# Help for a newbie, please ;)



## Pinkfairy1978 (Jun 15, 2013)

took some photographs today and noticed that i had some squiggly lines come up on some of them, I used a prime lens for most of my photographs today and haven't noticed them but when I used my 'zoom' lens 70-300mm they appear?? does anyone know what they may be and suggest any help i can get to remove them. Thank you in advance
Susan x


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## Pinkfairy1978 (Jun 15, 2013)

also, forgot to add that i done the white paper test and these lines show up on both lenses ;(


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## tirediron (Jun 15, 2013)

That's odd; if the dirt pattern is identical regardless of lens, that pretty much only leaves the sensor, but that seems too well focused to be on your sensor.  Have you cleaned the front & rear elements of both lenses and looked at them carefully under good light to ensure they're clean?


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## SCraig (Jun 15, 2013)

Time to clean your sensor.  It's really dirty.


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## 480sparky (Jun 15, 2013)

SCraig said:


> Time to clean your sensor.  It's really dirty.



Ah-yep!


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## tirediron (Jun 15, 2013)

I ain't never seen sensor dirt that well focused... have you guys?


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## SCraig (Jun 15, 2013)

No, but really that's all it can be.  Showing up on two lenses eliminates the lens, and as you said that only leaves the sensor.


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## tirediron (Jun 15, 2013)

That's why I'm wondering if maybe both lenses are just reallllly dirty?


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## Pinkfairy1978 (Jun 15, 2013)

Thanks for the advice, it just seems really odd to not be showing up on some shots but is really clear on others, I will be off to the camera shop in the week then to get the sensor clean. Does anyone know the average price in the UK for this as don't want to be ripped off!! have added 2 more photo's (please excuse the 2nd one but this was taken (quickly!!) with the 70-300mm camera and the 1st with the prime lens??


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## tirediron (Jun 15, 2013)

The reason it's not showing up in some shots is likely due to the aperture you're using.  Try this:  Put one lens on the camera, set the camera to aperture priority and f16 and shoot a blank wall/white paper.  Then, put the other lens on and do the same thing, then post those two pictures.  If the dirt patterns are identical on both images, then it has to be sensor dust,  If they're different, that it is, as I suspect, rear element dirt.  

Sensor cleaning is easy and NOT something you should pay a shop for.  Reposted:

Sensors are EASY to clean yourself! 
Reposted "John's How to Clean Your Camera's Sensor": 

 sensor cleaning is easy, and difficult to really screw up (That's NOT a shot at you bazooka!). IMO, it's one of those basic maintenance procedures, such as de-fragmenting your hard drive, or changing the oil in your car, that if you cannot do, you have no business operating that piece of equipment. 

Here's my stock 'How to'...
Sensor-cleaning. It's easy to do and should be considered routine maintenance. Spending $50 - 75 for something that takes, literally five minutes, is foolish IMO. Do it yourself, save time and money, just be careful!

DON'T be scared of cleaning your camera! All you need are the right tools. I'll repost this just for info:
Contrary to popular belief, cleaning your own sensor is easy, and difficult to screw up. You should have a few tools though. My preference is for the Visible Dust line of products, in particular the Arctic Butterfly; it's a little pricey, but worth it.

Get a Giottos rocket, DO NOT use one of those cheap blower bulbs with a built in brush. They're dust/lint traps. Remove the lens, and holding hte camera at a 45 angle with the lens opening pointing down, thoroughly blow out the mirror chamber. Now, lock up the mirror and clean off the sensor. Once you've blown off the "big chunks" use the Arctic Butterfly to clean off the small stuff following the instructions provided. 

If that doesn't work, then you may need to go to a wet cleaning system, which is a still easy to do. In ten years of digital photography, I've never had to use a wet cleaning system on any sensor.

Remember that you're not actually cleaning the sensor, you're cleaning the low-pass filter in front of the sensor which is usually made of mineral glass or other very tough material. It's actually quite difficult to scratch or damage. It is easy to get streaky if you **** up with a wet-cleaning system, but that's not permanent.


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## 480sparky (Jun 15, 2013)

Buy a cleaning kit and do it yourself.


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## Pinkfairy1978 (Jun 15, 2013)

Ok just took 2 quick shots rubbish lighting indoors but def. showing on both lenses, first is the 1.8/50, 2nd is the 70-300


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## Pinkfairy1978 (Jun 15, 2013)

thank you all for your help, this really is greatly appreciated  xx


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## tirediron (Jun 15, 2013)

Has to be sensor dust; I've seen it like that before, but there's nothing else it can be.


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## Pinkfairy1978 (Jun 15, 2013)

thank you, will be purchasing the items you have mentioned and will clean myself at least it will save me the time and trouble of finding a good camera shop i can trust  xx


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## Pinkfairy1978 (Jun 16, 2013)

Off to see my photographer friend tomorrow who has his own cleaning kits and all of the above materials you mentioned above to have a supervised cleaning lesson  ! that way I will know Im doing it right!! will show off the results tomorrow xx


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## Stevepwns (Jun 17, 2013)

On a side note, I really like your pictures, some room for improvement, but I like them nonetheless.


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## cosmonaut (Jun 22, 2013)

tirediron said:


> I ain't never seen sensor dirt that well focused... have you guys?



 No I haven't. But clean the sensor would be my first attempt at a fix, check YouTube there are all kind of how to videos.


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## Nervine (Jun 22, 2013)

As stated sensor clean should resolve. Looks like hair or fine fabric of some sort. Sort of like the lens cleaning brush type but quite fine. 

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## kenerickson (Jun 23, 2013)

tirediron said:


> That's odd; if the dirt pattern is identical regardless of lens, that pretty much only leaves the sensor, but that seems too well focused to be on your sensor.  Have you cleaned the front & rear elements of both lenses and looked at them carefully under good light to ensure they're clean?



The OP did not mention which camera she was using, but if it has translucent mirror technology would not the mirror be a possible source of the lint, dust along with the lens and sensor?


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## Tony S (Jul 10, 2013)

Take the lens off, put the camera into mirror lockup and run it in the dishwasher on the top rack.... 

This advice is only worth what you paid for it and should not be taken seriously at all....... (Hey y'all, I'm sounding like Ken Rockwell now).


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## DiskoJoe (Jul 11, 2013)

Tony's advice will work like a charm if you want a really cool looking camera paper weight!


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