80D lens recommendations

[Cortian]

Are you certain it's the lens and not the sensor? Do the spots change with lens changes, or stay in the same places?

 

[mabuse]

Thanks for the info on the bag. I will have to check it out.

I need to check my other lenses. I hope its not the sensor as I just purchased the camera new. Used lenspenand cloth to clean lenses.

 

[Cortian]

Thanks for the info on the bag. I will have to check it out.

You're welcome. For sizing reference info, what's in there is:

• Canon 40D body
• Canon Zoom Lens EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM (on the body)
• Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Macro F017 (upper left), w/hood
  
• Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

I need to check my other lenses. I hope its not the sensor as I just purchased the camera new. Used lenspenand cloth to clean lenses.

You need a plain surface. An unclouded blue sky is perfect. Aim at the plain surface in Av mode at f/22 or so. Use manual focus. *click* Do that with each lens.

If the debris doesn't move: It's on the sensor. Don't sweat it. It's not that big a deal. The used 40D I bought from Adorama needed a sensor cleaning. If you find that to be necessary I'll reference my threads on my sensor-cleaning adventures

 

[mabuse]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[TCampbell]

Thanks, when open the images in Photoshop I am seeing spots in the same location in the image.

This makes me think you have a dust bunny on your sensor.

An easy test is to attach a lens (any lens) point the camera to something with no contrast... such as a plain white wall, ceiling, or plain blue sky. You don't even have to focus the lens. Just snap a photo at a very high f-stop (such as f/16 or f/22) and also snap one at a lower f-stop (whatever "wide open" is for your lens... f/5.6, f/4, f/2.8, etc.)

Compare the results. If you have dust "on" the sensor (in the camera ) then the image at a high f-stop (f/16, f/22) will have a more defined dust spot... it'll be more diffuse at "wide open" f-stops).

It is generally not possible for dust on the lens to show up on the image as a spot. I've taken demonstration shots to show this by putting a tiny 1/4" square piece of post-it note on the front of the lens and taking a photo both with and without to show that even something that large wont show up in the photo. This happens because it's just too far away from the focus plane.

While you can take a camera in to have it cleaned, getting dust on the sensor is basically something anyone who uses cameras that have removable lenses has to deal with. It's fairly easy to clean the sensor yourself.

I do this in "tiers" of aggressiveness depending on how easily the dust will dislodge.

The easiest thing to do is (and all of these steps should be done a indoors in a relatively clean low-dust place) remove the lens, point the camera body at the floor, and invoke the camera's self-clean cycle. This causes the sensor (it's actually a piece of glass in front of the sensor... they protect the real sensor) to vibrate in the hope that the vibration will cause the dust to dislodge. Pointing the camera at the floor means the dust will hopefully leave the camera completely. If you don't point the camera at the floor then it can just move to a different spot inside the camera. Each time you take a shot, the mirror swings up and down rapidly, creating a bit of wind inside the chamber and blowing the dust around... so it's just a matter of time before it ends up back on the sensor again.

Re-test for dust by taking more shots (as before).

If that didn't clear the dust, then you can put the camera in manual cleaning mode which flips the mirror up and opens the shutter ... and holds it open for cleaning.

A "hand squeezed" air-blower might also do the trick. The key is that it is HAND-SQUEEZED. Do not use an air-compressor. Do not use "canned" air products (like "Dust-Off") because air compressors splatter an oily residue (and frankly can blast air with such force as to cause damage) and canned air products use a propellant that leaves a hazy residue (and that would require "wet" cleaning to fix the problem.) When using a hand-squeezed blower (like a Giottos Rocket-Blower) avoid letting the tip touch anything inside the camera.

Re-test for dust.

If it's still not clear... you can use a PRISTINELY CLEAN tiny paint brush with soft bristles (like an artist might use) to see if you can brush away the dust. There are special versions of these brushes sold for photography that have conductive bristles and the handle has a ground wire that you attach to a grounded terminal to discharge any static electricity that might be causing to dust to cling to the sensor.

Re-test for dust.

Now it's probably time for "wet" cleaning. The popular product is "Eclipse" cleaning solution by Photographic Solutions, Inc. Most camera stores carry the stuff... or you can buy it online. Eclipse is nearly pure methanol which means it evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue behind. You put a few drew (as in 3 or 4 drops only ... not 10) on a "Sensor Swab" (made by the same company). The swabs come in sizes. APS-C sensor cameras (like the 80D) use "type 2" size (it's 15mm wide because that's the height of the sensor... so one swipe from edge to edge get the whole sensor.

There are many videos on how to do this... but you're cleaning a glass surface and while it's technically possible to scratch glass... it's fairly difficult to scratch unless you're really trying. So a simple swipe (or two) usually does the trick.

Re-test for dut.

Do not re-use the cleaning swabs... you don't want to risk pushing around whatever dirt managed to get on it.