Spots on image question

[FlashGordonPhotography]

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Personally, I only need three things for sensor cleaning. Blower, Butterfly and swabs. You use a blower brush and the butterfly in the field. I keep a medium blower in my bag. The blower is an *in the moment* solution for me. If you need it, you need it. I really dislike spotting images in post.

In a more controlled environment, I use the Artic Butterfly and a wet clean. I carry swabs and a small solution bottle when I travel. I also have the more aggressive oil solution at home. To test I just point the camera at a wall, OOF at F22. Usually, the Butterfly is all that's needed. But pollen needs a wet clean. 

When I'm travelling I only clean when I see a spot in a photo. But that's easy since I shoot at f8-11 a lot. So, I use the blower on sensors and rear elements in the field every other day and a clean maybe once a week when I'm in a dusty environment.

Mind you, I'm not careful about where I change lenses. I know some who never change lenses in the field. I do it a dozen times a day. I don't have a loupe because I don't actually care if dust is on the sensor. Just if it shows up in my images.

Gordon

 

[Jonathan Levin]

Nick Rain in the sensor cleaning video says to NOT use the sticky stick thing (gel???) because it could cause problems regarding the stabilization mount? The M series you can use those.

He also mentioned the SL should be powered on. Should you turn off IS before tackling a wet clean?

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Just now, Jonathan Levin said:

Nick Rain in the sensor cleaning video says to NOT use the sticky stick thing (gel???) because it could cause problems regarding the stabilization mount? The M series you can use those.

He also mentioned the SL should be powered on. Should you turn off IS before tackling a wet clean?

Ideally yes. The idea is to *lock* the sensor as best as possible. Personally, I have found that although the sensor does move, if you're really careful, it's fine to clean while the camera is off. I do that because I don't want the sensor having a charge in it (attracting dust) while I'm trying to clean it. But you need extra care as the sensor isn't *locked* (by magnets basically) in place.

Gordon

[SrMi]

3 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Ideally yes. The idea is to *lock* the sensor as best as possible. Personally, I have found that although the sensor does move, if you're really careful, it's fine to clean while the camera is off. I do that because I don't want the sensor having a charge in it (attracting dust) while I'm trying to clean it. But you need extra care as the sensor isn't *locked* (by magnets basically) in place.

Gordon

I always leave the camera on when wet cleaning the sensor, even though the charged state may attract more dust. After wet cleaning, I often use the blower to remove any dust that may have gotten on the sensor. Blowing the dust off is trivial compared to wet cleaning. 

M11 has a special sensor cleaning mode that makes wet cleaning safe. For SL cameras, you must ensure that the mechanical shutter is not accidentally triggered (switch to electronic shutter, disable auto-shutoff).

[BernardC]

23 hours ago, Jonathan Levin said:

Question related to this: what is the best way to tell if there is dust/dirt on sensor? I know that the test should be taking a photo of something like blue sky or  some evenly light paper.

But what combination is best and with which lens? Wide angle, telephoto? Should focus be at infinity or closest focus? And finally smallest aperature (22) or widest (<2.8)? Am I forgetting anything. 

This would be great to know and avoid a lot of unneeded testing. So how do you do it? Thanks. Jonathan

Here's my very simple technique.

Open a blank document on your computer, so you have a white screen. Focus your lens to infinity, stop-down to at-least f:8. Take a picture, filling the whole image with the white screen.

Your computer screen needs to be clean, but that's the only worry. The image will be out of focus, so you shouldn't pick-up the LCD pattern. You don't need to worry about camera shake because any stuck dirt won't move relative to the sensor.

You can take multiple exposures to see if the spots are moving. If they are you might have some luck with a very gentle blower.