Nikon D70: Dark Circular Marks in Sky

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

You have a dirty sensor thats all it is. i had the same problem. just clean
the sensor.

Vince...

<xtx99@aol.com> wrote in message
news:9fc94$42e8735d$d1cc7c60$26371@snip.allthenewsgroups.com...
I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the ocean
and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit"
lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
xtx99@aol.com

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Dirt on your sensor, try a blower or use a larger apperture and you will not
see them, clone them out with Photoshop or whatever..

<xtx99@aol.com> wrote in message
news:9fc94$42e8735d$d1cc7c60$26371@snip.allthenewsgroups.com...
> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the
> ocean and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's
> "kit" lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the
> West).
> xtx99@aol.com
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

xtx99@aol.com wrote:
: I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I
: often get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one
: of my shots and uploaded it to
: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If anyone can tell me what
: these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the ocean and how to fix the
: problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit" lens with lens
: hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
: xtx99@aol.com

Well, it could be UFOs. Or ghosts of dark pirates looking for ships to
plunder.  

But most likely it is dust on your camera lens or sensor. Dust spots tend
to show up more noticeable when you have a light color, single color area.
Which is why they show up on your beach photos with large expanses of sky.

Since the spots are fairly sharp it is probable that they are on or near
the sensor (like on the rear element of the lens). Dust on the front
element tends to be more blurry. But these are the most likely locations
for dust contamination. I would first try blowing the lens surfaces, front
and back, with air (not breath) to hopefully dislodge any dry particles.
Then take a test photo of a white wall or cloudless sky to see if the
spots are gone. If not then I would follow your camera's manual in the
procedure to clean the sensor (dry air first). Each step of the way,
before going on to more drastic cleaning methods (cleaning fluids, pads,
etc), take a test photo. If the problem is cleared up with easy methods,
there is no need to go on to others.  

Randy

==========
Randy Berbaum
Champaign, IL

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

<xtx99@aol.com> wrote in message
news:9fc94$42e8735d$d1cc7c60$26371@snip.allthenewsgroups.com...
> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the
ocean
> and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit"
> lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
> xtx99@aol.com
>
I also note quite a bit of noise in the sky. Try a lower ISO so you may use
a wider aperture using the same shutter speed and dust should be less
noticeable. Don't change lenses on the beach. There is usually a good breeze
that carries sand and dust with it!
-S

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

your sensor has dust on it, bring it to cleaning (your local service center)
or if you are brave enough, try to clean it in sterile conditions with a
blower bulb (i did this to my D70 and it was ok after that). this is a
common problem on all DSLR cameras.


<xtx99@aol.com> wrote in message
news:9fc94$42e8735d$d1cc7c60$26371@snip.allthenewsgroups.com...
> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the
> ocean and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's
> "kit" lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the
> West).
> xtx99@aol.com
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

xtx99@aol.com wrote:

> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the ocean
> and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit"
> lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
> xtx99@aol.com

Dust on your sensor. It's no big deal. Cleaning the sensor
is something you'll have to do from time to time.

Here's a link with everything there is to know about
cleaning sensors :-)


http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

xtx99@aol.com wrote:
> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the ocean
> and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit"
> lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
> xtx99@aol.com

Read my post and the resulting thread regarding this from a few days
ago and clean at your own risk, seriously:

http://tinyurl.com/e25yc

Best of luck,

Ben

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

xtx99@aol.com wrote:
> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the ocean
> and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit"
> lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
> xtx99@aol.com
>
>

I agree it's dust or some other crud on your sensor. A common occurrence.

Another good site with info on cleaning (with brushes):

http://194.100.88.243/petteri/pont/How_to/a_Brush_Your_...

There are various sources, at various prices. I picked up a cheap pair
on eBay for about 15 bucks (search on 'clearskies brush'). Easy to do,
and no problem with spots since...

Lars

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <1L_Fe.64857$oJ.53792@news-server.bigpond.net.au>, Pete D
says...
> Dirt on your sensor, try a blower or use a larger apperture and you will not
> see them, clone them out with Photoshop or whatever..

So many people reporting dust on the sensor here. The problem seems to
be quite widespread
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 4040, 5050, 5060, 7070, 8080, E300 forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E300 resource - http://myolympus.org/E300/

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 19:12:54 +0200, Alfred Molon
<alfredREMOVE_molon@yahoo.com> wrote:

>In article <1L_Fe.64857$oJ.53792@news-server.bigpond.net.au>, Pete D
>says...
>> Dirt on your sensor, try a blower or use a larger apperture and you will not
>> see them, clone them out with Photoshop or whatever..
>
>So many people reporting dust on the sensor here. The problem seems to
>be quite widespread

Dust?

