topic Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:55:51 GMT

My EOS 6D has developed a strange arc on my pictures. It is notthe lens-works fine on another body and a differnt lens produces the same arc so definitely the camera see picture. Less noticeable when zoomed in. Any suggestions would be gratefully received so i have some idea before taking it in for a repair

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

kvbarkley — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:07:12 GMT

I would guess a hair on the sensor.

You can try a rocket blower to clean it, or send it to Canon.

This post belongs in the EOS discussion at the top.

(see!)

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

ScottyP — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:27:08 GMT

Yep. Hair.

In Menu lock the mirror up. Blast with rocket blower. Lightly brush with sensor brush if needed.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Waddizzle — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:37:33 GMT

Yeah, it looks like a hair on the sensor. Purchase a blower to blow it out.

You will need to lock up the mirror to do it. Make sure that you turn the camera so that the opening faces down [I do this over my bed, BTW.], so that any loose dirt, dust, or hair falls OUT of the camera body, instead of finding a new home inside of it.

Also, I would never use a brush on my sensor. I know they make them (???), but I would never use one. It just seems far too delicate to me.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

TCampbell — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 18:52:26 GMT

+1 more vote for "hair on the sensor"... and lots and lots of litle bits of dust and lint on the sensor.

Remove the lens (in an environment which is less dusty than the inside of your camera), point the camera at the ground and use the menu to navigate to the "manual" sensor clean function. This will cause the mirror to swing clear and the shuter curtain will open -- revealing the sensor.

You can then use a hand-squeeze blower to hit it with a few puffs of air.

Don't use a can of compressed air as the majority of these use a propellant that leaves a residue (it will "fog" the glass filter in front of your sensor -- causing a loss in contrast and that would require a "wet" cleaning method to remove the residue -- such as "Eclipse" brand sensor cleaning solution with "Sensor Swabs"). Most dust doesn't need any "wet" cleaning solution -- a few puffs of air will clear it.

Sometimes the dust can have a 'static cling' problem so it doesn't want to release. There is such a thing as a "grounded" brush. It has very soft bristles, but it's conductive... and the end of the handle has a wire and a clip that you connect to a grounded surface. This releases any static charge so that the dust should (hopefully) fall off.

I've never needed to use a brush. Usually air is enough.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

diverhank — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 20:55:32 GMT

Yes...probably hair and a few bits of dust...

Most of the time, a blast of air from a good blower will solve the problem. But not always. Recently, I cleaned my 5DIII sensor with a dry sensor swab due to stubborn dust spots that won't vacate no matter how hard I blew on them.

Happy to report that my 5DIII sensor is clean as the whistle without any damage after the swab wipe.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

ScottyP — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 13:29:17 GMT

Hopefully a blast of air from the bulb-type blower does the trick on the hair and at least most of the specks.

I have never needed to (nor wanted to) do a wet cleaning. I've heard you can get spotting that is a hassle. I've also never wanted to ship my camera anywhere if I didn't absolutely have to.

I did buy a "sensor gel stick" (google exactly that to see) which is simply a little square of very slightly tacky blue gel/rubber on the end of a plastic stick. You first use the blower to get everything you can. Then you clean the gel stick by dabbing it on some clean peel-and-stick sheets they provide, then you dab your sensor and the gel lifts the specks of dust off. Easy peasy. Works perfectly. All of 2-3 minutes. I did also buy a lighted sensor loupe so I can see when all the specks are gone.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

ebiggs1 — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:04:23 GMT

I don't know if it is a hair but your sensor is very contaminated. I think a professional cleaning is in order for it. Send it to Canon for a C&C. You might want to see if the lens has this much stuff in it also. Are you changing lenses in dusty places?

You can get a Rocket blower later.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

TCampbell — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:26:04 GMT

@ScottyP wrote:

I have never needed to (nor wanted to) do a wet cleaning. I've heard you can get spotting that is a hassle. I've also never wanted to ship my camera anywhere if I didn't absolutely have to.

I've done this a few times, but there are some precautions.

1 - Before "wet" cleaning I still use the dust blower to get as much as I can.

2 - I use a magnifying loupe (e.g. a sensor scope) to inspect the sensor and determine what, and where, the "dirt" is that remains on the sensor.

3 - I use "Eclipse" cleaning solution (by "Photographic Solutions, Inc."). The solution is nearly pure methanol so it has (a) a very fast rate of evaporation and (b) leaves virtually no residue behind. Most dedicated camera stores stock it.

4 - The Eclipse solution is used sparingly by putting a couple of drops (maybe 3 drops total) on a swab. The same company makes a product called "Sensor Swabs" and they come in sizes so that the width of the swab is the same as the sensor height (e.g. you buy the version for an APS-C or Full-Frame sensor, etc.)

5 - Time to waste some swabs... (and I do mean "waste" - don't reuse these things). I do a "light" sweep (you may find instructions that tell you to do firm pressure... I do very little pressure on a first pass. Then I inspect it to see if that was good enough and/or how much actually came clean. That swab goes in the trash.

