For a while I was battling with strange black spots appearing in some of my photographs. At first when this happened i thought it must be a dirty lens so off i went to buy a lens cleaning cloth. Well i became more worried when a thorough clean didn’t resolve the issue and I discovered that the problem was in fact caused by dust on my cameras sensor.
image by Daniel Greene
Sensor Dust Explained
The worst thing about senor dust is that it is a certainty. If you own a DSLR before to long you will probably encounter dust on your sensor. Sensor dust will usually manifest itself by black spots appearing in your pictures, usually in the same place in all of your photographs though sometimes these are only noticeable when you have a light, constant background such as a blue sky.
The reason that sensor dust is so annoying is that your cameras sensor is at the very heart of your dslr and is very delicate indeed. If you do not know what you are doing you can easily make the problem worse or even permanently damage your camera. In this post we’ll run through your options to remove sensor dust from your camera and advise you on the best course of action.
Sensor Dust Options
1. Live with it & fix in Photoshop
Ok, it can be annoying to have these horrible black spots on your pictures when you have spent several hundred if not thousands of dollars on expensive kit. However if you only have one or two spots of dust they’ll only be noticeable in some shots (such as the one above where there is a clear blue sky) depending on the shots background and position of the dust on the sensor. If you are nervous about operating on your dslr and cleaning the sensor yourself you may feel it is best to simply live with the spots and fix them in Photoshop as and when required.
Fixing sensor spots is usually very simple and quick to do using the clone tool in programs like Photoshop, Lightroom or GIMP.
2. Clean The Sensor
Cleaning such a delicate and critical part of your digital slr shouldn’t be taken lightly. Be warned that some of the below types of cleaning can void your warranty so be sure to check. If in doubt take it to a professional to get cleaned.
3. Blow The Dust Off Your Sensor
It is essential you only use a blower designed specifically for use with cameras. Using other methods such as blowing with your mouth, using compressed air or even a camp bed style pump will often result in you adding more dust to your cameras sensor, or worse still damaging it.
Hand blowers are perhaps the safest and often most effective way to remove dust from your sensor. You should use a blower with a one way valve that doesn’t suck in dust. There are several good models available but general consensus seems to be that the Giottos Rocket Blowers are the best and good value to boot.
In our opinion using a blower if fairly safe because you are not actually touching your cameras sensor. To use a blower simply put your camera into sensor cleaning mode and hold the camera upside down before blowing in the direction of the sensor. Be careful not to touch the sensor so as not to cause any damage.
This will hopefully remove any loose dust from the camera however you may find some more stubborn bits of muck that the blower cannot remove. If this is the case your options are either to live with it, get it professionally cleaned or have a go yourself.
If done carefully you shouldn’t have any problems with kind of sensor clean. One word of caution though: make sure your camera is fully charge before cleaning as the sensor mirror may snap shut if the battery runs out, causing damage if your blower nozzle is next to it!
4. Use a Sensor Cleaning Brush
Again a word of caution, do not use any old brush to clean your sensor. Specifically designed brushes have an anti static charge that helps prize the dust of your cameras sensor. Using a brush can cause small scratches of smears so brush very lightly. You are not trying to physically ‘wipe’ the sensor clean so there is no need for force. Instead let the brushes anti static properties help shift dust that a blower may not have been able to do.
It goes without saying that you need to look after your sensor brush and store it in a clean dust free environment.
5. Sensor Swabs
This is the next step up from sensor brushes and should enable you to remove the more stubborn bits of muck from your cameras sensor. Using swabs means more physical contact with the sensor and so increases the risks of scratches or smears. Popular brands include Sensor Swabs by Photographic Solutions.
Preventing Sensor Dust
Once you have had dust on your sensor you’ll definitely be keen to avoid having it again. Or if you’ve yet to encounter it take it from me you’ll want to avoid the worry of having to clean muck off your sensor. Here are some quick tips to help you avoid getting dust in your camera:
- When changing lenses on your dslr be sure to turn off your camera.
- Again when changing lenses always keep your camera pointing down so that gravity helps to keep any dust away from your sensor.
- When changing lenses always try to do it in a clean, dust free environment
- Take time out once every couple of weeks or so to clean your lenses (both ends) and your cameras lens cap
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