I have a question I'm hoping someone can help me with. About a week ago I started noticing a dark smudge appearing in one corner of my photos. The more I zoom in, the more pronounced it becomes. I tried cleaning the lens with glass cleaner and it didn't help at all. Any idea what this might be and if there's anything I can do to fix it?
It's in the top right-hand corner in this photo:
Same corner in this photo, but not as pronounced because I wasn't zoomed in as far:
sometimes a dirty sensor or a scratch/chip on your lens can do this. What f-speed are you using for these shots? I have a similar spot on my 14-42mm lens but is only noticeable at f-22.
You can get your sensor professionally cleaned if necessary.
I would definately get a local camera shot to clean it properly. If its not on your lens (either front or back) then its probably on your sensor. You can do it yourself but I dont risk it.
@bobfoto According to the details my camera gives me, it's appearing from about F 3.9 - F 5.6 My lens is only 3.5-5.9 though (point and shoot with 4x optical zoom) so it's appearing on most of my photos.
That information may not be entirely correct, I don't know nearly as much about photography as I'd like to.
Is it possible to get the sensor cleaned on a point and shoot? Is it worth it? I only paid about $70 for the camera.
i had a similar problem. i think it was light coming into the camera. it was not sealed properly, which i found out the hard way when i took it underwater!!!!
A teenage friend gave me her camera when she upgraded (richest poor kid I know) and my lens is full of spots just like those. She says she dropped her cam at the beach :s
I tried cleaning the lens but whatever it is, is underneath and I can't get to it.
I don't know how many snow/sky shots Ive taken that have had those blobs...drives me nuts. Local cam shop says it will be about $150 Canadian to clean.
it's easy to remove spots like these w' various editing programs -- in photoshop elements there's a tool for dust and scratches and then in lightroom there's the healing brush.
I just had to remove a few of these (but smaller ones) from my photos using Apple Aperture (but I believe most programs have the function to do the same thing)!!
Those spots are made by dust on your sensor. Usually the problem gets worse at smaller apertures. At first I tried to live with it by zapping the spots out using the healing/cloning tool in Lightroom. But it started to get too tedious. The problem went away after I had the sensor cleaned at a camera shop.
Megan, you said this is a point and shoot camera? In that case...it's time for a new camera.
It's true you can remove these with Photoshop using either the Healing Brush Tool or Clone Stamp Tool, but sometimes that is more trouble than it's worth. For example, what if that spot were on someone's face? Or an intricate pattern?
You can't really clean the sensors on P&S cameras. I suppose it's possible at a camera shop, but just to give you an idea: it costs $50 to get a decent cleaning of a DSLR camera, and if you only paid $70 for the camera it's just not worth it.
One thing to check first: be sure it's not just a scratch on the front of the lens. That can be fixed using lens cleaner to a certain extent.
Your sensor needs to be cleaned. Dirt on a P&S sensor? Like Jason said, buy a new camera. Can't clean that. Or, brush, clone, heal the spot out on images.
If you are prepared to replace the camera then you might as well see if you can open it up and use an air blower to clean the innards - you have nothing to lose.
It might be that the camera design is not sealed very well, letting dust get in... in which case it should be accessible to be cleaned once the case is off.
Looks like sensor dirt to me.
You can get a sensor professional cleaned..at a price. You can alo buy a kit to do it yourself. Worked OK for me on a Nikon D70
Thank you everyone for your responses! It's good to know what it is, even if I can't get it taken care of right away. Guess I'm saving up for a new camera. :)
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You can get your sensor professionally cleaned if necessary.
agree to Jason...
That information may not be entirely correct, I don't know nearly as much about photography as I'd like to.
Is it possible to get the sensor cleaned on a point and shoot? Is it worth it? I only paid about $70 for the camera.
I tried cleaning the lens but whatever it is, is underneath and I can't get to it.
I don't know how many snow/sky shots Ive taken that have had those blobs...drives me nuts. Local cam shop says it will be about $150 Canadian to clean.
I just had to remove a few of these (but smaller ones) from my photos using Apple Aperture (but I believe most programs have the function to do the same thing)!!
It's true you can remove these with Photoshop using either the Healing Brush Tool or Clone Stamp Tool, but sometimes that is more trouble than it's worth. For example, what if that spot were on someone's face? Or an intricate pattern?
You can't really clean the sensors on P&S cameras. I suppose it's possible at a camera shop, but just to give you an idea: it costs $50 to get a decent cleaning of a DSLR camera, and if you only paid $70 for the camera it's just not worth it.
One thing to check first: be sure it's not just a scratch on the front of the lens. That can be fixed using lens cleaner to a certain extent.
It might be that the camera design is not sealed very well, letting dust get in... in which case it should be accessible to be cleaned once the case is off.
You can get a sensor professional cleaned..at a price. You can alo buy a kit to do it yourself. Worked OK for me on a Nikon D70