SPOTS !!! SPOTS !!! please help

Thanks Chuxter for posting my pics. I think the data showed that I was shooting in TV and the camera chose F32 as the Ap. I think this was my problem.Does this sound like it was the deal to you ??

Sorry I posted the large pic and did not make it a smaller more legable size for this forum.

I also cleaned my sensor on my own this weekend and that seemed to take care of most of the problem and the spots. I took some pics before I cleaned it at F16 and after things looked a LOT better !!

This is all new to me as I have only just started to take pics and get pretty good results . I can finally start to get paid for my work.

Thanks to all of you for your effort and comments I so appreciate your helping this newbie .

And to Hugowolf for his comment about a "Professional " photographer who knows nothing about Aperture ! Thanks for the sleazy comment I really needed that !! I never professed to be a pro,I may have said I wanted to go pro or that I had purchased what I thought was a good entry level Pro camera....thats my opinion, but you sure dont help the self esteem of those of us who are really trying and may have to struggle a little harder to make things go well ! Maybe you should keep your comments to your self or go hang out with people who are as caddy and sarcastic as yourself !! IDIOT !!

cowgirl44 said:

Thanks Chuxter for posting my pics. I think the data showed that I
was shooting in TV and the camera chose F32 as the Ap. I think this
was my problem.Does this sound like it was the deal to you ??

Click to expand...

Well, smaller apertures do make spots more obvious, but I think you have a massive amount of dust getting in! I have never seen a camera this bad...

BTW, ignore people who are nasty. They are trying to get a reaction and it really pi$$es them off when they are ignored.

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700 & Sony R1
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
Bridge Blog: http://www.here-ugo.com/BridgeBlog/

For the record, the 30D really isn't an "entry level" camera... technically it is more of an intermediate model. Having said that, you should take the time to learn a little more about the overall control of the camera. Sit down with a good book or DVD on digital photography and things of that nature and it'll go a long way towards improving the images you take.

I'm not saying all this to make you feel like you don't know what you're doing but it is the very least you need to do. A person can not blame their tools when they don't understand how to use the tool or why the tool behaves the way it does. Try shooting at aperature priority mode for a bit and see how things line up for you.

BTW, sensor dust is a problem for a lot of cameras out there regardless of if you never take the lens off or not... and if you're shooting at f16 and above, you'll notice it more and more. Some brands have found a solution to this problem (some solutions are more effective than others) but in the end it is your responsibility to learn how your camera behaves and to give it what it needs in order to keep it operating the way you want it.

--
TANK

'Why is it everytime I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?' - Dr. Venture
http://www.myspace.com/servantoflove

cowgirl44 said:

And to Hugowolf for his comment about a "Professional " photographer
who knows nothing about Aperture ! Thanks for the sleazy comment I
really needed that !! I never professed to be a pro,I may have said I
wanted to go pro or that I had purchased what I thought was a good
entry level Pro camera....thats my opinion, but you sure dont help
the self esteem of those of us who are really trying and may have to
struggle a little harder to make things go well !

Click to expand...

I'm going to put my head above the parapet, in the name of fairness.

You have demonstrated in several ways that you don't know how to use your camera. The most striking is using shutter priority and "letting the camera" choose f/32. (Pardon me but I thought you were the photographer?) That is a basic beginner error. It will result in soft images due to diffraction, often excessive depth of field, and as you now know it will show up any dust spots. Also, using Tv when the resulting aperture falls at the extreme end of the aperture range is quite likely to result in overexposure.

You declared, quote, "I don't shoot in the dust", then we saw pictures taken in an outdoor environment where dust would be very likely on a dry day.

You said, quote, "battery operated twirly thing" - an affectation of stupidity that you will now pay for by being assumed to be stupid. That was what you wanted, wasn't it?

And you said, in your first post, quote, "They have ruined two paid for photo shoots". So you are a professional. A professional who doesn't understand the basics of how to use her equipment.

