Opera House

[412 Burgh]

So, this weekend I made a quick trip to Sydney to run in a half marathon! I was able to get some picture of the famous Opera House.

It's the same picture but I think my ND filter is collecting dust like crazy!! Any way to fix that? A microfiber cloth isn't doing the trick?

1.
Sydney Opera House by ZDiBeradin, on Flickr

2. Dusty
helpme! by ZDiBeradin, on Flickr

 

[Virgil]

Nice photos.. Those spots are probably on your sensor.

 

[astroNikon]

You've got weird red bubble too in #2 .. LOL

I've never seen the opera house from the side. It looks like a cruise ship or something like that. Awesome photo!!

I'd check your lens / filter and use a liquid lens cleaner
and if you haven't had it done at any time clean your sensor

 

[agp]

Yea man look into those red bubbles, maybe they're baby earthworms on your sensor.

I like this photo, although I think it would be cool if there were more colors aside from blue and white.

 

[Designer]

I hope you don't mind my messing with it some. It was tilted off level by 0.4 degrees, and I cropped it a bit.

 

[astroNikon]

From Designers fix, I think if you shift the crop so the base of the opera house is further down - basically following the rule of thirds a little more.
Then instead of alot of water seemingly competing with the opera house the opera house is prominently the main focus.

 

[412 Burgh]

I tried to reproduce the dots, but I cannot get them. So therefore it must be on the ND Filter! Sensor looks pretty clean!

 

[D-B-J]

I tried to reproduce the dots, but I cannot get them. So therefore it must be on the ND Filter! Sensor looks pretty clean!

How did you try and reproduce them? Take a picture of a featureless white object (bright white paper, white blank browser screen), on the smallest aperture possible (f22) and the spots will show up then.

Cheers!
Jake

 

[TCampbell]

I'm pretty sure this is on your sensor. Here's why.

"just for fun" (because I'm bored), I took a post-it note and cut it down to a piece about 5x5mm and stuck it to the front of cheap, crappy Tiffen filter (How did that get into my camera gear? I only buy B+W brand. <smirk>)... then took a photo of my plain white wall.

Even with an obnoxious 5x5mm (I didn't measure it - that's just a guess) stuck to the front of my filter, nothing actually shows up in the photo that I take. The camera cannot focus on something that close. Don't believe me... grab a piece of paper, tape, etc. and a filter and try the experiment yourself.

The sensor, however... that's another story. At low f-stops it may be hard to see dust or other spots on a sensor. But at high f-stops they tend to be much more well-defined. Take the filter off the lens, point the camera at something with no contrast (a plain white wall or ceiling is an excellent target but a plain blue sky should also work) and take a photo (it is actually not necessary to that the lens be focused... at high f-stops you're getting a shadow of the dust on the sensor because the light originates from a very tiny opening instead of from a large opening -- causing the shadow to have better definition instead of being soft and diffuse.

Give it a shot because either with the tape on the filter or the high f-stop... one of these tests is going to tell you where the spots are coming from.

 

[412 Burgh]

True.. It's on my sensor. Just tested it again! So.. How do I clean my sensor. I tried using a rocket blower but I feel like that didn't do a damn thing!

 

[TCampbell]

I clean in stages.

I "try" the self-cleaning built into the camera... which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
Next I try the touchless air blower.
Next I try a very soft (and pristinely clean) brush -- which may work if it's only dust and nothing is stuck to the sensor.

Failing all of the above... it's time for wet cleaning.

I use "Eclipse" cleaning solution. This is nearly pure methanol so it evaporates within seconds and leaves no residue. I use a "Sensor Swab" (both Eclipse and Sensor Swabs are made by Photographic Solutions and available at most camera stores.) There are other companies that make swaps which work equally well. They will caution you ... put just 2 or perhaps 3 drops of solution the swab and give it a wipe, then discard. If it's not clean then grab a fresh swap -- don't reuse as you don't want to be smearing around anything the first swab picked up and you especially don't want to be dragging anything abrasive around the sensor (it's not technically the sensor... it's the UV or IR filter in front of the sensor that you are touching. It *can* be replaced if it is scratched but it's a hassle and generally requires sending it out for service - so best to use some care when doing it to avoid that mess.)