Sensor Dust - or actually in my lens?

Nifty Fifty

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I have a bad case of sensor dust when I use my 18-55mm lens, especially when I have used my UV filter. At first, I thought it was dust on my sensor, but it seems when I switch to my 300mm or my 50mm, then it doesn't show up on my photos.

Is it possible to get dust particles "inside" a lens?

Thanks in advance!
 
Dust in your lens rarely shows up in your images. 99.9% of the time it will be sensor dust. The likely reason you're not seeing it from one lens to another is a difference in apertures. In order to test this, put one lens on, set it to the smallest aperture (largest f#) and at or near the minimum focusing distance, take a photograph of a blank, light/white wall. Change to the other lens and repeat. The dust patterns should be similar. If they are, it's sensor dust.
 
They really only show up on lighter objects, so this is probably why you are not seeing them all the time. One way I always checked is shooting straight up at a blue sky while I was out, another option open your browser to a blank white page and hold your focus lock and shoot. I really doubt its your lens.
 
pics would be nice. could be flare you are experiencing?
 
yes but why keep the uv on when photographing
Why have a UV filter at all?

Unless you are way up in the mountains a UV filter can't improve your photos. Good UV filters may not degrade photos but they don't improve them and still cause more problems than they solve.
 
Its probably sensor dust. Dust/scratches on the rear element of a lens are a much bigger problem than on the front, but minor dust on any surface of the lens, even inside, is rarely a problem. The easy solution is to get a sensor cleaning kit, and some quality lens cleaning solution and cloth/tissue. Also get a lenspen or rocket blower. I give each lens element, and the inside of my lens caps a quick puff every time I change a lens. It really goes a long way keeping everything dust free.

As far as keeping UV filters on lenses...I used to keep High quality UV filters on lenses just for the protection, however, I found that uv filters were more difficult to clean than the lens itself, and were more prone to smearing, and collecting dust, and offer minor protection. Now I don't worry about some thin piece of glass for "protection," but I do keep a lens hood on my lenses all the time. Day, Night, indoors, or out, anytime, anywhere. A lens hood Is the best protection you can put on a lens.
 
Thank you all for your input. I thought that maybe the UV filter would help the day that I was using it, but from what you guys are saying, it really wouldn't help in the situation that I used it on (thanks for the advice).

Here is a photo of an example. There is a bunch of specs on the image, but I pointed out a few of them.

y4Um4YFZs6i_8k2QSzLLHg
salton-sea-sensor-dust.jpg

y4Um4YFZs6i_8k2QSzLLHg
 
wow looks like your sensor needs a cleaning.

take a picture of a white piece of paper with all your lenses, open in photoshop and ctrl+shift+L for autolevels and dust will be easily apparent.
 

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