Do I have a damaged sensor?

Will James

Will James

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Will
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Hi all,

Since I've come back from Thailand in Sept 2012 I've noticed that all of my photos, regardless of what lens is being used, has a mark on it towards the top-left (see examples below). I had my sensor cleaned by Canon in Thailand so I checked the photos before that point and the photos had them on then too.

I did drop my camera once on a pavement so I guess that could be what has caused it?

Is my sensor definitely damaged or could it be something less frustrating than that?

img5946v.jpg

img5962s.jpg

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks
Will.
 
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Looks like dust to me.

Clean it again. Even the "professionals" wont get it spotless.
 
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In good light you should be able to see that fibre with the naked eye.
 
Phew! Thanks all.

Never cleaned the sensor myself before. Can I use my Giottos rocket blower on it?
 
A wet clean really isnt hard. If you can use a pencil, you can wet clean.

Just make sure the battery is fully charged. A couple of small drops on a swab and pass from left to right with the pressure of a light pencil stroke.

Thats it.

This video shows you how, and also has a couple of other options which you might want to try.
http://youtu.be/pAXQYTBktpM
 
I've used a LensPen SensorKlear before and works well, esp if you don't fancy undertaking a wet clean
 
TCR4x4 said:
A wet clean really isnt hard. If you can use a pencil, you can wet clean.

Just make sure the battery is fully charged. A couple of small drops on a swab and pass from left to right with the pressure of a light pencil stroke.

Thats it.

This video shows you how, and also has a couple of other options which you might want to try.
http://youtu.be/pAXQYTBktpM
Click to expand...

I used Tom video to do my D80 one and worked well, however the pen method seem to leave a residue on the sensor. Might have been a bad pen.
 
andyred said:
I've used a LensPen SensorKlear before and works well, esp if you don't fancy undertaking a wet clean
Click to expand...

I've got one of these in a kit with a loupe so I can see anything left on the sensor after it's been cleaned. I've cleaned quite a few cameras with it and never had a problem.

OP, both of the photos are private so I can't see the EXIF, but does this mark appeat at all f stops, most marks only show up at f11 upwards if they're dust but sensor scratches appear all the time.
 
Thanks for all of the advice everyone, I'll try to rocket blower tomorrow but yes as it's had a clean from Canon it might not work.

I've now replaced the links to the example photos above so you can see for yourself. It does only appear in narrower aperture photos and doesn't appear wider apertures.
 
It probably will work, quite often residue is left over, even when a "pro" cleans it. It likely it got in there in the time just after cleaning before they packaged it up to give back to you.

If it doesn't, buy a Visible dust kit swab kit and give it a going over yourself.
 
Hi All,

I realise this thread is almost 3 years old now, however I have been out of the photography game for a little while and just got round to looking at getting rid of this mark on my photos again.

I tried the rocket blower but the mark is still there - looking at the sensor with my eyes it looks immaculate but I guess the mark could be so small that I cannot see it just with my eyes?

Also last week I took it into a local camera shop (good reputation) to give the sensor a clean but having collected and tested it again this has not got rid of the mark either. I guess the next thing is to dry wet cleaning it myself; are the methods described by Tom above still what you would recommend?

It is only very apparent when at f11 or narrower; wider than f11 it gets more faded and blurry - hoping it's still just something that can be removed with a wet clean!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Will.
 
Remember that if the mark is at top left of the pictures it will be bottom right on the sensor, as viewed from behind the camera, so bottom left when you are looking at the sensor.
If it is still there after 3 years then it probably does need a wet clean, I always use the method in this thread
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/sensor-cleaning-my-copperhill-style-cleaning.9766/
which is even older than yours :)
Make sure that you read all of the thread and the links.
 
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Will James said:
Also last week I took it into a local camera shop (good reputation) to give the sensor a clean but having collected and tested it again this has not got rid of the mark either
Click to expand...