Yep, its what people become when they die. The stuff is *everywhere*.

--
Owamanga!
http://www.pbase.com/owamanga

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Alfred Molon" <alfredREMOVE_molon@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1d533082e106684298ac86@news.supernews.com...
> In article <1L_Fe.64857$oJ.53792@news-server.bigpond.net.au>, Pete D
> says...
>> Dirt on your sensor, try a blower or use a larger apperture and you will
>> not
>> see them, clone them out with Photoshop or whatever..
>
> So many people reporting dust on the sensor here. The problem seems to
> be quite widespread

Yes, and?????????????????

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Alfred Molon wrote:
> In article <1L_Fe.64857$oJ.53792@news-server.bigpond.net.au>, Pete D
> says...
>
>>Dirt on your sensor, try a blower or use a larger apperture and you will not
>>see them, clone them out with Photoshop or whatever..
>
>
> So many people reporting dust on the sensor here. The problem seems to
> be quite widespread

So is dust on lenses, but we don't palpitate over that, do we? Dust on
your sensor is no bigger deal once you've done a cleaing yourself a
couple of times...

Lars

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Bernard Rother wrote:

>Cut a circular hole in the lid of a 35mm film canister and
> pushed the brush in, handle first, then snapped the lid onto the
> canister for storage .... nothing touching the fibers.

Very good idea!

> Question time. Would it be advisable to repeat this procedure every
> couple of weeks to avoid any dust becoming stuck ( as opposed to
> floating ) on the sensor ?

Personally I would only do it when you see something in your pictures.
Hell, I took pictures with visible dust for a month or so before
getting it cleaned. When I saw it, I just edited it out in
post-processing.

> Pec Pads & methanol scare the **** out of me.

Me too, my friend, me too. I'm taking it up with my shrink this
afternoon, as a matter of fact.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

xtx99@aol.com wrote:

> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the ocean
> and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit"
> lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
> xtx99@aol.com
>
>
The fact that the dust is visible, and that the image is not very sharp
indicates to me that a very small aperture was used - as does the
motion blur which tells me that a fast shutter speed was not used. Above
about f11, sharpness will be lost on a dslr like the D70 - and any dust
on the sensor filter will become more visible. My guess is that if you
had the aperture set at about f8 or f11, then the shutter speed for that
shot would have been over 1/1000 sec, motion blur on the girls hands
would not be visible, the image would have been very much sharper, and
the dust would be far less visible, if at all.
Don't get too fussy about dust. If it's just visible on a test shot at
f22, but not visible at f11, then leave it. At some stage it will be
visible in shots taken at normal aperture, and that's when cleaning it
should be considered.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Bernard Rother wrote:
> xtx99@aol.com wrote:
>
>


snip


Cut a circular hole in the lid of a 35mm film canister and
> pushed the brush in, handle first, then snapped the lid onto the
> canister for storage .... nothing touching the fibers.
>


Aha! Finally, a use for film. ;o)

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 29 Jul 2005 11:14:32 -0700, Kitt wrote:

>> Cut a circular hole in the lid of a 35mm film canister and
>> pushed the brush in, handle first, then snapped the lid onto the
>> canister for storage .... nothing touching the fibers.
>
> Aha! Finally, a use for film. ;o)

It was amusing to see several of the staff at B&H falling over
themselves trying to help a female customer several months ago. It
had nothing to do with any particular feminine qualities she may
have had. From their comments it was clear that these employees
must have had much experience with film equipment from pre-digital
days and relished what must be an increasingly rare opportunity to
help this woman whose photo needs appeared to be quite modest than
many of their other customers. And I have my own little collection
of empty film canisters too.  

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

xtx99@aol.com wrote:

> I've noticed that when I take photos on the beach over the ocean, I often
> get circular dark marks in the sky. I took a small crop from one of my
> shots and uploaded it to: http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html If
> anyone can tell me what these 3 circular marks are in the sky over the ocean
> and how to fix the problem, I'd appreciate it. My lens is the D70's "kit"
> lens with lens hood and the shot was taken East (sun was in the West).
> xtx99@aol.com
>
>