I don't thing anything Brian said was at all unfair or out of turn, and what's more he said what he did in a light-hearted way...

cowgirl44 said:

Maybe you should
keep your comments to your self or go hang out with people who are as
caddy and sarcastic as yourself !! IDIOT !!

Click to expand...

... and he didn't call you names.

Underexpose at f/22 sky or other equally textured/colored subjects to detect sensor dust.

Equally textured/colored paper or ceiling will work too.

I usually set camera to ISO 100, f/22, 10-30 sec exposure in semi dark room, manual focus to minimal distance, locating camera on floor pointing up to ceiling (to get equaly colored image) and trying to underexpose image for 1 stop. If sensor has dust on it will be well visible - needs cleaning.

Sensor dust is very annoying especially if you shot sky or water in long exposures.

here is shot with 3 dust spots in sky shot at f/6.7 :



same dust spots at exposure with f/19



--
http://www.stan-pustylnik.smugmug.com

Brian,

Personal attacks or silly comment has nothing to offer to person who is looking for help. I've seen people with such style of communication in different forums. They are not enocoraging or helpful.

I've seen professional photographers who shot company products for years.

They looked as kids at my long exposures asking questions I learned in 2 years of my photo-hobby.

Minolta 7D DSLR, Sigma 24mm f/2.8 no filters, RAW, tripod timer.



It's natural for any person to not know something and learn new....

--
http://www.stan-pustylnik.smugmug.com

iMac said:

Ed Halley said:

Some people scream "you could
scratch it!" but I'm not muscling in with the swab at all.

Click to expand...

Speaking as someone who scratched the living daylights out of a focus
screen with a cotton swab, no way am I putting one anywhere near the
sensor!

Click to expand...

Well, if not comfortable, don't do it. However, you're not actually cleaning the sensor, but rather the glass in front of the sensor and should have no fear of scratching thatwith a benign cotton swab. Actually, this is my preferred method over the past 2 1/2 years and I have probably had to clean me sensor 5 or 6 times between all the lens changes and 27,000 plus images. Oh, I rarely shoot at f-stop smaller than f/11 -- mostly f/2.8-f/7.1.
--
Ingo

pbase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/ingor

On my last trip home (Tahiti) my D70 became very contaminated, and I ended up having to send it in to Nikon for a complete cleaning. I don't know what lens she is using, but dust bunnies are a common problem in all of the DSLR cameras. Even those with "shakers". I now keep both of my bodies in zip lock plastic bags when I am not using them, and haven't had a problem since. I use the Copper Hill sensor cleaning kit, and have not had a problem again either. I find that using the a blower bulb, and the static brush every couple of weeks keep the bunnies out of the camera and out of my photos...

The $200 dust removal kit is probably the Artic Butterfly, and from what I have heard it is a really good dust removal system. The spinning unit is only used to recharge the static electricity in the brush and not to be used as a spinner inside the camera... If this is the system being used, I would go to their website and learn the proper way to clean the camera in question.

just this old chief's 2¢

cowgirl44 said:

And to Hugowolf for his comment about a "Professional " photographer
who knows nothing about Aperture ! Thanks for the sleazy comment I
really needed that !!

Click to expand...

I am sorry, it was never my intent to offend you. It was, however, rather exasperating trying to help you with so little information. The aperture that these images were shot at would have been a great help, and that is embedded in the EXIF data of the image. Any photo editing software will allow you to view the shooting parameters.

cowgirl44 said:

I never professed to be a pro, I may have said I
wanted to go pro

Click to expand...

You did say that “they have ruined two paid for photo shoots”. That to me implied professional.

cowgirl44 said:

was shooting in TV and the camera chose F32 as the Ap. I think this
was my problem.Does this sound like it was the deal to you ??

Click to expand...

Small apertures will certainly make any sensor dust more evident. F/32 is a very, very, small aperture. Not only will it exaggerate sensor dust, but it will produce very soft images because of diffraction interference. Even at f/16, softness due to diffraction will be visible.

