20D Image Problem

[jemsurvey]

I have a new 20D and am getting what appears to be a smudge in all my images in exactly the same spot. It is not the lens because I am getting the exact same smudge with 2 different lenses. On an 8 x 10 photo it is about 1" long by about 1/4" wide and is slightly darker than the surrounding area. It appears on the screen and on the printed photos.

Any ideas??? I have not tried to clean the sensor yet but it is not a speck of dust, definately a smudge looking defect.

Thanks for your help.

John

[SkipD]

Post a photo so everybody can see the trouble. It sounds like it's a piece of dust or something in front of the sensor. Dust cannot land directly on the sensor, as there is a UV filter in front of the actual sensor. Thus, dust looks like an out-of-focus smudge (typically round for a particle of dust). You might have a hair or something in there.

[jemsurvey]

Hope this comes through. The smudge is in the sky to the left above palm trees.


Thanks

[jemsurvey]

By the way, can anyone tell me how to make the image come out larger in the post.


Thanks

[wolf]

Looks like a piece of hair or fibre. Lock the mirror up in sensor clean mode and try using a bulb blower to blow it off the sensor.

[ScottE]

The first thing I would try is to get a blower bulb and follow the instructions in the manual for cleaning the sensor. If that doesn't work you will have to try more drastic methods, or send the camera back for servicing.

To make you pictures appear bigger, you have to resize them to a larger size. Something like 400 x 600 pixels or slightly larger is usually sufficient. If you want to show an image defect for comment, it would usually be best to crop similar sized selection and not do any resizing.

Scott

[jemsurvey]

Thanks for the help. I cleaned the sensor and it went away. I was concerned with the shape that it would not be dust but......

[Sicily1918]

I usually use a 300-400 grit sandpaper -- gets the particles right out :mrgreen:

P.S. I'm kidding! As recommended above, use a blower; it's more than likely a strand of hair or cloth (I had the same thing happen) on the sensor.

Tip: Use the blower with the shutter closed first -- this'll remove loose dust particles and clean the inside of the camera mounts. After that, user the "Sensor Clean" function to blow the rest of the dust out of the actual sensor.

[Dante King]

I usually use a 300-400 grit sandpaper -- gets the particles right out :mrgreen:

P.S. I'm kidding!

Hey you told me to use 80 grit! No wonder it took so much longer to sand thru that glass to clean the sensor!