Spot on sensor...............or not..............

Jannyfox

Jannyfox

Messages
4,709
Name
Jan
Edit My Images
No
A very strange thing has happened. Several years ago on a holiday to the Algarve my 550D acquired a spot of something on the sensor. This was between shots, I'd only turned the camera off and back on, no lens change or anything. It was persistent, this spot. No amount of sensor cleaning on turn off would touch it. Okay, I know it's not a proper sensor clean but I came to the conclusion it may have been a speck of lubricant flicked off the mirror mechanism rather than dust, it that's possible, and I didn't want to try to wet clean it in case I smeared it around and made things worse. It was so easy to clone out, that was by far the safer option. I've been back to the Algarve several times since and last week I was there again. On my first few landscape images from there the spot is in its usual place, and then...............it's vanished - no trace whatsoever - like it's never been. Same lens, same aperture............spot there one day, gone the next. Anyone able to offer a possible explanation, just out of interest, or is it forever destined to be one of life's little mysteries?
 
Stowaway?
Suddenly woke up and realised it was home so jumped off?
 
Add this to the Bermuda Triangle legend. :D Or it could be a Karate kid spot. Spot on, spot off, spot on spot off.
 
Last edited:
Some bits of dust are mainly held by static.
The inbuilt clean routine is close to useless, as a minimum get a rocket blower you don't even touch the sensor with that.
 
Sensor spots often reveal themselves more when stopped down.

Stop down all the way and shoot a bright featureless space such as a well lit wall or blue sky.
 
2 images, sooc just converted to jpeg, one day apart, lens probably hadn't been off in between. Both Canon 18-135mm lens at f8, but it was there with all lenses, any aperture. Obviously it was more pronounced with the Tamron 17-50mm as I usually use that at f11. Looking back I think the spot has been there for 3 years. It must be just coincidence that it chose to disappear in the same place it appeared, mustn't it? Creepy..............

1. Spot (okay it's more of a big blob) top right

full


2. Next day - spotless

full
 
bit of dust floating around the sensor ,as others said open the mirror box and give a good blow out with a rocket blower
 
True story:
When I had my Canon 7D, I had a tiny mite that occasionally appeared in the viewfinder, wandering back and forth. Never appeared on any images and no idea what it lived on - microscopic dust?
I often wonder how long it lived after I sold the camera on...
 
With my first digital SLR a Canon 300D there were mites in the viewfinder assembly, not on the sensor but only a matter of time.
Most camera dust is organic so eventually will feed something.
A lot is pollen or house dust which is largely composed of flakes of human skin :hungover:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top