How to get rid of this

[SquarePeg]

This keeps randomly popping up in my photos. Maybe it’s there all the time but can only be seen in certain shots? I cleaned the sensor it’s not there. It happens with different lenses so it’s not the lens. Any suggestions? Something floating around in there?

 

[SquarePeg]

It’s in the same place every time.

 

[kalgra]

I know you say you cleaned the sensor but did you swab it? That screams sensor dust in look and description.

 

[kalgra]

My guess is you typically see it when stopped down and when the area its in is a solid color like the sky or a white wall.

 

[snowbear]

Sensor booger - clone it out of existing shots.
Check sensor with lighted magnifier -> swab sensor -> repeat. Frustrating, I know,
Future: Use built-in sensor cleaner (usually a vibration) regularly, change lenses with lens mount facing down, and regular use of rocket blaster (again, with lens mount facing down).

If none of that works, have the new puppy lick it clean

 

[Overread]

I'm going with it being something still on the sensor. In the same place every time with different lenses the only thing it could be on the camera side is something from the sensor.

The only other thing it might be is if you use actions in photoshop and managed to accidentally add a "spot heal tool" in that shape to your action that you run for every photo. You'd get the same effect with similar tools and automatic editing in other software packages as well.

 

[zulu42]

Did you make a test photo after cleaning the sensor? I almost never get all the spots on the first try.

I use an OOF picture of white paper to look for spots after cleaning.

 

[Derrel]

It looks like a very tiny bit of lint, and I mean very tiny. It could be however as overread hypothesized an artifact that has been added with an automatic application of the spot healing tool which is applied upon import. The easiest way to test this would be to shoot an image and zoom in on the camera and see if you can spot this defect on the camera back LCD.

Based upon the shape I would say this is a small piece of thread lint, so tiny that you possibly can not even see it with the naked eye.

 

[Derrel]

This sensor spot is most likely visible only in areas of flat tone, such as Blue Skies or smooth largely detail-free areas, such as smooth walls , or the sides of cars , Etc..

As was mentioned above an out of focus shot of a white piece of paper is a good way to test how well you have cleaned your sensor. When some small speck is left on the filter array which is located just in front of the actual sensor itself these specks will be soft edged at large apertures such as F 1.4 down to around 4.5. At small apertures such as f13 to f-32 any dust will be rendered small and very black and will look like pepper grains.

You can use this knowledge to good advantage after you have cleaned your sensor by shooting a series of photos of either the aforementioned out of focus white paper, or of the sky. Many times if I know my sensor is dirty I will definitely avoid the smaller aperture range. Beginning around f8 sensor dirt and oil tends to become more noticeable while in the mid-aperture range around at 4.5 or at 5.6, it definitely looks like "smaller than a BB, light gray circles". Your particular sensor blob looks to me like a micro-fiber from say a single thread, perhaps being only three or four hundreds of an inch in length and possibly only three or four thousands of an inch wide.

 

[SquarePeg]

I know you say you cleaned the sensor but did you swab it? That screams sensor dust in look and description.

I’m guessing you’re right. This was the thing that prompted my sensor cleaning to begin with. I guess I’ll have to go again.

My guess is you typically see it when stopped down and when the area its in is a solid color like the sky or a white wall.

yes.

Sensor booger - clone it out of existing shots.
Check sensor with lighted magnifier -> swab sensor -> repeat. Frustrating, I know,
Future: Use built-in sensor cleaner (usually a vibration) regularly, change lenses with lens mount facing down, and regular use of rocket blaster (again, with lens mount facing down).

If none of that works, have the new puppy lick it clean

‘I did use a lighted magnifying glass and saw a lot of specks that disappeared after I cleaned it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a dog hair. Our new motto around here is “shed happens”.

I'm going with it being something still on the sensor. In the same place every time with different lenses the only thing it could be on the camera side is something from the sensor.

The only other thing it might be is if you use actions in photoshop and managed to accidentally add a "spot heal tool" in that shape to your action that you run for every photo. You'd get the same effect with similar tools and automatic editing in other software packages as well.

I don’t use LR or PS so not that. I wasn’t sure if there was some other piece inside the camera that needed to be cleaned that I was unaware of.

