[hadi]

hi folks. so if you follow my other thread, you'd know i went on a 3 week trip to saudi and turkey. obviously i got a bit trigger happy and came back with over 18 gigs of pictures and 6 gigs of videos, all done through my pentax K-x.

i started noticing this when i was shooing bright pictures in turkey that some of them had lil black squiggles or dots in the exact same spot.

i thought it was something on my lens, so i cleaned it, but the dots were still there. i took off the lens, and looked at it through bright light, and i could see small particles inside the lens.

i also checked my sensor, and it seemed fine. i did the 'dust shaker' and other in-camera features and the pictures kept coming back clear, stating its not my sensor.

i posted these pics on another thread, and one of the members said that it maybe fungus.

what are the options i could be seeing here, and how do i fix them?


just for an example, this is what i mean. for the next two pictures, notice the tiny lil dots in the center left hand side:




the dots are slight gray. but if you change the exposure, they become more prominent like in this picture (upper middle)

[Philoslothical]

Definitely sensor dust. The in-camera sensor shake feature isn't wonderful. It can help a bit, but it's not a substitute for a proper sensor cleaning every so often.

There are numerous threads about the various methods of doing this. Your first step should be to get a plastic blower. If that isn't enough, there are more involved methods involving swabs and solutions. There's also the Pentax O-ICK1 (affectionately called a lollipop) which is a special plastic cube on a stick that you just gently stamp on the sensor, so the dust gets stuck to it.

[sterretje]

I suspect it to be dust on the sensor. Use another lens (if you have that option); if the problem is still there, it's the sensor.

Start with a rocket blower to clean the sensor; if that does not help, wet cleaning.

[twitch]

Definitely sensor dust

[hadi]

sweet, thanks folks!

and just to clarify, this is a rocket cleaner, right?


i tried this but only for a few seconds.

i'm assuming that glass like screen you see as soon as you take off your lens is whats a sensor?

(sorry for the newb questions)

edit: nevermind, youtube helped:

You Tube

You Tube

i'll try this once i come back from work


thanks folks

[Philoslothical]

i'm assuming that glass like screen you see as soon as you take off your lens is whats a sensor?

You have to put the camera into sensor cleaning mode from the wrench menu, first. Your battery should have a decent charge when doing this. That flips the mirror up out of the way until you turn off the camera. The sensor itself is kind of blue-green, right at the back of the mirror box. Be careful not to poke it with the tip of the blower.

[VoiceOfReason]

I experienced the same thing on a trip and had to edit it out of the pictures. It was a pain. Blowing got it out, but put a speck of it in the pentamirror! Now it has an automatic built in spot in the viewfinder!

[vladimiroltean]

I experienced the same thing on a trip and had to edit it out of the pictures. It was a pain. Blowing got it out, but put a speck of it in the pentamirror! Now it has an automatic built in spot in the viewfinder!

How did you manage to do that? You'd have to take the focusing screen out to get dust in the pentamirror. And even in that case, blowing inside usually gets it away.

[VoiceOfReason]

I have no earthly idea, but it's in there now and not in my pictures!

[Marc Sabatella]

Dust manages to migrate up into the viewfinder all the time. then eventually it migrates out, only to be replaced by new dust. It's a fact of life with DSLR's; best advice is to get used to it, because attempting to clean it is usually an exercise in futility that only risks damaging the focus screen.

[sterretje]

It was a pain

I know everything about it; my wife's K100D had a spot and a lot of the holiday photos need cleanup.

Blowing got it out

That did not work; it was something (pollen?) that was solidly stuck and I did not want to use hammer ans chisel It took the local repair center about 10 wet clean attempts (including soaking) before it was finally completely off.

[hadi]

i'm not sure if this is related to the specs, but over the trip, another issue arose which occurs after i take a picture. if i go back into my menu to take a look at it, it says 'this image can not be displayed'. on the computer its a blank picture, but if i plug in the camera into my tv, it does show the picture, however, it has these MASSIVE green/purple bars that run horizontally on them like what happens when you get some crazy virus on your computer.

it doesn't happen to often, but often enough to piss me off

[VoiceOfReason]

Have you tried formatting the card or putting another one in?

[Philoslothical]

if i go back into my menu to take a look at it, it says 'this image can not be displayed'. on the computer its a blank picture, but if i plug in the camera into my tv, it does show the picture, however, it has these MASSIVE green/purple bars that run horizontally on them like what happens when you get some crazy virus on your computer.

it doesn't happen to often, but often enough to piss me off

Sounds like a failing or damaged SD card. If reformatting doesn't cure it, replace it.

[hadi]

/\ you mean reformatting the sd card or the camera?

in either case, how would i go about doing that?

for the camera, i assume it will all be in my menu and catalog somewhere. but what about SD?