Help! The image on the left shows over 40 dots on my image(and some "snake lines")--I chalk it up to having my focus off, a super-wide aperture, and a high ISO. I do love the abstract it creates with the textured circles within, but it took some time in LR5 to "heal" all the dots (there are still some faded ones in there I believe, but I love the one on the right--it's been one of my bucketlist bokeh items oddly enough). Last year, an abrupt family emergency took me on a weird Odyssey in Mexico, so the Christmas light bokeh shot never happened.
To view better, click on the collage to see what I'm talking about.
So is this a dirty sensor? Lens issues? Tried it with two lenses--same result. If I used this for submission anywhere (not that I would), would these errors be very visible? @abirkill thoughts?
I would guess it is something to do with what you are actually photographing - maybe a cool spot or some physical thing in the lights, possibly even the tip of the light. Dirt on the sensor usually shows up when you use a very small aperture - which I guess wasn't the case here.
Yes I'm wondering the same as @jantan simply because there appears to be one dot for every bokeh ball. No idea what your subject is btw but very cool image :)
@darylo Sorry for the delay, I've flown back to the UK for Christmas and have been battling jet-lag, so not been on here much.
Issues like this are usually caused by dust somewhere along the path. It's unlikely to be sensor dust because this typically shows up at very narrow apertures (and by definition, a bokeh shot is done with a very wide aperture), and also it would have to be a very dusty sensor to leave spots all over the image.
What you're probably seeing here is a projection of the dust on the lens itself. Most commonly this is dust on the surface of rear element of the lens (the back of the lens, next to the electrical contacts). This can be cleaned in exactly the same way as the front of the lens, and I'd hope that you might find this resolves the issue.
If that doesn't work, I'd also try cleaning the front of the lens, but there is a possibility that this is caused by dust inside the lens which can't easily be removed (almost all lenses collect dust internally, although zoom lenses are more prone to this (as they tend to suck air in as you zoom them). Unfortunately in this case there's not much that can be done other than returning the lens to the manufacturer for internal cleaning.
Hope that maybe helps, let me know how you get on!
@abirkill Thanks Alexis! I am wondering also if the bulbs (which have small tips) are the culprit. I will do a sensor check today. Actually, thought I did this am shooting into the blue sky, but I must have erased everything before leaving the shoot because I didn't like my other shots. Will have a go again, and hopefully post it here to see what the results are. Have a wonderful time in the UK!
with 35mm fixed (on crop sensor--lens is for full frame, but I use it most often for my best shots--it's my best glass I own)
I see in particular to the right some issues. On left bottom also. The dots are not the same as what was in the photo I originally posted here, so I suspect some of that was indeed the tips of the bulbs, but they could be that reflection. Sensor cleaning is scheduled for beginning of January.
@darylo I don't believe it will be the tips of the bulbs -- they shouldn't be any more in focus than the rest of the bulb. It is more likely to be dust on the surface of the rear/front of the lens, or inside the lens itself, I believe.
Your sensor photos look very reasonable. There is some 'dust' there but that's to be expected. I personally wouldn't worry too much about it at that stage, that's really a very minor case of sensor dust, and I've seen brand new cameras come straight out of the box with more dust than that.
Given it's all concentrated on the right side, there is a good chance that it's not actually dust but microscopic droplets of oil thrown off by the shutter mechanism. No difference in the resultant photos, but the cleaning method is different (dust can be removed quite easily with a air blower, whereas oil needs a solvent-based cleaning wipe which can be a bit more scary to do!)
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Issues like this are usually caused by dust somewhere along the path. It's unlikely to be sensor dust because this typically shows up at very narrow apertures (and by definition, a bokeh shot is done with a very wide aperture), and also it would have to be a very dusty sensor to leave spots all over the image.
What you're probably seeing here is a projection of the dust on the lens itself. Most commonly this is dust on the surface of rear element of the lens (the back of the lens, next to the electrical contacts). This can be cleaned in exactly the same way as the front of the lens, and I'd hope that you might find this resolves the issue.
If that doesn't work, I'd also try cleaning the front of the lens, but there is a possibility that this is caused by dust inside the lens which can't easily be removed (almost all lenses collect dust internally, although zoom lenses are more prone to this (as they tend to suck air in as you zoom them). Unfortunately in this case there's not much that can be done other than returning the lens to the manufacturer for internal cleaning.
Hope that maybe helps, let me know how you get on!
with zoom
with 35mm fixed (on crop sensor--lens is for full frame, but I use it most often for my best shots--it's my best glass I own)
I see in particular to the right some issues. On left bottom also. The dots are not the same as what was in the photo I originally posted here, so I suspect some of that was indeed the tips of the bulbs, but they could be that reflection. Sensor cleaning is scheduled for beginning of January.
Your sensor photos look very reasonable. There is some 'dust' there but that's to be expected. I personally wouldn't worry too much about it at that stage, that's really a very minor case of sensor dust, and I've seen brand new cameras come straight out of the box with more dust than that.
Given it's all concentrated on the right side, there is a good chance that it's not actually dust but microscopic droplets of oil thrown off by the shutter mechanism. No difference in the resultant photos, but the cleaning method is different (dust can be removed quite easily with a air blower, whereas oil needs a solvent-based cleaning wipe which can be a bit more scary to do!)