Half an hour later and I've only just stopped shaking. Had my D70 since
December and had no intention of EVER looking for dust on the sensor.
Curiosity got the better of me. Changed my desktop to white and took a
photo. Zoomed in on the camera's LCD panel with the command dial and
panned around the picture. One fairly big spec .... why me ?! Off to
town, bought a nylon artist's brush, 14mm wide, orange & very soft, as
well as some Dust Off. Washed the brush with liquid soap ( 2x ) and
rinsed it off filtered water ( reverse osmosis ) Put camera on tripod
pointing down 45 deg, removed lens and opened her up and was greeted by
this gorgeous looking metallic green thing. Blew air through the brush
and passed it over the top half of the sensor & repeated for the lower
half. Checked .... gone !! oh no .... just moved to the other side. The
second attempt had her clean as a whistle but I'm not ashamed to say I
was a nervous wreck during and after that little episode. Total cost was
$19,00. Cut a circular hole in the lid of a 35mm film canister and
pushed the brush in, handle first, then snapped the lid onto the
canister for storage .... nothing touching the fibers.

Question time. Would it be advisable to repeat this procedure every
couple of weeks to avoid any dust becoming stuck ( as opposed to
floating ) on the sensor ?
Pec Pads & methanol scare the **** out of me.
Cheers
Bernard

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <8qbGe.71708$Kp2.3837455@twister.southeast.rr.com>, lars
says...

> So is dust on lenses, but we don't palpitate over that, do we?

Easier to clean a lens than a CCD or CMOS sensor. And dust on the lens
does not show up in images. My point simply is that sensor dust is a
bigger issue than people here are willing to admit.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 4040, 5050, 5060, 7070, 8080, E300 forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E300 resource - http://myolympus.org/E300/

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 19:13:55 +0200, in rec.photo.digital Alfred Molon
<alfredREMOVE_molon@yahoo.com> wrote:

>In article <8qbGe.71708$Kp2.3837455@twister.southeast.rr.com>, lars
>says...
>
>> So is dust on lenses, but we don't palpitate over that, do we?
>
>Easier to clean a lens than a CCD or CMOS sensor. And dust on the lens
>does not show up in images. My point simply is that sensor dust is a
>bigger issue than people here are willing to admit.

Do you have any direct experience? If no, then your point is it appears to
you to be a bigger issue. To those of us who deal with it, it isn't that
big a deal.
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photography/General/index...

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <1122588119.285579@ftpsrv1>, frederick says...

> The fact that the dust is visible, and that the image is not very sharp
> indicates to me that a very small aperture was used - as does the
> motion blur which tells me that a fast shutter speed was not used. Above
> about f11, sharpness will be lost on a dslr like the D70

At what aperture is the diffraction limit for a camera like the D70 ?
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 4040, 5050, 5060, 7070, 8080, E300 forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E300 resource - http://myolympus.org/E300/

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <5r9le1dsd2tmu15d1mt2o7goc3g61sjkv6@4ax.com>, Ed Ruf says...

> Do you have any direct experience? If no, then your point is it appears to
> you to be a bigger issue. To those of us who deal with it, it isn't that
> big a deal.

Did you see those big spots in the sky:
http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html

It's definitely a big deal.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 4040, 5050, 5060, 7070, 8080, E300 forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E300 resource - http://myolympus.org/E300/

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 01:04:02 +0200, in rec.photo.digital Alfred Molon
<alfredREMOVE_molon@yahoo.com> wrote:

>In article <5r9le1dsd2tmu15d1mt2o7goc3g61sjkv6@4ax.com>, Ed Ruf says...
>
>> Do you have any direct experience? If no, then your point is it appears to
>> you to be a bigger issue. To those of us who deal with it, it isn't that
>> big a deal.
>
>Did you see those big spots in the sky:
>http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html
>
>It's definitely a big deal.

Please give us a break and get a grip. All this means is you have to clean
the aa filter once in a while. That is not such a big deal. Again, if you
have no direct experience it is not a fully informed point of view.

If I took your advice I wouldn't be using DVD as one of my backup media
because you couldn't make a decision on the format to choose.
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photography/General/index...

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Ed Ruf" <egruf_usenet@cox.net> wrote in message
news:ajfle1h54eom6ull8kt0pd9te4p3j0s0gq@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 01:04:02 +0200, in rec.photo.digital Alfred Molon
> <alfredREMOVE_molon@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>In article <5r9le1dsd2tmu15d1mt2o7goc3g61sjkv6@4ax.com>, Ed Ruf says...
>>
>>> Do you have any direct experience? If no, then your point is it appears
>>> to
>>> you to be a bigger issue. To those of us who deal with it, it isn't that
>>> big a deal.
>>
>>Did you see those big spots in the sky:
>>http://members.aol.com/xtx99/problem.html
>>
>>It's definitely a big deal.
>
> Please give us a break and get a grip. All this means is you have to clean
> the aa filter once in a while. That is not such a big deal. Again, if you
> have no direct experience it is not a fully informed point of view.
>
> If I took your advice I wouldn't be using DVD as one of my backup media
> because you couldn't make a decision on the format to choose.
> ----------
> Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
> See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
> http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photography/General/index...