6 - I'll do a second pass and may use more pressure only if needed, but I want one "clean" pass (with a new swab). Then that swab also goes in the trash.

(At this point, some people may look at the price of the box of swabs, the fact that there aren't very many, and think... geeze... these swabs are like $45 for a box of 12. That's basically $3.75 each. I think I'll try to reuse my swab. But this is the point where I ask you: (1) How much did you pay for you camera, and (2) How much will it cost to repair if you scratch the sensor or it's coatings? And (3) do you really want to shell out for the several hundred dollars in repair costs because you were trying to save $3.75?)

It does do a great job and the sensor (well... really there are a couple of filters in front of the sensor, so what you're really cleaning is the front-most filter, you can't actually "touch" the sensor itself.)

But my earlier point is that often times if i have dust, I'll remove the camera lens in a clean environment, point the camera at the ground, and invoke a sensor cleaning cycle (let the camera's piezoelectric vibration see it can't shake the dust loose.) I prefer to do this with the lens removed and the camera pointed at the ground so that the dust has some place to fall which does _not_ involve just landing somewhere else inside the camera body. As the reflex mirror rapidly "woooshes" up and down it's just going to blow that dust around and it'll resettle somewhere. So I'd rather it be out of the camera than just somewhere else inside the camera.

If the self-clean doesn't do it, then I'll use the squeeze bulb blower.

If the squeeze-bulb blower doesn't do it, then I'll use the loupe to see what I'm dealing with (I always inspect for deciding on the next action) and often that next action will be a "wet" cleaning.

I don't actually own one of the static discharge (grounded) brush, but if I did then I'd probably use if the air puffs fail to clean the dust and before resorting to the wet-cleaning method.

But ultimately, the "wet" cleaning methodhas always been a success.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

TCampbell — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:33:03 GMT

BTW, I should have added...

A quick and easy way to check for dust or anything else on your sensor:

1) Attach a lens

2) Set to aperture priority

3) Crank the aperture setting to the highest value the lens has (e.g. if your lens goes to f/32... use it. If it only goes to f/22 then use that.)

4) Point the camera either at a plain "white" wall... or if outside then point the camera at the sky.

5) Deliberally de-focus the camera

6) Take a shot

7) Inspect the frame for spots.

The "dust" is resting directly on the sensor surface. So at a very high focal ratio, the light comes from a very narrow opening in the lens so the dust will cast a nice shadow on the sensor surface.

As long as you shoot a plain (non-contrasty) subject such as a "white" wall, or a "blue" sky ... or even a cloudy-overcast sky -- that isn't in focus at all (so you shouldn't see any contrast from the subject because you took a blurry shot of a subject that basically has almost no contrast) then the ONLY thing that will create contrast in the image is the dust resting on the sensor.

You can use this method to determine "where" and how much dust is on your sensor, but be mindful of the fact that the camera projects an "upside-down" image into the camera body... so if you see a dust spec in the upper-left corner of your "image" then that dust is REALLY in the lower-right corner of the "sensor".

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:33:43 GMT

Thankyou so much for this detailed explanation and instructions I am collecting the right supplies to see if i can remove the issue.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:34:13 GMT

thanks

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:36:04 GMT

I live in Saudi Arabia most of the year - dust is a permanent hazard unfortunately- I will professionally clean when I am in the USA again.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:36:33 GMT

thank you for the advice - much appreciated

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:36:56 GMT

Thank you for your advice -much appreciated

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:38:15 GMT

thank you trying to find a dust free environment where I live is not going to be easy but I will try my best.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:39:51 GMT

Thank you for the advice - much appreciated

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

ebiggs1 — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 14:52:42 GMT

I normally agree with all Tim Campbell suggests except this time. You don't sound like an experienced photographer. If that is true I think you should not mess around inside the mirror box as Tim opines. There are things in there that don't respond well to mistakes! A professional C&C by Canon is your best option.

Try to change the lens when conditions are better. I don't know why I even said that because if I need to change a lens, it gets changed. No matter where I am ! Oh, well it's just part of the game.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Karenflsa — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 21:58:22 GMT

Thanks and i agre with you - I am travelling this weekend and will see a professional photographer at my destination who has offered to help me with my issue -when I asked for help on this forum I did not think he was going to be there atthe weekend and was hoping it was something very easy to resolve. I appreciate your time and trouble in replying.

Re: Can anyone tell me what is causing this arc of deeper pigment on my EOS 6D

Waddizzle — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 00:26:19 GMT

@Karenflsa wrote:
Thanks and i agre with you - I am travelling this weekend and will see a professional photographer at my destination who has offered to help me with my issue -when I asked for help on this forum I did not think he was going to be there atthe weekend and was hoping it was something very easy to resolve. I appreciate your time and trouble in replying.

Smart. Let a professional take a look at it. Hopefully, he will show you what he does.