A Speck inside my 85mm 1.8 - Help!

Gilly B

Gilly B

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Gillian
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I was wondering if anyone knows of a Canon Service Centre not too far from Mid Wales that I can take my pride and joy (85mm) to be looked at?

If you look through the back of the lens and slowly turn the focussing ring, a black speck almost a third of the way across the lens, moves around too. The result is a blob on all my photos. I have been cloning like mad over the White Wedding dress etc only to find that my latest order from Colab had 9 images I missed fixing! Argh! :bang: I am soooooo mad as it has just cost me another £15.00 to get 9 images re-done. :thumbsdown:
 
According to the Canon website this is the nearest to you:

247-249 London Road
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 5AA

Tel: 01782 413 611
Fax: 01782 744 579

Web: http://www.lehmannsdirect.co.uk

But you've probably googled and found that out already :D
 
Hi Gilly. Thats some 'speck' to show up on an image from the lens. Are you sure its lens speck not sensor dirt? Sorry - not on an egg sucking mission here, but usually specks in a lens are so far from the sensor plane that they dont compromise an image........... :shrug:
 
Would definitely agree, I had a similar issue with a machine vision system I was dealing with a coupe of weeks back. I could see a lot of debris inside the lens, I cleaned it out using moist swabs to lift it (on this lens I could get in through the aperture plates), but it still remained in my image, Cleaning the sensor solved it.

These specks of debris (some a couple of mm long) were not showing on the image.

But if it isn't there with a different lens, it could be the lens.

Mr Perceptive
 
It is very unusual for something in the lens to show on a shot and I've had some lenses that you could put a penny in and not see it.

However, I reckon Gilly will know whether the mark is there all the time or just with that lens. :D
 
FranchiseJuan said:
Here is a thought. If the spec is at the same location in all your photos, then it is likely to be sensor dust, since you said that the spec moves when you rotate the focus.
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Thanks for all your responses. Okay, let me think here:thinking: ..... right, lens in one hand, camera on the table. Gilly picks lens up and looks skyward out of window and looking through the back of the lens (caps off - of course) and sees spec in the middle area of the length of the lens. When Gilly turns the focussing ring the spec gets closer or further away. It is sort of floating in lens-space. I have tried different lenses and they seem okay. I may be wrong here guys, and have dust on sensor. How do I check for that? Re-occurring nightmare of Janice cleaning her sensor is making me quivver:eek::eek::eek:

Someone tell me what to do to check the difference and I will do it - I will even suck grandma's eggs at the same time.

Geez that sounded awful - :bang:

thanks
 
The easierst way to check for sensor dust.

1) Take the camera you want to check,
2) put a lens that is reletively clean on it mount a flash.
3) Set to F22 (or whatever the highest the lens will go),
4) whatever ISO you need to get a decent shutter speed)
5) use flash and take a picture of a white wall (asuming it is reletively clean).
6) Take the picture into photoshop and apply auto levels.
7) Any black spots you see is sensor dust. If there are any, clean with your usual cleaning method.
 
Done what you said, and here it is:

IMG_9729.jpg


Some of the tiny round specks are fly poo off the ceiling:puke: and the others seem to be in the wrong place to where they ended up on the picture. I will dig a couple out for you to see.
 
A note about sensor tests - instead of using flash I use available light with a long exposure (2 secs maybe) and move the camera around a bit during the exposure - basically blur the entire frame. Anything that shows up sharp is "in camera" and not something like "fly poo" ;)
 
pxl8 said:
A note about sensor tests - instead of using flash I use available light with a long exposure (2 secs maybe) and move the camera around a bit during the exposure - basically blur the entire frame. Anything that shows up sharp is "in camera" and not something like "fly poo" ;)
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Okee Dokee - I will give it a go now
 
Pxl8 - very similar results to above - perhaps it wasn't fly poo after all. I'm in denial that my sensor has dust bunnies on it:crying::thumbsdown:

I will consider taking it to the Canor cleaners after my last photoshoot on 1st December and let them clean it properly. Thanks for the help guys.
 
