D1X CCD spots

Greg Shapps · Aug 26, 2002

I have been getting thesed spots on my images all day and I can not seem to figure out whats causing it. I have cleaned the CCD, cleaned my lens, checked for flare and just can't seem to finds the cause. Could this just be dead pixels? Any one have any suggestions.

The image is just a cropped area done at 100%

Frans Leerdam · Aug 26, 2002

Gregman said:
I have been getting thesed spots on my images all day and I can not
seem to figure out whats causing it. I have cleaned the CCD,
cleaned my lens, checked for flare and just can't seem to finds the
cause. Could this just be dead pixels? Any one have any
suggestions.

The image is just a cropped area done at 100%

--

Looks like dust to me Gregman, I don't think those are dead pixels.I had the same and cleaned my ccd over and over again. I used a Mac-light to examine the ccd to find every piece of dust on it. It really takes some practice to clean the ccd properly.

Frans.....

Nikon D1X
Nikor 17-35 AF-S
Nikor 28-70 AF-S
Nikon SB-80 DX

Gwynn T Robinson · Aug 26, 2002

I agree. It looks like dust to me too.

I use the Sensor swabs and eclipse fuid to clean my CCD - and it does take a few cleans to get all of the dirt off sometimes.

Greg Gebhardt · Aug 26, 2002

Gregman said:
I have been getting thesed spots on my images all day and I can not
seem to figure out whats causing it. I have cleaned the CCD,
cleaned my lens, checked for flare and just can't seem to finds the
cause. Could this just be dead pixels? Any one have any
suggestions.

The image is just a cropped area done at 100%

--

No doubt that it is dust. CLeaning takes practice. How are you cleaning the ccd?

Greg Gebhardt
Jacksonville, Florida

Nickle S. · Aug 26, 2002

Greg Gebhardt said:
Gregman said:

I have been getting thesed spots on my images all day and I can not
seem to figure out whats causing it. I have cleaned the CCD,
cleaned my lens, checked for flare and just can't seem to finds the
cause. Could this just be dead pixels? Any one have any
suggestions.

Click to expand...

Jacksonville, Florida

Greg,

How have you been cleaning the CCD? I started with the Sensor Swabs and Eclipse and found I was using 3 or 4 swabs at a cleaning. I couldn't get the hang of putting enough pressure on the swabs to dislodge the stuck dust - I was just moving it to the edges.
Proceed right to Thom Hogan and try his method. Works great for me.

Best of luck,
Nick

Robert Walker · Aug 26, 2002

I've seen it a bilzillion times. It's dust. No doubt. I'm very sure of it. I have to ask how you cleaned the CCD. I have both a D1 and D1H, and I have consistently found that a shot of air ALWAYS cleans the dust off. I have never had to send the camera back for Nikon to clean.

Please let me know what you find.

Bob

Gregman said:
I have been getting thesed spots on my images all day and I can not
seem to figure out whats causing it. I have cleaned the CCD,
cleaned my lens, checked for flare and just can't seem to finds the
cause. Could this just be dead pixels? Any one have any
suggestions.

The image is just a cropped area done at 100%

Greg Shapps · Aug 26, 2002

I actually have it cleaned by the rental dept at Calumet Chicago. I am very good buddies with them and spend alot of money on them, so they like to clean my camera too. Its been about 3 weeks since they last cleaned it, but this all of the sudden appeared today. I checked my files from yesterday of the same subject matter and the spots arent there, well some are. I have never seen dust like this before, perfect circles, but I will take your word for it and have it cleaned again tomorrow.

Greg

Duncan C · Aug 26, 2002

I agree, it's dust.

My D1X's CCD is constantly getting dusty. I've started carrying a big air bulb in my camera bag, and I blow off the sensor every couple of lens changes (Just set it to manual exposure, BULB, hold down the shutter release, and hit the CCD several times with puffs from the bulb.

Duncan C.

---------------------

Gregman said:
I actually have it cleaned by the rental dept at Calumet Chicago.
I am very good buddies with them and spend alot of money on them,
so they like to clean my camera too. Its been about 3 weeks since
they last cleaned it, but this all of the sudden appeared today.
I checked my files from yesterday of the same subject matter and
the spots arent there, well some are. I have never seen dust
like this before, perfect circles, but I will take your word for it
and have it cleaned again tomorrow.

