Camera Senso Dirt

[Guest]

Taking photos of my models & found that I was getting small hairs & white spec marks on the result.

Thought it was dust on the models but then the brain, slow, decided that it must be the sensor as it was occuring on different models.

Have given the sensor & good blast with an airbrush at about 40 PSI. Making sure there were no horrible articles being pumped out.

This improved the situation but left a few particles still attached to the sensor.

Has any body any ideas on how to clean the sensor with out wrecking it ? Costs a fortune to send away & have cleaned.

All my fault I am sure as I tend to leave the camera up ways when changing lens. It is an Olympus which has a dust tremble action when switching on the camera but obviously not enough to cope with my needs.

Laurie

[Guest]

Hi laurie i used to have the same problem with my canon digital and it cost me a fortune to do a sensor clean, however if you go into jacobs or jessop they sell sensor cleaning kits which are fairly cheap but you can use these again and again so it is worth the cash paid out. As for cleaning the sensor with air... be very careful you don't damage it or it is very very expensive to replace, i hope this is useful.

scott

[Guest]

Thanks Scott got a Jessops here will have a go.

The Olympus instructions say use an air mechanical machine. But they do not tell you max. pressure. As usual you are left to your own inexperienced judgement

Laurie

[Vaughan]

Hi Laurie

I got my sensor cleaning kit off this site Starter Kit -

not cheap but it does the trick and it won't damage the sensor. I hope this helps.

Vaughan

[Guest]

Thanks Vaughan.

Really must get this sorted. The models look as though I have thrown specks of flour over them.

Laurie

[Guest]

If it's an expensive camera take it in and pay the money for them to clean it. Afterall if you knacker the ccd then it's an expensive replacement, it they knacker it then you have some comeback.

Having Nikon when i was in business i always had a professional do any work on them, probably saved me loads in the long run knowing how much of a butter fingers i can be

[Guest]

Yes thanks for that Colin.

Suddenly became a coward & found a camera repairman in Jersey.

Found on my camera, an Olympus E410 which although not top of the range was expensive, that there is a filter which needs cleaning as well & is only for those who are not faint hearted.

Strange thing is that it is little white specs which are causing the problem & the repair man can not understand that as dirt on the sensor it seems causes black spots on the photo. As seen here it looks like dust on the model. But I have given it a thorough clean & there is not a spec on it.

Laurie

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[Vaughan]

Hi Laurie this may sound stupid and obvious but is there dust on your lens? either externally or internally as a pose to the sensor it's self?

Vaughan

[Guest]

Thanks Vaughan. Not not silly at all as the obvious things are so often missed (mainly by Politicians & Professors).

Did clean the lens both back & front ends & the neutral glass filter. It is a mystery.

Just wondering, as I had the model well lit, if the light is catching imperfections on the paint film which are picked up by the camera but not the eye.

Getting it back tomorrow so will see any change. Departing with £35 at the same time. Cruel that would buy a good model. Tut. And more Tuts 35 of them.

Laurie

[Guest]

If the dust was on the lens it is very unlikely that it would show up in your pictures as it would be completely defocussed.

I have three bodies, a Pentax K20 and Canon 7D and 1D Mk IV and I reckon for dry dust you cannot beat an Arctic Butterfly. Not cheap but the best, and how much is your sensor worth? It is a very soft brush which is spun by an electric motor which gives it a static charge. With the motor switched off gently wipe the tips of the bristles across the sensor and the static charge will attract the dust and stick it to the brush until it is next spun.

The problem with any form of air blast is that it may shift the dust, but you have no control over where it goes.

[Guest]

Thanks Oggy great tip.

Should get it back tomorrow so will find if the problem has been solved.

Funny but if things go wrong, if you need a plumber, an electrician, a TV man, a washing machine man, a roof slater, a mechanic. Isn't strange how the world grows darker & worrying when they come out with mmmmmm, yow, o dear, costly you know, can you get the spares now, take a few weeks. How much ? bit difficult to answer that one.

Laurie

Forgot. Just as you thought you knew the worst : regret there is a minimum charge of £40.

[Ian M]

Well I hope you get the problem sorted Laurie.

Regarding the photo you posted. Is that Sweet Spitfire "Valdemar Atterdag" one of the Danish sponsored Spits. If It is I would love to hear where you found that, or the decals for it...

Ian M

[Guest]

Well Ian I suspect there is a possibility that you may be right. Certainly just struck home that there is the flag of Denmark on the fuselage. Must have been dozy when I fixed the decals as I did not notice.

Keep all the boxes with details. It reads Flown by Axel A Svendsen Tangmere 1942.

It is my second model ever about a year ago. A £4:25 Revell bought from my local shop in Jersey. Suspect it is probably in circulation as at that time I was buying a second models to replace bits I had trashed. As you have probably guessed the decals came with it.

Matter of interest my Maternal Grandfather was a Shetlander. Not been able to prove but have always thought & considered that his family may have come from Denmark. He was a Johnson which of course may have developed from the Johanson. By coincidence I do know that my maternal grandmothers father's family orginated from Denmark.

Laurie

Late info.. Revell 04164 Skill 3 that was brave of me at the time.

[Guest]

One thing i meant to mention is finding dead pixels on your sensor.

If you take an image with the lens cap on so it's completely black (highest quality) then use a proprietry software to scan the image top to bottom at high magnification.

If you see white marks that cover a few pixels and feather off to the edge then there's more then likely muck to remove... if any single pixels are white and there's no pixels next to them that are faded or less bright then these are normally dead and the sensor is on it's way out.

These dead pixel areas will show up on pictures in the same place time after time.

[Guest]

Great thanks to all of you.

Now got the camera back & what ever they did to it has put it to rights.

What ever white specks there now are can be traced to the model. Interesting as on the recently complted models they are clear of any specks of white. The earlier ones certainly have a few. Come to the conclusion that I did not take enough trouble with prep. on the earlier models. Also on those I used a .4 needle on the later ones a 0.2. Perhaps this has given a smoother finish ie the rougher surface has picked up the light in places.

No cameras left on the bench without a lens attached. Plus lens change with the camera pointing down. As usual bolting the gate after..........

Laurie