Dust spots revisited (copperhill method) - long and epic (7 pic) story ahead!

Thirdfox

Finally I got everything in the post (got my pec pad and E2 from a reliable ebayer - 23 euro for everything (100 pec pads and a bottle of E2) sent in 7 days from England).

Firstly - this is what my camera sensor looked like:



after 1st blowing (the sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed more spots appearing!)


after 4th pass with the brush (the best it got)


(it looks pretty good before levels adjustment and remember this is at f32)
do I leave it at that? Nope, I foolishly decide to blow one last time:


Panic! I blow, no change, swipe again?


Okay really panicking now...have I scratched my sensor?
I decide I've come this far I might as well try a few more swipes:
12th swipe


As good as it's going to get I suspect...
here's one at f11 (pre-levels adjustment it looks pretty good actually)


However I do suspect I may have scratched the AA filter with that big dustspot... I'll give it some time and try again in a week.

You know how they said even an idiot could clean a sensor? Obviously they didn't think of me!

liveforphotos

No. Don't panic. Try swabbing with a wet swab using a vertical movement rather than a lateral one. Obviously, some kind of contaminant got introduced during one of your passes. That's the thing about sensor cleaning. Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. Personally, I think blowing is a complete waste of time. I use the copperhill method, followed by some swipes of a sensor brush, but I find it takes at least an hour to get it really clean.

It takes patience. I recently bought some loupes and a small photon light for use during my next cleaning session. I am hoping that will reduce the number of times I have to shoot test shots and load them on my laptop to see how the cleaning is going.

Thirdfox wrote: »

Finally I got everything in the post (got my pec pad and E2 from a reliable ebayer - 23 euro for everything (100 pec pads and a bottle of E2) sent in 7 days from England).

Firstly - this is what my camera sensor looked like:



after 1st blowing (the sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed more spots appearing!)


after 4th pass with the brush (the best it got)


(it looks pretty good before levels adjustment and remember this is at f32)
do I leave it at that? Nope, I foolishly decide to blow one last time:


Panic! I blow, no change, swipe again?


Okay really panicking now...have I scratched my sensor?
I decide I've come this far I might as well try a few more swipes:
12th swipe


As good as it's going to get I suspect...
here's one at f11 (pre-levels adjustment it looks pretty good actually)


However I do suspect I may have scratched the AA filter with that big dustspot... I'll give it some time and try again in a week.

You know how they said even an idiot could clean a sensor? Obviously they didn't think of me!

pete4130

I've read that around the edges of some sensors there is an oily substance, you might have contaminated your sensor sweep with some oil and your AA filter. wet swabs will clean it after a few swipes.
I was in the same position when I first used wet swabs on a sensor. it looked a mess, panicked, then relaxed and used 2 more clean swabs to clean it out and it was perfect.

TelePaul

1 & 3 are my favourite.

Oriel

TelePaul wrote: »

1 & 3 are my favourite.

The composition is terrible though.

TelePaul

Oriel wrote: »

The composition is terrible though.

Agreed. Perhaps a bit over-exposed too? Hope he shot these in RAW.

Oriel

TelePaul wrote: »

Agreed. Perhaps a bit over-exposed too? Hope he shot these in RAW.

No it's grand, he can photoshop it.

pete4130

You guys are cracking me up!

TelePaul

pete4130 wrote: »

You guys are cracking me up!

Just like E2 did to Thirdfox's mirror. Did a pretty good job at first though, at pic 3.

Oriel

I'll post my edit in the morning.
It'll kick ass.

Cabaal

I think it would look better in B&W,
nice angle though

kensutz

Why would anyone quote the pics?

rymus

Thirdfox wrote: »

However I do suspect I may have scratched the AA filter with that big dustspot...

If you managed to scratch the AA filter, I applaud you. It's an incredibly hard thing to do. If you don't manage to solve it, bring the camera and your cleaning kit along to the meetup in Feb and I'll fix it for you.

TelePaul

rymus wrote: »

If you managed to scratch the AA filter, I applaud you. It's an incredibly hard thing to do. If you don't manage to solve it, bring the camera and your cleaning kit along to the meetup in Feb and I'll fix it for you.

Props to Rymus!

Thirdfox

Thanks Rymus for ths offer but I don't think I'd be able to make it to the next boards meet. However I'll try again with the pec pads in a few more days (after the fashion show shoot )

rymus

ah no bother.. I'll be up twice in march anyway if you find yourself stuck. Give me a shout if there's anything I can do.

Thirdfox

Thanks for the offer, I'll definitely keep it in mind (by the way what kind of a swiping device do you use? I built my own one a la Thom Hogan with the plastic knives - don't worry I sanded it down to a 14mm tipped swiper!)

challengemaster

Thirdfox wrote: »

I don't think I'd be able to make it to the next boards meet.

not the only one! ! Someone planning them must have my calendar and seems to pick dates im busy on!

actually how do you go about checking yer sensor? wouldn't mind having an aul peek at mine

Fajitas!

Thirdfox, I'm in dublin most of the time during the week, pm me if youu want me to give it a go too

Thirdfox

I may just take you up on that offer (in a few days time). Thanks everyone.

rymus

Thirdfox wrote: »

what kind of a swiping device do you use?

I just use the one that came with the kit I ordered for a 1.6x crop sensor.

liveforphotos

kensutz wrote: »

Why would anyone quote the pics?

Why would anyone quote you?