When photos from a DSLR camera
appear with black spots, cleaning the
sensor of the camera can be really
helpful. It’s a tricky operation, but
absolutely worthwhile.
The vacation was great, and your
camera captured some memorable
moments. However, random black spots
appearing on the bright blue sky can
be irritating to look at, and cannot be
removed other than processing them on a
PC. If, this is the case, you can take it for
granted that there are dust particles on
the image sensor of your DSLR.
Modern cameras are equipped with
a sensor-cleaning mechanism, but many
older models aren't. Dust particles usually
enter the camera when one is changing
the lens. When you take pictures, they are
deposited on the sensor or, to be precise,
on the low pass fi lter lying in front of it.
This is why these disturbing spots aren't
really prominent on every picture. The
longer the focal length and smaller the
aperture, the more clearly visible these
particles tend to be.
If you can't clean the sensor, you can
use alternate methods to get better
pictures. Use the aperture priority given in
the camera for photographing most of the
sky and select a bigger aperture, say 1:4 or
1:5.6. In doing so your chances of ignoring
these spots are higher. You can even clear
the spots using clone stamp while editing
the image on a PC. If these options don’t
sound like the ultimately solution, then
cleaning the sensor certainly would. While
this task can be handed over to a photo
studio or camera manufacturer, it costs a
minimum sum and a couple of days to do
it on your own.
PREPARE WELL: You need a cleaning kit
and a mini-blower. The camera battery
must be charged completely. Shooting a
test photo will show you where the dirt
is. Shoot a white screen using aperture
priority, the smallest aperture (1:22 or
1:32), longer focal length, and keep the
focus to infinity, with the screen only a
few centimeters away. Then, arrange for
an automatic tonal value correction in
image editing.
SUPPORT THE CAMERA: Mount the
camera on a tripod so that both your
hands are available during work. Use
caution and clean the entire body from
outside before removing the lens. Also,
ensure that the place you’re doing the
cleaning should be properly lit up and
tools are ready. You don’t want to waste
time because the camera is extremely
susceptible to dust when the reflector
and lock have been opened.
CLEAN THE REFLECTOR CASE: It makes
sense to remove all the dust from the
reflector case, so that it doesn't settle
back on the sensor after you've cleaned
it. Clean the reflector and the focusing
screen using the blower. Carefully push
the reflector up and use the blower to
clean the lower part of the reflector glass
and also the exposed shutter curtain.
PREPARE THE SPATULA: In the kit,
you’ll also find 100 poly knit one-time
use wipers. At the time of delivery, the
cleaning spatula is already wrapped up
completely with a cloth. For later use,
wrap the spatula with a new cloth and
fi x it using an adhesive tape. Ensure that
the base is absolutely clean and the top
of the wrapped spatula does not come in
contact with anything.
ACTIVATE THE INSPECTION MODE:
Access the camera menu and go to
system settings (screw-wrench symbol).
If there are only seven or fewer points
mentioned here, go to ‘Menu selection’
and select ‘Detailed’. Now scroll down to
the ‘Inspection’ point and confirm with
‘OK’. Now when you press the shutter
release button, the reflector is folded
up and the lock is opened. However, the
sensor remains closed.
APPLY THE SOLUTION: Open the lock
and clean the sensor a few times using
the blower to remove the coarse dust.
Now, put three to four drops of the
‘Eclipse’ cleaning solution on the wrapped
spatula. The solution has toxic and pure
Methanol, which evaporates very quickly
and without leaving any residue. Quickly
go over to step 7 before the spatula dries.
WET CLEANING OF SENSOR: Now, using
the spatula, wipe from top left to right
by gently pressing the sensor. Begin from
the left-hand-side with the spatula in an
inclined position. It should be pointed
vertically on the sensor to the right-handside
edge. Now, take the spatula below,
incline it in the other direction and repeat
the procedure by keeping the mirror
inverted. Close the camera.
RESULTS: It is recommended that you
shoot a test photo just like you did in
step 1. If, even now, the spots are clearly
visible, you need to repeat the process
with a fresh, clean cloth. In our case, the
cleaning of a very dirty sensor was a
successful in the fi rst attempt, but results
will of course vary.
Read More...
At its default setting, every iPhone
records location data which is then sent
to Apple's servers for various purposes.
As per information provided by Apple,
this data is used for the intelligent iAd
advertising platform amongst other
things. You can however disable the
collection of such data as well as the
advertisements. Since the update to iOS
4.3.3, location data is no longer saved
if geolocation is deactivated. In order
to disable the advertisements, go to
oo.apple.com from the phone's browser.
This unregisters your device from the iAd
platform so the ads you see after that
are no longer as personalized. If you
have multiple iOS devices, you will need
to perform the described process for
each one individually. Re-registration is
also possible using the same method.