Shooting at more normal apertures will produce images with less evidence of dust, but it will not cure the dust problem. The sensor needs cleaning when dust becomes evident. But again, I have never seen so much dust spread over the entire sensor as you had in your images. Usually a few spots appear, especial in uniform highlight areas such as the sky. Although it is unlikely, there may be a problem with your camera. Perhaps some part giving off dust, or maybe a lot of dust got in the mount cavity before the lens was first mounted?

With this much dust you may need several cleanings. I have found that the best test after cleaning is to take a shot of the sky at a small aperture, but at a correct exposure (not over exposed). Then the levels tool, in PhotoShop, can be used to exaggerate the dust spots.

Brian A.

I also thought the same as you re the OP.
Until now I have just kept quiet, but HEAR HEAR!!

Thank you Stan

It's so Hurtful to have someone you do not even know assume and make comments like that.
He was not the only one and I guess will not be the last.

I would only ask that people who are replying in this particular forum be so kind as to take to heart who this forum is for ,"Beginners" ,and tread a little softer in thier comments.

Be KIND have PATIENCE & Read our Questions with a helpful HEART !!

cowgirl44 said:

Thank you Stan

It's so Hurtful to have someone you do not even know assume and make
comments like that.
He was not the only one and I guess will not be the last.

I would only ask that people who are replying in this particular
forum be so kind as to take to heart who this forum is for
,"Beginners" ,and tread a little softer in thier comments.

Be KIND have PATIENCE & Read our Questions with a helpful HEART !!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, some members don't have the right disposition to be helpful to beginners. You are more of a beginner than a pro. When you sorta bragged about accepting money for your photography skills and effort, it waved a flag...and it wasn't a white flag. In the future simply don't mention getting paid on this forum, as it has nothing to do with your problems.

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700 & Sony R1
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
Bridge Blog: http://www.here-ugo.com/BridgeBlog/

chuxter said:

Unfortunately, some members don't have the right disposition to be
helpful to beginners.

Click to expand...

This is not the first time that we have been treated to your opinion about who should post on this forum Charlie.

Go back and read Hugowolf's post and tell us whether it is any more than a light-hearted, but accurate, observation that being paid for photography and knowing (apparently) nothing about aperture was (and I will quote Brian so as not to misrepresent him) "silly".

Then go on to read cowgirl44's response and try to deny that it is venomous and entirely uncalled for.

Dust on sensor is a wide and frustrating problem for every DSLR user

• beginner who gets shock looking at his "incredible DSLR" producing spots on sky after shoting in landscape mode.
• advanced amateur/professional who is annoyed by dust spots after spending long time carefully composing shots, using proper lens, filter.

Each dust spot takes time to eliminate in post processing.
Thanks to photoshop result could get cleaned by using clone tool.

I spend about 10 min post processing this shot to clean it from dust spots well enough for printing.



cowgirl44, more ruff weather conditions you shot at (sand, moisture) more seriously you need to think about weater sealed camera body/lens.

--
http://www.stan-pustylnik.smugmug.com

Steve Balcombe said:

chuxter said:

Unfortunately, some members don't have the right disposition to be
helpful to beginners.

Click to expand...

This is not the first time that we have been treated to your opinion
about who should post on this forum Charlie.

Click to expand...

Prolly not the last time either.

I didn't say that Brian could not or should not post here. I just noted that his specific post was not helpful.

Steve Balcombe said:

Go back and read Hugowolf's post and tell us whether it is any more
than a light-hearted, but accurate, observation that being paid for
photography and knowing (apparently) nothing about aperture was (and
I will quote Brian so as not to misrepresent him) "silly".

Click to expand...

I found nothing "light-hearted" about Brian's post. There were no clues that he was joking.

Steve Balcombe said:

Then go on to read cowgirl44's response and try to deny that it is
venomous and entirely uncalled for.

Click to expand...

Yes, she was mad, but I don't think her reaction was either uncalled for or unpredictable.

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700 & Sony R1
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
Bridge Blog: http://www.here-ugo.com/BridgeBlog/

I had the same issue with a Canon 30D. I purchased an Olympus SLR system due to the effective antidust, haven't had problems since.