C100: Does my sensor need to be cleaned?

[seanarmada]

Hey guys

Just noticed some squiggles/smudges in one of my shots.. I noticed something similar the other week but I was shooting on a rainy day and just assumed it was rain drops I hadn't wiped off the lens. In this situation though it was a sunny day and, obviously indoors.

Any sense of what this could be from the photo, in the bottom right area?

 

[puredrifting]

That looks too big to be the sensor, could be a lens internal reflection? Sensor dust or lint is usually really small in the overall size of the raster, visible when you shoot against a white BG or point the lens at the sky. Can you reproduce it?

 

[seanarmada]

That looks too big to be the sensor, could be a lens internal reflection? Sensor dust or lint is usually really small in the overall size of the raster, visible when you shoot against a white BG or point the lens at the sky. Can you reproduce it?

I just noticed it in another shot:

 

[puredrifting]

Yes, now I see it. I thought you were talking about the big smudged area in the lower right on the first image, but seeing the second image, yes, I now see all of the lint and dust, your sensor cover is a mess. Do you know how to clean it? I use the Arctic Butterfly and have one of those magnified LED loupes to actually see the dust on the sensor cover. It's hard to know what you are going for if you can't see it on the cover, the LED loupe light really helps to see what's going on in there. Also, you realize you will be cleaning the sensor cover, not the sensor itself, right? Not hard, takes about 2 minutes to do.

 

[seanarmada]

Yes, now I see it. I thought you were talking about the big smudged area in the lower right on the first image, but seeing the second image, yes, I now see all of the lint and dust, your sensor cover is a mess. Do you know how to clean it? I use the Arctic Butterfly and have one of those magnified LED loupes to actually see the dust on the sensor cover. It's hard to know what you are going for if you can't see it on the cover, the LED loupe light really helps to see what's going on in there. Also, you realize you will be cleaning the sensor cover, not the sensor itself, right? Not hard, takes about 2 minutes to do.

Ok that's good to hear! We'll see.. There's a store here in Toronto (Vistek) that told me they'll do a proper C100 sensor/ND clean usually for about 40-50 bucks, so I'll probably just let them do it.. I'm completely useless with these kinds of things and almost mangled my 5D up a few years ago trying to clean the mirror.

Thanks for those tips