Cause and remedy for Image spots?

[pmichaeljos]

Using my D3S, when I shoot images with any light areas, spots appear. I've eliminated the possibility that any of my lenses are causing this; I've tried blowing air into sensor area (after mirror lock up) and dust off reference photo. The camera is about 2 years old, and I'm thinking that I should just have it serviced. Any advice or insight appreciated.

 

[GaryT]

I have no idea but the first person that might know what the problem is will probably as you to post an image of the problem your having.

 

[SCraig]

Odds are good it's sensor dust. Take a photograph of a pure white surface (a wall or something) at relatively narrow aperture (f/16-ish) and see if they show up on it. If so just clean the sensor and keep on going.

 

[JG_Coleman]

Using my D3S, when I shoot images with any light areas, spots appear. I've eliminated the possibility that any of my lenses are causing this; I've tried blowing air into sensor area (after mirror lock up) and dust off reference photo. The camera is about 2 years old, and I'm thinking that I should just have it serviced. Any advice or insight appreciated.

GaryT is right... an example photo showing the spots would be helpful.

If they are dust spots, then it's possible that you've just got some really hardened, grimy dust stuck on your sensor. Sometimes an air blast just isn't enough. And although dust-off references are useful, they don't always do the trick. Whenever I've gotten dust spots on my sensor that just don't seem to go away with a bit of air dusting, I sit down and use a lint-free swab and sensor cleaning solution to physically wipe off the sensor. That has always done the trick for me.

To be clear, though, it's critical to have both swabs and cleaning solution that is specifically made for sensor cleaning... don't use q-tips and windex, lol! Using anything but dedicated materials can potentially cause big problems. Luckily, these sensor-cleaning materials are fairly cheap and can be purchased in most photography stores or online at several different sites.

 

[KmH]

I've tried blowing air into sensor area (after mirror lock up)

1st - I hope you didn't use canned air and used a hand blower.
Canned air can tear and ruin the shutter curtains.

2nd - The image sensor gets an electrostatic charge on it that can hold dust onto the image sensor even when air is forced over the image sensor.

So as mentioned your image sensor likely needs to be wet cleaned. You can do that yourself, or pay a camera shop to do it for you.
Either way wet cleaning is a routine camera maintenance procedure performed on an as needed basis.
There are YouTube videos that show how to wet clean an image sensor.