Greg

Greg Gebhardt · Aug 27, 2002

Nickle S. said:
Greg Gebhardt said:

Gregman said:

I have been getting thesed spots on my images all day and I can not
seem to figure out whats causing it. I have cleaned the CCD,
cleaned my lens, checked for flare and just can't seem to finds the
cause. Could this just be dead pixels? Any one have any
suggestions.

Click to expand...

Jacksonville, Florida

Click to expand...

Greg,
How have you been cleaning the CCD? I started with the Sensor Swabs
and Eclipse and found I was using 3 or 4 swabs at a cleaning. I
couldn't get the hang of putting enough pressure on the swabs to
dislodge the stuck dust - I was just moving it to the edges.
Proceed right to Thom Hogan and try his method. Works great for me.

Best of luck,
Nick

--

Yes been using the swabs and solution with a/c adapter. It take some pratices. Spots like these will take some light rubbing with the swab. Yes it might take several swabs. I have had best luck in the very end using a almost dry swab to lightly get the dust off the edges. If they could redesign the ccd with no lip on the edge it would really help.

No one said it was easy.

Greg Gebhardt
Jacksonville, Florida

Nickle S. · Aug 27, 2002

Duncan C said:
Gregman said:

I actually have it cleaned by the rental dept at Calumet Chicago.
I am very good buddies with them and spend alot of money on them,
so they like to clean my camera too. Its been about 3 weeks since
they last cleaned it, but this all of the sudden appeared today.
I checked my files from yesterday of the same subject matter and
the spots arent there, well some are. > > Greg

Click to expand...

Greg,

At the risk of repeating the "swabber's mantra" and being stoned to death, I'll go ahead anyway.
(forgive me people)

Does Calumet use methanol to clean the CCD or are they using some sort of forced air? My experience is that no kind of air (outside of an airplane jet exhaust) is strong enough to move the stuck dust. Also, I am extremely careful how and where I change lenses. Finally, zoom lenses are anything but air-tight compared to fixed lenses, so, the more you shoot, the more dust will infiltrate. If I am shooting hundreds of shots a day, it's not unusual to swab every 2 or 3 days. Once you get the hang of swabbing, it's really a piece of cake.
Good luck,
Nick

Anders Borum · Aug 27, 2002

Hello!

Nickle S. said:
Does Calumet use methanol to clean the CCD or are they using some
sort of forced air? My experience is that no kind of air (outside
of an airplane jet exhaust) is strong enough to move the stuck
dust.

I'm using the manual mode -> bulb shutter setting with a fully recharged battery and canned air without fluids. I've been doing this for about 2 years with no problems at all.

Sometimes it takes a few more blows, but I manage to get about 90% of the dust off the CCD, which is fine with me because the remaining dust only is visible in F16 and up (I never work there anyway).

Btw. I'm not a pro - just a happy amateur.

--
with regards
anders lundholm · [email protected]
the sphereworx / monoliner experience

Joseph S Wisniewski · Aug 27, 2002

Gregman said:
I checked my files from yesterday of the same subject matter and
the spots arent there, well some are. I have never seen dust
like this before, perfect circles, but I will take your word for it
and have it cleaned again tomorrow.

Sudden appearnace & perfect circles? How about residue from condensation. Where has your camera been?

Ciao!

Joe

Greg Shapps · Aug 27, 2002

So I go to Calumet to get some swabs and the juice and of course they are out of the D1X sized Pec swabs and then the guys in digital dept recommend not to use any juice only as a last resort. My biggest issue is that when cleaning on bulb the chip is actually being charged and attracting dust - which is why Nikon reccomends to clean with the A/C adapter. But Nikon being horrible with supply haven't been able to ship A/C adapters for almost 5 months now. So off to Calumet again to have them clean it, good thing they are only 6 blocks away.

Joseph S Wisniewski · Aug 27, 2002

Gregman said:
to clean with the A/C adapter. But Nikon being horrible with
supply haven't been able to ship A/C adapters for almost 5 months
now.

Mine just arrived yesterday from KEH. $10 cheaper than B&H, too. They might have more.

Michael Harkavy · Aug 27, 2002

I'm seeing the exact same type of spots on my images all of a sudden. On the walls on skin on anything of a light color. If Anders is correct their visability would be due to the fact that I was shooting over F20.

Does anyone know if dust on the lens glass surface could appear in images shot at F20 --or ever appear?

The images were shot indoors when it was around 95F degrees outside and very humid. But the suggestion of condensation is troubling.

The counter is getting close to 4000. Think it's time to clean the CCD.

