Please help, I am getting a spot on all my pictures

[OceanObsessed]

I am shooting with a Nikon D70s and I am getting a spot on all my pictures. At first I thought it was caused by a dust fleck or something on my lens so I cleaned both front and back glasses with a lens cloth. The spot was still there so as a test I switched lenses and the same spot is still there regardless of which lens I use.

Obviously the dust fleck (or whatever) is on the inside of the camera. I am wondering how I should go about cleaning this? Is it safe to take a lens cloth to the inside of the camera? It looks delicate in there.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
-Chris

 

[RonFrank]

I am shooting with a Nikon D70s and I am getting a spot on all my pictures. At first I thought it was caused by a dust fleck or something on my lens so I cleaned both front and back glasses with a lens cloth. The spot was still there so as a test I switched lenses and the same spot is still there regardless of which lens I use.

Obviously the dust fleck (or whatever) is on the inside of the camera. I am wondering how I should go about cleaning this? Is it safe to take a lens cloth to the inside of the camera? It looks delicate in there.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
-Chris

You need to clean your sensor. The spot you are seeing is dust. There are many ways to go about this and many products. Do a google search on D70 sensor cleaning, and I think you will get a lot of hits. If not, try Nikon Sensor cleaning. I use Eclipse cleaner with a Sensor Swipe, and a pecpad, but there are lots of methods and tools out there, and I have not really kept up to date on what is the latest/greatest. I will say however that the system I use works well.

 

[bdshort]

You could try one of those rubber squeeze bulb air blower things and just blow some air on the sensor, that may or may not work depending on how "stuck" the dust is. This is all I've used and it works fairly well. You can also try the sensor cleaning pads that the above post mentions. There are also some special brushes you can get. They're basically some soft synthetic artists brushes, and you blow some air on them with a can of compressed air, that gives the brush a charge. Then you brush it across your sensor and it's supposed to work even better than the pads with cleaning solution.

I'd do a search at a camera website though, like dpreview.com, for much more detailed directions. And whatever you do, DON'T try to clean it by using a can of air!!

Some DSLRs avoid this problem by using a built in ultrasonic cleaner to shake the dust off the sensor. The Olympus DSLRs have had this for years, and the new Nikon D300 also has it.

 

[danclem]

Hi Chris:

I think Ron is correct. I shoot with D70s' in some really dusty overseas locations, and a shot of air from a can or bulb works for me. I also take the boxes in and have them professionally serviced after big trips, as I am not into working on sensors. I generally use a long shutter speed so I can zap the interior while the mirror has moved.

Good luck!

 

[OceanObsessed]

Yeah, I just got that spot out this morning. That was the trick that I was missing... getting the mirror out of the way. My camera has a setting for cleaning mode where it lifts the mirror out of the way.

Thanks for all the help everyone.
-Chris

 

[gert7to3]

You can also set your camera to a long exposure setting say 10-15 seconds. Hold you camera with the front down. That way dust will fall out instead of popping up and settling back. Blow out the outer chamber with the mirror down and not with "canned air", but a blower bulb first. Then trigger the lens cleaning routine or the shutter with a long exposure and blow out the sensor chamber.