Did you make a test photo after cleaning the sensor? I almost never get all the spots on the first try.

I use an OOF picture of white paper to look for spots after cleaning.

no I didn’t do that but I will this time. I took a few photos with the camera and the spot was gone so I assumed it was OK but I see what you mean about it being stopped down and having a uniform background making it show up more.

It looks like a very tiny bit of lint, and I mean very tiny. It could be however as overread hypothesized an artifact that has been added with an automatic application of the spot healing tool which is applied upon import. The easiest way to test this would be to shoot an image and zoom in on the camera and see if you can spot this defect on the camera back LCD.

Based upon the shape I would say this is a small piece of thread lint, so tiny that you possibly can not even see it with the naked eye.

thanks going to clean it again and see

This sensor spot is most likely visible only in areas of flat tone, such as Blue Skies or smooth largely detail-free areas, such as smooth walls , or the sides of cars , Etc..

As was mentioned above an out of focus shot of a white piece of paper is a good way to test how well you have cleaned your sensor. When some small speck is left on the filter array which is located just in front of the actual sensor itself these specks will be soft edged at large apertures such as F 1.4 down to around 4.5. At small apertures such as f13 to f-32 any dust will be rendered small and very black and will look like pepper grains.

You can use this knowledge to good advantage after you have cleaned your sensor by shooting a series of photos of either the aforementioned out of focus white paper, or of the sky. Many times if I know my sensor is dirty I will definitely avoid the smaller aperture range. Beginning around f8 sensor dirt and oil tends to become more noticeable while in the mid-aperture range around at 4.5 or at 5.6, it definitely looks like "smaller than a BB, light gray circles". Your particular sensor blob looks to me like a micro-fiber from say a single thread, perhaps being only three or four hundreds of an inch in length and possibly only three or four thousands of an inch wide.

good info thanks!

 

[snowbear]

‘I did use a lighted magnifying glass and saw a lot of specks that disappeared after I cleaned it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a dog hair. Our new motto around here is “shed happens”.

I thought you had - more for anyone that read this later. Puppy hair would not be a surprise -- I've started collecting Zoe's sheds and will either use the fur for tying flies, or knit a scarf.

 

[JBPhotog]

If it is in the same place every time with different lenses, it is on the sensor. It may not show up sometimes due to the composition of the image pixels may camouflage it as well as the f-stop used when capturing the image.

Try side illumination when viewing the sensor so any dust casts a shadow making them easier to see. My Visible Dust sensor loupe is designed with 6 LED's so multiple shadows are cast making those dust bunnies easy to see.

Based on the size of this in relation to your sensor, my guess this dust is less than 0.5 -0.25 mm in size.

FWIW, never use high pressure air or canned air to blow off the sensor, for some brands this can blow dust under the sensor glass cover resulting in a service to remove the glass and clean it.

 

[snowbear]

FWIW, never use high pressure air or canned air to blow off the sensor, for some brands this can blow dust under the sensor glass cover resulting in a service to remove the glass and clean it.

Canned air can also contain moisture.

 

[johngpt]

This keeps randomly popping up in my photos. Maybe it’s there all the time but can only be seen in certain shots? I cleaned the sensor it’s not there. It happens with different lenses so it’s not the lens. Any suggestions? Something floating around in there?

View attachment 180663

Sharon, my X-T1 has dirt on the sensor which has been impossible to eradicate with swabs. I've worn magnifiers to examine the sensor and can see the dirt. The swabs just haven't been able to clean them off. The spots in an image aren't noticeable when an image has been shot at f/5.6 or wider, but if shot at f/11 or more narrow, the spots can show up horribly, mostly in the sky.
What I've had to do is use Lightroom's spot removal tool and even after that in Photoshop create a new layer and use Photoshop's clone tool with the image zoomed to 100%. I then work my way around the image cloning out spots. I've been doing this long enough now that I know the typical areas at which I'll find the spots.
The X-T1 is over five years old now and I also have to clone out "hot" pixels that often show up in dark areas of an image. These typically show up as red dots. Lightroom often doesn't show these and in Photoshop I catch them.

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