Seeing Spots!
Feb 9, 2015 17:45:15 #
BeachLady
Loc: Surfside Beach, SC
I am seeing spots! I got a Nikon D7100 for Christmas :D And am getting beautiful photos. Then this week took some videos...and have some spots near the top of the shot. I cleaned the lens inside and out, and changed the SD card, and even tried it in slot 1 instead of slot 2. STILL have spots. Any ideas? THANK YOU!
Feb 9, 2015 17:54:50 #
BeachLady wrote:
I am seeing spots! I got a Nikon D7100 for Christmas :D And am getting beautiful photos. Then this week took some videos...and have some spots near the top of the shot. I cleaned the lens inside and out, and changed the SD card, and even tried it in slot 1 instead of slot 2. STILL have spots. Any ideas? THANK YOU!
Post a picture and choose store original so we can see what it looks like.
Feb 9, 2015 17:56:46 #
Sensor dust? If you have a rocket blower take off the lens and point the camera to the ground, place the blower under the camera at the opening where the lens mounts and give it a couple of quick puffs. Mount the lens and take a picture to compare with the photos you currently have. If this doesn't solve your problem you will need to clean the sensor. Good luck. ;)
Feb 9, 2015 18:08:16 #
BeachLady
Loc: Surfside Beach, SC
jethro779 wrote:
Post a picture and choose store original so we can see what it looks like.
Pictures are fine - it is video that is spotted - how do I post a shot of video?
Feb 9, 2015 18:09:23 #
BeachLady
Loc: Surfside Beach, SC
Db7423 wrote:
Sensor dust? If you have a rocket blower take off the lens and point the camera to the ground, place the blower under the camera at the opening where the lens mounts and give it a couple of quick puffs. Mount the lens and take a picture to compare with the photos you currently have. If this doesn't solve your problem you will need to clean the sensor. Good luck. ;)
Would brand new camera really need to be cleaned? (I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing that myself (and what is a rocket blower? Now you know - relative newbie here!
Feb 9, 2015 18:19:48 #
See http://www.google.com/search?q=giottos+rocket+blower&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari
If the spots are only on the videos and not on stills I really have no idea what the problem is but I'm guessing it is not a dirty sensor. Sensors can get some dust on them when changing lenses and the answer I gave was for this, the most obvious problem. ;)
If the spots are only on the videos and not on stills I really have no idea what the problem is but I'm guessing it is not a dirty sensor. Sensors can get some dust on them when changing lenses and the answer I gave was for this, the most obvious problem. ;)
Feb 9, 2015 20:46:57 #
BeachLady
Loc: Surfside Beach, SC
I've gone back in and looked at some pictures from the last week or two and found some spots...I'll get out my book and read up on cleaning the sensor - should I be able to do that myself? Here is an example - it shows up BAD on the light blue sky...top center - 5 or 6 at least.
Feb 9, 2015 21:13:44 #
Those do look like dust spots - particles of duct blocking the light sensitive "photo sites" causing them to not record anything, thus turning out black.
The fact the camera is new is not the issue - if you have changed the lens at all, or were in a dusty environment, it's possible for this to happen.
As @Db7423 has mentioned, a blast of air might well dislodge the offending particles - to do that you need to set the camera to B (bulb) so that the shutter will stay open for as long as you depress the shutter button (make sure you have a fully charged battery!), remove the lens and face the camera downwards (so dust won't fall back into the body), press the shutter button and blow the sensor with the bulb blower. DO NOT use canned compressed air for this - a good hand powered blower is all you should need.
If it turns out that the spots remain, the sensor may require a 'wet" cleaning - there are plenty of tools and solutions with which to do that but you may be more comfortable taking the camera to a camera store that will likely charge about $35-40 for such a cleaning.
One way to test to se that the dust is gone is to take some shots of a plain white or light colored wall (or the open sky) at a small aperture (f16 or more) - if all the shots display the dark spots in the same place then there is still some dust on the sensor. Not that you should panic - it happens to everyone and you can usually remove them in post processing if they get noticed at all (which, if the area they are in is dark already, is unlikely).
The fact the camera is new is not the issue - if you have changed the lens at all, or were in a dusty environment, it's possible for this to happen.
As @Db7423 has mentioned, a blast of air might well dislodge the offending particles - to do that you need to set the camera to B (bulb) so that the shutter will stay open for as long as you depress the shutter button (make sure you have a fully charged battery!), remove the lens and face the camera downwards (so dust won't fall back into the body), press the shutter button and blow the sensor with the bulb blower. DO NOT use canned compressed air for this - a good hand powered blower is all you should need.
If it turns out that the spots remain, the sensor may require a 'wet" cleaning - there are plenty of tools and solutions with which to do that but you may be more comfortable taking the camera to a camera store that will likely charge about $35-40 for such a cleaning.
One way to test to se that the dust is gone is to take some shots of a plain white or light colored wall (or the open sky) at a small aperture (f16 or more) - if all the shots display the dark spots in the same place then there is still some dust on the sensor. Not that you should panic - it happens to everyone and you can usually remove them in post processing if they get noticed at all (which, if the area they are in is dark already, is unlikely).
Feb 9, 2015 21:33:47 #
I see a couple of spots that look like sensor dust. You can actually get dust from sources inside a camera, or the dust could have been left there inadvertently during manufacture.
I would strongly advise against using the bulb shutter setting for cleaning. Most modern cameras have a menu item that will allow you to raise the mirror for cleaning. The camera will not allow you to do that if the battery is not more than 60% of full charge, so you don't have the shutter and mirror close unexpectedly while you are trying to clean it. Also, the mirror-up setting turns off all the voltages to the sensor so static charges that might attract dust would be minimized.
