“Out damned spot!”

[Le Chef]

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I keep finding what looks like a faded circular ink “splot” on some of my images in approximately the same position. When I try to look at it in LightRoom, using the spot removal tool, it doesn’t show on the screen. Yet revert to normal view in LightRoom and it’s easily visible.

I have checked all lenses, front an back even to the point of removing filters. I have examined the sensor, given it a puff or three from the blower but I can see nothing on the sensor.

Any suggestions?

MTIA

Edited November 8, 2020 by Le Chef

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[wda]

Please post a section of a picture showing the 'spot.' 

[Le Chef]

The "splot" is about 3/4 up the left hand edge and about 1cm in. Of course it's less visible after it's been squeezed down in size and turn into a jpg.

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[Herr Barnack]

I have had similar "splots."  When I cleaned my sensor (or more accurately, when I cleaned my sensor's glass cover) these splots went away.

You cannot always see the cause of a splot on your sensor cover glass with the unaided human eye.

I have always cleaned my own sensor glass cover with no ill effects - ever.  Learning how to do this yourself is something that every photographer should do.  There's no reason to pay an "expert" $50 USD to do something that takes only a minute and is easily done by you the photographer.

A friend paid $50 USD to have his sensor "professionally cleaned" at a camera store.  The "professional" used too much cleaning fluid.  Two weeks later, the camera died.  Canon said the cause of the camera's demise was liquid/moisture getting into the camera's electronics; they charged my friend $200 USD to repair the damage caused by the "professional" sensor cleaning technician.  🙄

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Herr Barnack

[jaapv]

Just clean your sensor...

[pop]

You will find your spot on the right hand side of the sensor, about 1/4 up along the sensor edge.

[huwm]

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Sensor clean will fix, it is easy

less obvious wide open of course

hazard of interchangeable lenses I’m afraid 

[tommonego@gmail.com]

Just buy some APSC sensor swabs and some Eclipse cleaning fluid, both available at B&H or Amazon. Put the fluid on the swab, not on the sensor cover. The sensor cleans up and no more spots. The CL seems to get dust more than a camera where the shutter covers the sensor. 

[Le Chef]

My sensor cleaning kit has gone AWOL so have ordered fresh supplies. 
 

I still don’t understand why I cannot heal the spots in LR - am I missing something?

[Herr Barnack]

@Le Chef In Lightroom, sometimes clone works better than heal.  Give that a try.  I don't understand all the details, but it seems to depend on the background that your spot is on - texture, luminance, etc.

Quote

Just buy some APSC sensor swabs and some Eclipse cleaning fluid, both available at B&H or Amazon. Put the fluid on the swab, not on the sensor cover. The sensor cleans up and no more spots...

I use the 24mm wide sensor cleaning swabs - they work just fine for me. 

The most important thing is to not put too much fluid on the swab.  For the 24mm wide swabs, I apply three evenly spaced drops of cleaning fluid to one edge of the swab, turn it over and apply two evenly spaced drops to the reverse edge.  Then I wait 10 seconds or so for the fluid to be absorbed and evenly distributed throughout the cleaning edge of the swab.

I would buy swabs and Eclipse fluid from B&H rather than Amazon, due to the fact that Amazon had a run of SD cards that were counterfeit and did not work properly a while back.  If it can happen with SD cards, it could also happen with sensor cleaning fluid; better safe than sorry in my view.

Edited November 9, 2020 by Herr Barnack

[wda]

6 hours ago, Le Chef said:

My sensor cleaning kit has gone AWOL so have ordered fresh supplies. 
 

I still don’t understand why I cannot heal the spots in LR - am I missing something?

I use short-cuts: Q brings Clone or Heal; Scroll wheel adjusts size of circle; A shows fine spots such as flies around blossom against a blue sky.  But A does not always show faint oil smears, so scrutinize carefully to locate spots. Compared with M8 and M9, the CL is remarkably free of contamination. I have lived with one small circular spot because it is easy to remove, or is often lost amongst competing imagery.

If Q does not work,  check Opacity and Feather settings.

Edited November 9, 2020 by wda

[tommonego@gmail.com]

vor 7 Stunden schrieb Le Chef:

My sensor cleaning kit has gone AWOL so have ordered fresh supplies. 
 

I still don’t understand why I cannot heal the spots in LR - am I missing something?

I have cloned them out in PS. Generally create a clone circle slightly larger than the dust spot and take care of it in one shot. When I have used a smaller circle it doesn't work as well, seems like you are fighting the clone tool. 

[wda]

10 hours ago, tommonego@gmail.com said:

I have cloned them out in PS. Generally create a clone circle slightly larger than the dust spot and take care of it in one shot. When I have used a smaller circle it doesn't work as well, seems like you are fighting the clone tool. 

You can use a smaller diameter circular selection provided you paint over the area to be removed. This method is useful for irregular shapes such as bits of tree branches edging into the frame.

Edited November 10, 2020 by wda

[Boojay]

20 hours ago, Le Chef said:

My sensor cleaning kit has gone AWOL so have ordered fresh supplies. 
 

I still don’t understand why I cannot heal the spots in LR - am I missing something?

I'm not sure why it isn't working for you in Lightroom, I rarely stray from Lightroom and nearly always find sensor spots, Lightroom always does the trick for me.  I'm sure you will have checked but do you have your opacity up at 100% and feather set correctly?

 

[Le Chef]

4 hours ago, Boojay said:

I'm not sure why it isn't working for you in Lightroom, I rarely stray from Lightroom and nearly always find sensor spots, Lightroom always does the trick for me.  I'm sure you will have checked but do you have your opacity up at 100% and feather set correctly?

 

Thanks Jayne, I have time today to look at this again and see whether I can experiment a bit to remove the “splots” that Steadman would be proud of. Sensor cleaning supplies arrive tomorrow to tackle the cause.