Sensor Spots
No matter how hard you try to be careful, at some point you are going to get water spots and dirt on your sensors, especially if you shoot regularly on a beach. You can minimize the problem by never changing lenses within a mile of sand, and staying away from any water spray of any kind. But, as sure as the Caribbean sunshine on a laid back St. John beach, you will eventually notice some minute spots cropping up on your images.
Aiming your camera at a clear blue sky is the perfect test to see if a sensor is dirty. The image is shown here is a small section of a clear sky photo showing at 100% or a 1:1 pixel ratio. At this size the image is huge and knowing you have dirt and its location is very easy to see. My camera uses a full frame sensor which tends to get dirty much easier than smaller ones.
There are ways to solve this pesky problem. The safest one is to ship or take your camera to the manufacturer’s or store’s repair location. Damage can easily be done that can be costly to repair. However, if you’re up for the challenge, the easiest way (if it works) is to blow air froma plastic bulb with a nozzle at the end across the sensor. Compressed air in a can, or using your mouth are both no-no’s. You can buy little bitty vacuums to clean the inside of your camera with bristles on the end of the nozzle. These work when very dirty and you have fibers and large items in there. The method that is usually used is to use special swabs and fluid combined with a magnifier or scope.
I use both since a scope doesn’t work well in corners where it is hardest to clean. Both the swabs and fluid are something special and something I consider magic. The swabs are specially manufactured and very clean and come in different sizes and geometries. I prefer the smaller size with the large sensors since it makes it easier to touch-up exceptionally clean. The juice used is usually a medical grade solvent that is matched to the manufacture of the coating on top of the sensor and the sensor material.
Since I use different cameras/sensors I have a variety of options. For example the tin oxide coating on my Nikon D700 gets Eclipse 2. Because of the quantity of dust and spots on the sensor it could take several swabs to succeed in getting it clean. For me it usually gets worse before getting better since the chamber has dust in there that needs removing too.
So, no matter how stubborn the spots on you sensor might be, there is a solution that can remove every single one and get you taking perfect photos of beautiful blue skies once again.
I hope you will enjoy my occasional ramblings and find useful information you can use here. I have started this blog to share with you things I have learned over the years from photographing here in the Caribbean – everything from tips for clients wanting a very special vacation portrait or brides worrying about their wedding day, to my experiences of removing pesky water spots from my camera sensors. The island is my studio and photography is my life!