Gregman said:
I have been getting thesed spots on my images all day and I can not
seem to figure out whats causing it. I have cleaned the CCD,
cleaned my lens, checked for flare and just can't seem to finds the
cause. Could this just be dead pixels? Any one have any
suggestions.

The image is just a cropped area done at 100%

--
http://www.harkavy.com

Steve in CT · Aug 27, 2002

Gregman said:
So I go to Calumet to get some swabs and the juice and of course
they are out of the D1X sized Pec swabs and then the guys in
digital dept recommend not to use any juice only as a last resort.
My biggest issue is that when cleaning on bulb the chip is actually
being charged and attracting dust - which is why Nikon reccomends
to clean with the A/C adapter. But Nikon being horrible with
supply haven't been able to ship A/C adapters for almost 5 months
now. So off to Calumet again to have them clean it, good thing
they are only 6 blocks away.

--

Be careful here when using the bulb setting - even if you have a fresh battery. If the battery fails for any reason (sh## happens and Murphy is alive and well...), the shutter curtain will close. Anything in its path (sensor swab, tom's plastic Wendy's knife, extension nozzle for canned air, blower bulb, etc.) will damage the shutter which means a trip back to Nikon service on your dime (very unlikely you'll convince Nikon to cover this even if the camera is under warranty). Preferred cleaning method is to use an EH-4 AC adapter (plugged into a UPS if you're really paranoid like me). For more info, see Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the D1, D1x, & D1h.

Steve in CT

Greg Gebhardt · Aug 28, 2002

Michael Harkavy said:
I'm seeing the exact same type of spots on my images all of a
sudden. On the walls on skin on anything of a light color. If
Anders is correct their visability would be due to the fact that I
was shooting over F20.

Does anyone know if dust on the lens glass surface could appear in
images shot at F20 --or ever appear?

The images were shot indoors when it was around 95F degrees outside
and very humid. But the suggestion of condensation is troubling.

The counter is getting close to 4000. Think it's time to clean the
CCD.

If the dust is big enough it will show at most f-stops. If the spots are in the smae place on each image, you can bet it is dust. Some will blow away, but sooner or later the ccd will have to be cleaned.

Michael Harkavy said:
Greg Gebhardt

Jacksonville, Florida

Greg Gebhardt · Aug 28, 2002

Joseph S. Wisniewski said:
Sudden appearnace & perfect circles? How about residue from
condensation. Where has your camera been?

Ciao!

Joe

--
These perfect circles are dust.

Greg Gebhardt
Jacksonville, Florida

Hubert Williams · Aug 29, 2002

If Nikon cleans the ccd do they use a liquid or just dry swabbs and can I do the same....what iso setting are these circles appearing at ??

Greg Gebhardt said:
Michael Harkavy said:

I'm seeing the exact same type of spots on my images all of a
sudden. On the walls on skin on anything of a light color. If
Anders is correct their visability would be due to the fact that I
was shooting over F20.

Does anyone know if dust on the lens glass surface could appear in
images shot at F20 --or ever appear?

The images were shot indoors when it was around 95F degrees outside
and very humid. But the suggestion of condensation is troubling.

The counter is getting close to 4000. Think it's time to clean the
CCD.

Click to expand...

If the dust is big enough it will show at most f-stops. If the
spots are in the smae place on each image, you can bet it is dust.
Some will blow away, but sooner or later the ccd will have to be
cleaned.

Greg Gebhardt said:

Greg Gebhardt

Click to expand...

Jacksonville, Florida

Hubert Williams · Aug 29, 2002

that would be a D100....

Hubert Williams said:
Greg Gebhardt said:

Michael Harkavy said:

I'm seeing the exact same type of spots on my images all of a
sudden. On the walls on skin on anything of a light color. If
Anders is correct their visability would be due to the fact that I
was shooting over F20.

Does anyone know if dust on the lens glass surface could appear in
images shot at F20 --or ever appear?

The images were shot indoors when it was around 95F degrees outside
and very humid. But the suggestion of condensation is troubling.

The counter is getting close to 4000. Think it's time to clean the
CCD.

Click to expand...

If the dust is big enough it will show at most f-stops. If the
spots are in the smae place on each image, you can bet it is dust.
Some will blow away, but sooner or later the ccd will have to be
cleaned.

Hubert Williams said:

Greg Gebhardt

Click to expand...

Jacksonville, Florida

Click to expand...

D1X CCD spots

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