Just got my 30D, but.....

stu.artd · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:05

...the sensor is a dusty/dirty mess.

Only got the camera this afternoon, along with a 60mm 2.8 Macro and 50mm 1.8 MKII. Took some flower macros but noticed suspicious looking spots in the same places. Looked through the viewfinder at a flat coloured surface and could clearly see dust/spots that's not supposed to be there.

Obviously I'm not very happy with this. I have a 2 year old 300d that has one small piece of dust on the sensor (probably from changing lenses outside on numerous occassions, no matter how careful I was) but the 30d is in a far worse state and is brand new. I have tried using a blower but with little success, it did get rid of some larger spots but I'm still left with this, as below.

Any recommendations ?

SCM · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:10

Cleaning swabs and some cleaning fluid would be the best way to go. As had to do my 20D a few months ago as well for dust.

Just make sure that the swabs and fluid are ok to use for the 30D.

SCM

danza · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:34

Take the camera back to where you purchased it and complain until they do something about it. I'd flipping well expect it to be clean if I'd just spent £700 odd on a camera body and lenses too.

JonnyGLC · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:39

Don't be ridiculous, im sorry, but at f/22... that's great. Hardly any dots, and they dont even show up well at f/22.

That's your shot with the levels adjusted...

I'll say it again, don't be ridiculous.

My sensor wouldn't even be considered too dirty tbh:

stu.artd · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:46

A random name said:
Don't be ridiculous, im sorry, but at f/22... that's great. Hardly any dots, and they dont even show up well at f/22.

That's your shot with the levels adjusted...

I'll say it again, don't be ridiculous.

There's no need to say that anyone is being ridiculous.

I'd adjusted it like that as well, but left it as the white background as I didn't want to appear to be amplifying the problem. I took the shot at f22 to make sure I could see as many of the dust spots as possible.
As I said earlier, it's worse than my 2 year old 300D. :eek:

I can see at least one of them clearly in the viewfinder at all times, that's after getting rid of some others earlier tonight.

You're certainly entitled to an opinion and comment but the tone's just not appreciated or required.

Richard T · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:51

easy solution.... If you are not happy then take it back. It may have been a shop model

SCM · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:56

stu.artd the visible spot in your viewfinder could be on the mirror and not actually on the sensor, hence seeing it all the time as i have the same with my 20D.

I have dropped you an email with a link to the cleaning swabs, fluid i use on my 20D. They do the same for the 30D now.

SCM

stu.artd · 19 Jul 2006 at 00:20

Thanks SCM.

This might be a silly question as I'd think the answer is yes, but I'll ask anyway as I haven't done this before.

Can you clean the mirror as well ?

Raymond Lin · 19 Jul 2006 at 00:22

You don't need to clean the mirror, its not going to be in the photo.

In fact it is generally not a good idea not to touch the mirror at all as it is cover in silver sulphate which is easily damage with contact.

hoodmeister · 19 Jul 2006 at 01:11

Could give the mirror a gentle blow with a rocket blower... Even though dust on there won't show on a final shot, it can be really annoying and distracting when composing a shot!

Lostkat · 19 Jul 2006 at 06:26

SCM said:
stu.artd the visible spot in your viewfinder could be on the mirror and not actually on the sensor, hence seeing it all the time as i have the same with my 20D.

No could about it. It is on your mirror

Sensor dirt will never show up through the viewfinder, just as mirror dirt will never show on the resulting photograph.

Personally, I'd try a few gentle puffs of the blower brush (without the brush) to clear the mirror. However, if that didn't work, I'd just leave it. Never ever touch your mirror.

Using the blower on the mirror is more likely to increase the amount of dirt on your sensor, so make sure you have the equipment needed to be able to clean it before you go blowing the mirror

I use a SensorSwipe, PecPads and Eclipse Cleaning Fluid with mine. Worked perfectly on the 300D, so I'll be doing the same with the 30D when required

mrk · 19 Jul 2006 at 08:03

dust on your sensor means you use your camera like a pro :cool:

- leave the dust on there until it starts to show at f/11 on normal images

Joe T · 19 Jul 2006 at 08:14

As Lostkat says, if you can see the dust through the viewfinder it is definitely NOT on the sensor. There seems to be a basic misunderstanding of how SLRs work here.

stu.artd · 19 Jul 2006 at 12:16

Thanks for the replies and info.

I'll get a rocket blower ordered along with some sensor cleaning swabs and eclipse fluid. No doubt I'll need it in the future, so looking on the bright side - getting it now means I don't have to worry about it later.