dust or smudge on sensor or lens??

hi all,i have a issue with dust or a smudge in my images,is there any tricks or tips to take certain type of shots to see if its on my lens or sensor,white sky?? or dark,i noticed the smudge while post processing some images,hard to see out of camera but edited i can definatly ssee them and when i zoom in also,im out of town working and i dont have my little blower or my lens cleaning kit,any tips to tell if its on the sensor and what i can so about it is greatly appriciated,also if this is the wrong forum please let me know,thanx guys,

genesimmons wrote in post #16310285
hi all,i have a issue with dust or a smudge in my images,is there any tricks or tips to take certain type of shots to see if its on my lens or sensor,white sky?? or dark,i noticed the smudge while post processing some images,hard to see out of camera but edited i can definatly ssee them and when i zoom in also,im out of town working and i dont have my little blower or my lens cleaning kit,any tips to tell if its on the sensor and what i can so about it is greatly appriciated,also if this is the wrong forum please let me know,thanx guys,

post a picture please.....

dust/stuff on the sensor surface shows up more when using smaller apetures, e.g at f/16 & higher - It'll be much less visable at f/4

sorry wasnt sure if this was the right spot for this prob,here is a shot and i edited the contrast and sat lots to show the marks,thanx for any help with this prob
pic is grainy as i shrunk it to fit on here,150kb

i was at f14 iso 400 for that shot,im sure its on the sensor as i dont notice the marks much at lower appetures, thanx to the above reply.

Just take a rocket blower to the back of the lens and the sensor. Then test.

i dont have my blower with me,i have a microfibre cloth and some cleaning fluid,should i gently clean the front and back of the lens,im sure its on the sensor though,does it look like dust or a smudge,

Definitely on the sensor. No need to clean the lens. -alex

genesimmons wrote in post #16310419
i dont have my blower with me,i have a microfibre cloth and some cleaning fluid,should i gently clean the front and back of the lens,im sure its on the sensor though,does it look like dust or a smudge,

Yep, that's dust bunnies on the sensor.

Those look like possibly threads from a Q tip

Try using a DustAid on your sensor--. www.dust-aid.com

thanx for the replies,i will look into dustaid,looks like a great product,i gently cleaned the lens but still there so its sensor for sure,any tips for cleaning sensor with limited resourses as im out of town in a very small work camp thanx

Go to manual sensor cleaning in the menu, that will open the shutter while the camera is still on, and give the sensor some good blasts with a rocket blower. Obviously be careful not to touch the sensor with the blower.

If you don't have a blower with you, there is not much you can do, at least nothing I would try if you haven't ever cleaned a sensor before.

Sensor Swab time!

I like Dust Aid, I ended up buying 2 sets, but only have used part of one. I guess I will have to put the other one up for sale. It was very easy to use and did a great job in getting all the crud that collects around the edges.