to fix this problem?

How did you clean the sensor?

I have got some dust on mine and I am struggling to shift it :(

I have read the manual and it does provide instructions, it recommends an AC Adapter it ACK-DC20 for constant power supply whilst cleaning..
 
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VR46 said:
Hi Growse,

Did you manage to fix this problem?

How did you clean the sensor?

I have got some dust on mine and I am struggling to shift it :(

I have read the manual and it does provide instructions, it recommends an AC Adapter it ACK-DC20 for constant power supply whilst cleaning..

Honestly - spend the money and get the professionals to do it - not worth the risk of damage.
 
SteveOBHave said:
Honestly - spend the money and get the professionals to do it - not worth the risk of damage.

Hi there thanks for the reply, I guess I could enquire at a highstreet shop or something (Canon Dealer as it's a 350D)
 
growse said:
I still need to get a bunch of dust off, but don't have the right tools to do it myself. Are there places that'll do sensor cleaning for me? Cheaply?

You can buy cleaning kits to do it yourself, it's very easy. You're not actually cleaning the sensor itself you're cleaning the filter that's covering the sensor.
 
Not the dirtiest sensor I've seen, but you can count me as very impressed by the state of that! :D

And I'm with Cuchulain on this. The sensor cleaning kits can get expensive though (IMO), depending on what you buy. You might as well get used to doing it yourself as it will not be the last time you have to.

It IS easy, just nerve jangling the first time. :eek:
 
growse said:
*ahem*

<pic>

So I went to clean the sensor, and there it was - a large hair hanging in front of it.


How did you get that picture? I'm wondering if theres some easy way to take a shot to show exactly how mucky my sensor is.
 
Helium_Junkie said:
How did you get that picture? I'm wondering if theres some easy way to take a shot to show exactly how mucky my sensor is.

Does this help :


rpstewart said:
It's quite possible that there is something on the sensor but I'd check first before going probing around in the mirror box. Find yourself a well lit blank, light wall or a good sized patch of blue sky and take a photo of it at the smallest aperture you can (f/22+ if possible), don't worry about camera shake or focussing. If you take a look at the resulting image it should be fairly obvious is there's something on the sensor. A hair should be shiftable with a decent air blower (not canned!) which is a little less scary than swabbing.

I am a bit nervous about cleaning it myself, knowing my luck...
 
MacX said:
Not the dirtiest sensor I've seen, but you can count me as very impressed by the state of that! :D

And I'm with Cuchulain on this. The sensor cleaning kits can get expensive though (IMO), depending on what you buy. You might as well get used to doing it yourself as it will not be the last time you have to.

It IS easy, just nerve jangling the first time. :eek:

Surely you risk voiding the warranty (assuming it is still covered). Also be aware that if you naff your sensor, you're likely to be looking at the repair costs close to the value of the camera. Downside of getting someone else to do it is that it can take 2-3 weeks.

Have a read:

http://photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/sensor-cleaning.shtml
http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/

Anyways - IMO it screams "Danger Danger Will Robinson!"
 
dhill said:
I would think because a can of compressed air can give out quite a blast, and might damage something.

It has a liquid propellant that can either freeze or leave residue on a sensor filter plate and either of those can naff it.
 
SteveOBHave said:
Surely you risk voiding the warranty (assuming it is still covered). Also be aware that if you naff your sensor, you're likely to be looking at the repair costs close to the value of the camera. Downside of getting someone else to do it is that it can take 2-3 weeks.
Anyways - IMO it screams "Danger Danger Will Robinson!"

True..

But I cannot be doing with waiting weeks and getting someone else to do it.

I find the following kit does the trick, in order of lightest cleaning to heaviest.
1) Giotto Rocket Blower
2) Arctic Butterfly from Visible dust
3) Sensor Swabs and fluid for those stubborn stains.

Really, it's easy. If you shoot loads outside of a studio, then I can imagine outsourcing your sensor cleaning would get to be a pain in the backside.

Hands up all those here who do it themselves!! :D
 
Hmm I'll see what I can do, I can post an image up showing the specs of dust...

Just my luck... my first lens change and dust gets in there :(

People change lenses all the time...
 
SteveOBHave said:
Surely you risk voiding the warranty (assuming it is still covered).

Yes, in the same way that you void the warranty if you upgrade a lappy with more RAM yourself ;)

It seems pretty straight forward to me. I've got a sensor cleaning kit but not used it myself yet, I'll try it out on the work's 30D first ;)
 
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Mohain said:
Yes, in the same way that you void the warranty if you upgrade a lappy with more RAM yourself ;)

It seems pretty straight forward to me. I've got a sensor cleaning kit but not used it myself yet, I'll try it out on the work's 30D first ;)

haha - golden :)
 
Hello!

Well, I gave it a clean. However, the hair that's visible was hanging down in front of the sensor, and some way in front. Air wasn't shifiting it, and I didn't have any tweezers to pull it out. I used a plastic rod to basically push it out of the way. It's still in the mirrorbox, so it could dislodge and get in the way again at any moment. I've bought a rocket blower, so I'm going to have a go with that.

I really don't have good hands for precision work, so I'm not going to try a proper sensor clean until I can at least afford a new camera, just in case I break it.
 
If you find dust/hair in the mirror box, the absolute best way to remove it is with a cocktail stick with some masking tape around the end (sticky side out). You just have to gently prod the offernding crud/roll the stick around. That way you don't just shift the dirt around the insides of the camera because it sticks to the tape. You need to make sure you dont jam it into the shutter etc, but it's really not difficult.

My old Nikon D100 was really, REALLY dusty when I got it. The mirror box was almost grey with fluff and dust. I used the above method to clean it, and it looked like new afterwards! The sensor was also quite grotty, but compressed double filtered breathing air sorted that out ;)
 
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