If you're going to use a blower, blow out the mirror box before blowing on the sensor. Basically just take the lens off and blow out whatever you see in there. Then lock the mirror up and blow off the sensor. (Try to aim the camera down while doing all this).
To check for dust, it's not necessary to find a white wall without a pattern or a clear sky. Just bring up a blank page on the word processor on your computer. Turn off autofocus on your camera, set the focus to something far away, and set the aperture to something small, then put the camera near the screen and take a shot. Using your computer has the advantage that you can do this at night or in a room with wild wallpaper. You are also doing it at your desk where you can do the blowing out the dust. And when you take the shot you can immediately load it onto your computer and look at it on a screen that is most likely much larger than the monitor on your camera body. That will make dust much easier to spot (pun intended).
I would strongly advise against using the bulb shutter setting for cleaning. Most modern cameras have a menu item that will allow you to raise the mirror for cleaning. The camera will not allow you to do that if the battery is not more than 60% of full charge, so you don't have the shutter and mirror close unexpectedly while you are trying to clean it. Also, the mirror-up setting turns off all the voltages to the sensor so static charges that might attract dust would be minimized.
If you're going to use a blower, blow out the mirror box before blowing on the sensor. Basically just take the lens off and blow out whatever you see in there. Then lock the mirror up and blow off the sensor. (Try to aim the camera down while doing all this).
To check for dust, it's not necessary to find a white wall without a pattern or a clear sky. Just bring up a blank page on the word processor on your computer. Turn off autofocus on your camera, set the focus to something far away, and set the aperture to something small, then put the camera near the screen and take a shot. Using your computer has the advantage that you can do this at night or in a room with wild wallpaper. You are also doing it at your desk where you can do the blowing out the dust. And when you take the shot you can immediately load it onto your computer and look at it on a screen that is most likely much larger than the monitor on your camera body. That will make dust much easier to spot (pun intended).
Feb 9, 2015 21:37:43 #
lighthouse
Loc: No Fixed Abode
Sensor spots.
Will show up more at F/22 and probably not at all at F/2.8.
That may have skewed you to say that they showed up worst in video.
You might be defaulting video to a smaller aperture to have everything in focus.
Will show up more at F/22 and probably not at all at F/2.8.
That may have skewed you to say that they showed up worst in video.
You might be defaulting video to a smaller aperture to have everything in focus.
Feb 10, 2015 05:52:34 #
BeachLady wrote:
I am seeing spots! I got a Nikon D7100 for Christmas :D And am getting beautiful photos. Then this week took some videos...and have some spots near the top of the shot. I cleaned the lens inside and out, and changed the SD card, and even tried it in slot 1 instead of slot 2. STILL have spots. Any ideas? THANK YOU!
Sensor dust - look at products from Visible Dust.
http://www.visibledust.com/
Feb 10, 2015 06:32:35 #
BeachLady wrote:
I am seeing spots! I got a Nikon D7100 for Christmas :D And am getting beautiful photos. Then this week took some videos...and have some spots near the top of the shot. I cleaned the lens inside and out, and changed the SD card, and even tried it in slot 1 instead of slot 2. STILL have spots. Any ideas? THANK YOU!
The D7100 has a built-in sensor cleaner which works very well. If the spots are on the sensor, which is possible but unlikely on a new camera, they can be cleaned with a sensor cleaner (carefully) or by sending in for cleaning. Having said that, I also have a D70s which has a sensor that need constant care. That camera has no auto sensor cleaner and it shows. Some zoom lenses blow air and dust into the sensor chamber as you zoom (Nikon 70-300 without Vr for one) and every time I use that lens on the camera I have to clean the sensor.. The D7100 pretty well takes care of its self. I have had it for almost 2 years and had to clean the sensor once. Care when changing lenses on the camera is also important and I carry a plastic shopping bag to put the camera and new lens in when changing (similar to an old film changing bag. When finished I fold the shopping bag up and put it back in one of my pockets and continue shooting. (maybe overkill on the D7100 but a necessity on the D70s).
Feb 10, 2015 07:33:46 #
Sensor dust is a fact of life for DSLR's. The easiest way to deal with them, if they are noticeable, is to eliminate them in post processing. As someone already mentioned, set your camera to clean the sensor when it starts or stops. If you're concerned about cleaning it yourself, look around for a local place that will do it for $50 or less.
Of course, prevention is the best cure.
http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-avoid-a-dirty-dslr-image-sensor/
http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/digital-slr-sensor-cleaning/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/digital-camera-operation/how-to-avoid-getting-your-dslr-image-sensor-dirty.html
Of course, prevention is the best cure.
http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-avoid-a-dirty-dslr-image-sensor/
http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/digital-slr-sensor-cleaning/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/digital-camera-operation/how-to-avoid-getting-your-dslr-image-sensor-dirty.html
Feb 10, 2015 08:34:43 #
I have just cleaned my sensor which appears to be successful. I watched several youtube videos first to get the method firmly in my head. I have the D7000 and I suspect the D7100 has a similar system for cleaning. In the menu you will find an option for the camera to clean itself either 'now' or whenever the camera is 'switched on and off', this may be all you need at the moment. Also in the menu you will find an option to clean the sensor by raising the mirror. All this is demonstrated on youtube. If you are worried then use a professional to do it. Good luck.
Feb 10, 2015 09:05:02 #
Sensor are easy to clean Copper Hill has supplies and excellent Videos and there are also Gel Sticks available to use
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