Marks on images

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

I suspect this will be a simple one, so I'll pitch right on in ...

... I took some shots today and a number of them have clear marks on the images. Here's an example.



(This image has been hastily resized and is hence pretty crummy, but I think it shows the marks OK).

I have put circles around the marks - there are several of them. The marks appear on a number of shots from the day (possibly all, but you can't see because of the position of them - on most shots they are over a darker part of the image so wouldn't show if they were there.) They are always in the same place, which is particularly obvious when you view a series of shots like the one above taken in quick succession.

What are they? I haven't tried with a new lens but am guessing they are debris on the image sensor. If this is so, how would I remove it? A brush with a lens brush, or would this risk damage to the sensor? A quick puff with a compressed air line? Would this be another bad idea for the same reason? Can I do it myself or should I take it into a shop (or send it off)?

I am off on a holiday in a couple of weeks time for which the camera will be very important so getting this sorted out quick would be good.

The camera is an old Nikon D80, the lens a new (to me) Nikkor 18-200 f3.5-5.6 jobbie.

Thanks.


Oli.

[RobDickinson]

Looks like dust bunnies, more visible when stopped down.

Clean the sensor, first stop is a rocket blower type thing or sensor pen, last stop is a gel pen or sensor swabs.

[LongQ]

RobDickinson said:

Looks like dust bunnies, more visible when stopped down.

Clean the sensor, first stop is a rocket blower type thing or sensor pen, last stop is a gel pen or sensor swabs.

If you want to go completely over the top - an Arctic Butterfly.

Excellent tool.

http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=3

[Simpo Two]

Or use f3.5...

[GetCarter]

If they don't fo after cleaning, just clone them out. Tis a pain but...

[LongQ]

GetCarter said:

If they don't fo after cleaning, just clone them out. Tis a pain but...

This.

And with an appropriate editor one should be able to map the dust spots (as dust type spots not blemish type spots), make a fix and save it for use on other images based on the dust probably not moving much this side of a proper clean.

In theory one should probably take a test shot for just that purpose before each shooting session or after each lens swap .... but in reality it's probably not so important to do so for most people most of the time.

[markmullen]

If you happen to use Capture One then you can use a Lens Cast Correction to remove dust spots, http://help.phaseone.com/en/CO7/Editing-photos/Len...

You'll need one of these, http://www.captureonecomplete.com/uk/index.php?opt... to drop into your filter holder.



Alternatively you could just clean your sensor!!

[LongQ]

markmullen said:

If you happen to use Capture One then you can use a Lens Cast Correction to remove dust spots, http://help.phaseone.com/en/CO7/Editing-photos/Len...

You'll need one of these, http://www.captureonecomplete.com/uk/index.php?opt... to drop into your filter holder.



Alternatively you could just clean your sensor!!

That's the posh way of doing it Mark.

We plebs can only stop down, take a shot of the sky (preferably cloudless or flat light cloud), open it for edit, spot the spots and then save it as a "preset" or whatever the terminology is for the application in use.

Apply the preset to all images or as felt necessary thereafter until the next time the spots change.

[RobDickinson]

^ canon cameras can even do that in camera (though not with raw, but later in dpp).