If you are sure that it is on the sensor Will, take it back and let them know that they haven't effectively cleaned it :)
 
Suvv said:
Remember that if the mark is at top left of the pictures it will be bottom right on the sensor, as viewed from behind the camera, so bottom left when you are looking at the sensor.
If it is still there after 3 years then it probably does need a wet clean, I always use the method in this thread
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/sensor-cleaning-my-copperhill-style-cleaning.9766/
which is even older than yours :)
Make sure that you read all of the thread and the links.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much, I'll have a read now!

gramps said:
If you are sure that it is on the sensor Will, take it back and let them know that they haven't effectively cleaned it :)
Click to expand...

Hi, yes that's a good point, however, they did state it would only be a dry clean and not a wet one so I'm guessing they will just say I need a wet clean, which they have already told me they would need to send my camera away for! I will do it myself me thinks :)
 
It's worth learning to do it, and buying the kit, illuminated loupe etc. You can be five minutes after a 'professional ' clean and get the dust (or oil) spots and need it doing again.
 
Hi everyone,

So I ordered a Digipads starter kit from Wex (10 swabs with cleaning fluid) and gave the cleaning a go today in the intention, of course, that the mark would at least improve or ideally completely disappear. I used a couple of swabs first, checking after using each swab with a test shot to see if things were improving, but they weren't. I eventually used all 10 swabs, however, the mark has got worse and there appear to be new marks in the bottom left hand side of shots now - see attached below. Needless to say I'm a bit frustrated that the mark has not disappeared and there are now new ones.

I used my rocket blower a few times as well to get rid of an loose dust that may have gotten on the sensor whilst cleaning.

Do I need to buy another 10 and keep wiping? Could the dust/mark be that stubborn that I cannot get rid of it using a wet clean?! I'm not sure what to do next........

IMG_4723 copy.JPG
 
Not sure what it looked like before as the pics have gone but it looks as though you have some mild dust/pollen spots and then some lint from the swabs. I've never done wet cleans but I guess this is one of the drawbacks, if you're unlucky enough for a bit of lint to come off then with it being wet it may stick more when it dries.

Did your kit come with a loupe? If not they're very worth while investments. I've always just used a rocket blower and sensorklear pen and always got it spotless, although it takes a bit of patience and tries to get every last spec of dust off. With the sensorklear pen you can use it over and over again. I always use the rocket blower after to blow away any loose debris. Another tip is have the opening to the camera facing the floor and blow up into it, this way any dust will fall out.
 
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If it hasn't moved one iota after 10 swabs of wet clean - then I would suggest this little piece of dust is possibly somewhere inaccessible. I'm not sure the possibility of getting dust between the sensor and its protective layer - I would imagine nigh on impossible. I'd be inclined to take it to Canon themselves and explain the steps you've taken and that it can't be shifted - and get them to do some investigation rather than just a sensor clean...
 
Hi all,

Thanks for the tips, very helpful.

The original picture basically shows the mark in the top left but the ones in the bottom-left in the photo I posted earlier were not there.

Regarding a loupe no unfortunately I don't have one and will probably get one now. However, even if I had one, wouldn't I be using the swabs in the same way, I'd just be able to see where the dust is specifically through the loupe?

Also, is there a chance the mark in the top left is a scratch and therefore I may never be able to get rid of it? Hopefully it's just a stubborn mark.....
 
The three obvious specks look remarkably like typical sensor dust.
Have they actually moved around?
That would at least rule out a scratch which is possible I guess.
 
The one towards the top-left of the photo has never moved or improved with sensor cleaning...the ones in the bottom left only appeared today so probably lint or something
 
The new bits at the bottom could be bits you have knocked off the sides and onto the sensor during wet cleaning.

Get a loupe as it's much easier to check where you need to clean than taking test shots. Like Snerkler I've only ever used a blower and a sensorklear pen. You can reuse the pen and go over it several times if needed. If you buy the right loupe it has a gap in the side to fit the pen in whilst still using the loupe.

I went to SRS Microsystems to pickup the more expensive article butterfly/visible dust setup but was advised the Lenspen would do what I needed it to and was actually slot cheaper too. I didn't buy as a set but it was the loupe and sensorklear pen in this link below. I'm sure you can buy them separately.

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/lenspen-sensorklear-loupe-kit-with-hurricane-blower.html
 
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