Too much grip??

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 02:56:36 GMT, in rec.photo.digital "Pete D"
<no@email.com> wrote:


>Too much grip??

Not sure I follow. You get a dslr and you have to deal with cleaning the aa
filter from time to time. It's not like you're disarming a plutonium bomb.
With some simple care the job is easily accomplished with the proper tools.
My point was just because Alfred frets over things he has no particular
experience with, his opinion has to be judged based upon such things in
that context. Who should be believed how big a deal this is, those who
periodically clean their aa filters or someone who doesn't?
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photography/General/index...

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <9urle11obv17h6np0tefkifbbuld07786m@4ax.com>, Ed Ruf says...

> Not sure I follow. You get a dslr and you have to deal with cleaning the aa
> filter from time to time. It's not like you're disarming a plutonium bomb.
> With some simple care the job is easily accomplished with the proper tools.
> My point was just because Alfred frets over things he has no particular
> experience with, his opinion has to be judged based upon such things in
> that context. Who should be believed how big a deal this is, those who
> periodically clean their aa filters or someone who doesn't?

Cans of compressed air, special alcohol etc. It is definitely more
complicated to clean a sensor than a lens. And unless you inspect your
sensor every time before using it, you might only find out about the
dust after you took those shots and are back home.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 4040, 5050, 5060, 7070, 8080, E300 forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E300 resource - http://myolympus.org/E300/

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Alfred Molon wrote:
> In article <1122588119.285579@ftpsrv1>, frederick says...
>
>
>>The fact that the dust is visible, and that the image is not very sharp
>>indicates to me that a very small aperture was used - as does the
>>motion blur which tells me that a fast shutter speed was not used. Above
>>about f11, sharpness will be lost on a dslr like the D70
>
>
> At what aperture is the diffraction limit for a camera like the D70 ?


Take a look.
http://www.geocities.com/angels2000photos/diffract.jpg
I think that you can see slight loss of acutance even at f11 - but not
enough that you would even notice on a print - even a large one. By f16
it's pretty visible, by f22 it's very significant. Those are 1:1 crops,
but I think loss of sharpness is going to be noticeable on anything but
a very small print by the time you get to f16 of greater.
http://www.geocities.com/angels2000photos/diffract.jpg

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 09:45:17 +0200, Alfred Molon
<alfredREMOVE_molon@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Cans of compressed air, special alcohol etc. It is definitely more
>complicated to clean a sensor than a lens.

It takes maybe twice as long as cleaning a lens, if you don't drink
any of the alcohol.

>And unless you inspect your
>sensor every time before using it, you might only find out about the
>dust after you took those shots and are back home.

...and the devastating impact of that is what exactly ?

...a small Somalian tribe gets wiped out ?

...on the other side of the universe a Vogon Captain has his poetry
interrupted ?

...or maybe you just need to spend and extra 15 seconds in photoshop
blatting them out?

--
Owamanga!
http://www.pbase.com/owamanga

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 09:45:17 +0200, in rec.photo.digital Alfred Molon
<alfredREMOVE_molon@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Cans of compressed air, special alcohol etc. It is definitely more
>complicated to clean a sensor than a lens.

So you just spit on your lens and wipe it off with your shirt?No, you
actually have a tool to specifically do this? What a concept. Do you obsess
about changing the oil in your car to this degree?

> And unless you inspect your
>sensor every time before using it, you might only find out about the
>dust after you took those shots and are back home.

If it's clean in the last set of shots why? If not it's not that big a deal
to correct in software. Cloning tools, Nikon's dust reference correction,
etc. Ok if you're going out on a major shot you check it. But then don't
you check that your pants are zipped before leaving the house?

Alfred, you really need to seek some professional help for this obsession.
Dirt on the sensor is no where near the big deal you make it out to be in
general and specifically not anything to drive one to put up with the
characteristics of the Oly 4:3 sensor for.
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photography/General/index...

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

It seems that Visible Dust's Sensor Clean can cause some serious
damage:
http://dazza101.blogspot.com/2005/07/danger-of-cleaning...