OMG - The penny just dropped! I have just looked at the the last Wedding I did that I am soooooo upset about and remembered that I used 2 cameras - my 5D as the main and 20D as the back up. All of the photos taken with the 20D are perfect - even with the 85mm. The similar shots taken with my 5D have all got the 'spots' on. Doh! not my 85mm after all, it is the **"$%y sensor - Arrrrggh!
 
Arrrrggh!
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No that's good. Ok, you may have ended up looking a but silly ( I don't see that as counting for anything as I do it daily ;)) but you have by far the smaller of the two possible problems.

I'll not bother giving any advice on sensor cleaning though as my methods are not forthe faint hearted....... or the clever.:LOL:
 
Look on the bright side Gilly - the 5d sensor is much bigger and therefore much easier to clean. (y)
 
Jonnyreb said:
Look on the bright side Gilly - the 5d sensor is much bigger and therefore much easier to clean. (y)
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Actually I find the 5D to be just about the worst camera I have ever owned to clean and keep clean. I got to clean it every week (or more when I am shooting alot), and I always clean it right before I go out on a shoot where I know I am going to use F16-22 alot. It just seems to suck dust.
 
FranchiseJuan said:
Actually I find the 5D to be just about the worst camera I have ever owned to clean and keep clean. I got to clean it every week (or more when I am shooting alot), and I always clean it right before I go out on a shoot where I know I am going to use F16-22 alot. It just seems to suck dust.
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Good for you.

I only cleaned mine once and assume its still going strong in the hands of another.
 
Hmmm, I think I will go and read all that scary stuff from a few months ago, again and then make up my mind whether I buy pec pads & eclipse or visible dust remover gadget thingy or just take it somewhere to shift the responsibility onto a Canon bod who has more dosh than me should the job go pear shape.
 
Jonnyreb said:
Good for you.

I only cleaned mine once and assume its still going strong in the hands of another.
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Well being "the other" I can report it's still going strong and I've not had any cause to clean it since relieving you of it ;)
 
It's impossible for 'floaters' inside a lens to show up in your images...think about how a compound lens actually works guys... even massive amounts of dirt would only serve to make the overall image 'softer' - it won't show up as 'specks'...
 
Gilly B said:
Done what you said, and here it is:

Some of the tiny round specks are fly poo off the ceiling:puke: .
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jeesus Gilly how big are ya flys for crisakes :eek::eek:
Glad you found the source of the problem. Enjoyed following the saga better than TV any day lol;)
:exit:
 
Arkady said:
It's impossible for 'floaters' inside a lens to show up in your images...think about how a compound lens actually works guys... even massive amounts of dirt would only serve to make the overall image 'softer' - it won't show up as 'specks'...
Click to expand...

I don't know much about the workings of a lens. I'm a bit thick really. However, Arkady, you have set my mind at rest about any specs in my lenses.

...Peanuts, we feed em up here in Wales!:naughty::nuts::LOL:
 
Yup, lens dirt doesn't show up too much.

I have a tilt / shift with a wee mark on the 1st element (got it cheap!!) and it doesn't show up at all--must get it out someday!!
 
Gilly B said:
Pxl8 - very similar results to above - perhaps it wasn't fly poo after all. I'm in denial that my sensor has dust bunnies on it:crying::thumbsdown:

I will consider taking it to the Canor cleaners after my last photoshoot on 1st December and let them clean it properly. Thanks for the help guys.
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Get Jancie to do it, she's a dab hand at this sort of thing :D
 
Glen said:
Get Jancie to do it, she's a dab hand at this sort of thing :D
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Tsk! :nono: Never!!! Now just remind me what her process was? .....it's all coming back to me now, Anger, abrasive action or was that elbow grease?, mix it up with a sensor and Wahlaa! scratch. :help::LOL::LOL: Sorry Janice:(
 
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