I'm wondering if other D60 (or similar) users out there have experience with (sensor) dust showing up in their pictures.
In my case, I only notice the problem when I take photos at about f/16 and the problem gets noticeably worse as I stop down; at f/36 the dust is visible even on the camera LCD.
I'm assuming this is dust. Has anyone seen anything similar, especially where the aperture makes a big difference in the visibility/size of dust in the image?
Yea I have noticed it. I have a 10-D and do notice dust and other things when I stop down. I also take alot of photos of skydivers and with a clear blue sky it really shows up. My D30 did this also.
It will be worse the more you stop down the lens, as you columate the light (it comes from a smaller and smaller single point. With a more open aperture, the light comes from a variety of points and defracts around the dust making it less visible.
There is a world of advice on how to clean the sensors, though it seems a blower brush, with the brush removed is about the simplest way, with the camera set on 'sensor clean' and the shutter pressed to lock the mirror up out of the way.
Just try really hard not to touch anything in there, particularly the cover over the sensor - you don't want to scratch that, or the mirror
Depends on how much/ how annoying it is. Spot editing is your friend if it is only minor
This is a big problem with all DSLRs. They're a problem with SLRs too but the added static caused by the CCD CMOS chip adds to the problem. I know this problem has been addressed may times at www.dpreview.com in the Canon SLR forums. Just do a search an you'll find all kinds of ways people have been dealing with the situation.
Yeah. I was afraid of that. Luminous Landscape has good sensor cleaning advice. All the necessary equipment is easy enough to get, but the swaps are extremely expensive at CAD 100 for 12. I read somewhere you can make your own on the cheap, but I'll probably play it safe. I hate that I've been avoiding anything below f/16.
I guess I got so used to changing lenses quickly with film that I probably did the same thing on the D60, without turning off the camera. Anyone know if there's a charge dissipation time (of note) with these sensors, the D60's in particular?
I usually turn the camera off before I change lenses - just because the lenses are active devices too (there are electrical connections into them) and I'd rather screw up a setting in the camera that would probably require it to be switched off anyway.
I've no idea if the sensor being powered causes a electrostatic charge which would attract dust, though I find it possible but kind of doubtful based on what I know about silicon. I've only heard that has guesses from people that don't know anything about semiconductors so I'd leave it at that.
Certanly I change lenses as quickly as I can, trying to never point the open camera upwards.
I've never used a sensor swab but certainly a dust blower has fixed any problems I've seen. I'm sure it can get worse and need swabbed.
I quite often shoot at about f/29 or there abouts - certainly over f/19 quite often - though I try to stay away from the extremes that my lenses allow.
Be VERY careful with what you use to clean. Some folks are surprised to learn that many compressed air canisters, for example, contain an oil which will leave a very difficult to remove residue on the inside of your camera.
Also, you are probably degrading your pictures by shooting at such a small aperture. Anything above f/11 (or possibly f/16, but definitely no higher!) will cause diffraction in your images with a D60 (or a 10D), resulting in them becoming less sharp as the aperture continues to be reduced in size. For more information, see these discussions (note that the second link is pretty detailed and may be too intense for some viewers):
Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, I found the LL resources useful and are the ones on which I rely for my sensor cleaning knowledge.
As for shooting below f/11 (actually I think f/8 is generally sharpest), my aim is increasing DOF not necessarily maintaining sharpness within DOF. I'm willing to sacrifice sharpness (and it's not relaly that much) to reduce the OOF elements. However, it's not often I really want to go below say f/22, at least with my primary lens.
