@4bakergirls wrote:
Lenses were not changed outside, they were changed indoors. I am using new lenses on my T5 (that were purchased new with it, not used previously on old camera). Non-auto means just what I said, NOT auto, which means the photos were taken in aperture priority mode. I used a back button focus. I tried using both manual and auto focus on each of my three lenses, and the line showed up each time in each case. I brought up my old camera only to demonstrate that I have had the same issue with both cameras, and it is the exact same mark in the exact same place on each photo, and that is what leads me to believe that it is a problem with the camera or the lens and not dust. I cleaned the outside of the lenses using a soft microfiber cloth, and I used an air blower (like one you would use on a keyboard) for the inner part.
Let me cut to the chase...
You have dust on your sensor. Not maybe... definitely. There's no doubt about it. Also, you have several other spots on the sensor that you did not point out. The good news is this is not a camera defect. Sensor defects never look like this (when a sesnor is having an issue, you'll see either individual "stuck" pixels or you'll see entire rows or columns of failed pixels. You will never see a "spot" or "curve", etc. You don't need to have the camera repaired or have to fear that you'll need to buy another camera. It's easy to clean.
Similarities to your prior camera notwithstanding or where you were standing when you changed the lens, every removable lens camera will eventually get dust on the sensor. All that has to happen is for the dust to drift into the camera body when you remove the lens. It doesn't even matter where it lands because the camera's reflex mirror has to rapidly swing up and then back down every time you take a shot and that mirror acts like a fan and it stirs the air around inside the camera every time the shutter opens -- and that's how it lands on the sensor itself.
You can sometimes clear this by removing the lens, pointing the camera so the opening is pointed at the floor, and use the menu to manually invoke a dust-cleaning cycle (and you may have to do a few dust cleaning cycles).
To test whether your cleaning was a success, point the camera to a plain surface (such as a white wall or a clear blue sky) and dial the f-stop up to f/22 and take a shot. Examine the shot to see if the dust is still there.
If it is still there, you can put the camera into a mode that forces the reflex mirror to swing clear and the shutter curtain will remain open exposing the "sensor" (it's not really the sensor... it's a glass filter in front of the sensor.)
If you still have dust, next up is the hand-squeezed air blower. Avoid letting the tip of the blower touch anything inside the camera. Also... use a HAND-SQUEEZED blower (very important). Do not use an air compressor. Do not use cans of compressed air. Air compressors spew dirty air -- there's a bit of oil from the compressor as well as the condensation formed by rapidly decompressing air and both of those will just make the sensor dirtier than when you started (and oil is more difficult to remove from a sensor than dust). Cans of compressed air use a propellent that forms a film/residue on the surface (it will look "fogged" except the fog wont evaporate.) This is why we go out of our way to emphasize that only a hand-squeezed air blower is safe to use. (I've heard of compressed air product on the market specifically designed for cameras and apparelent use a propellant that doesn't leave a residue -- but I couldn't tell you the name of it.)
If this still doesn't work, there are a few more tricks. All of these end up using cleaning methods that "touch" the sensor (really the filter).
1) You can have it professionally cleaned. This involves finding a REAL camera shop in your area (don't bother with big-box stores that just happen to sell cameras.) It's usually not very expensive (it only takes them a few minutes.)
2) You can use a clean (and I should emphasize PRISTINELY clean - as it should never have been used for any other purpose) to sweep anything off the sensor. Dust is typically just dry so there's no real adhesion (it's not sticky). But sometimes it sticks due to static cling. So there are special brushes with condutive bristles and the brush handle has a wire and aligator clip. You clip it to something which is electrically grounded so that as you brush the sensor, it transfer any static charge to ground to kill the static-cling effect.
3) There are also "wet" cleaning methods. This is what I use when the above methods don't work. In this method I start by using a magnifier to inspect the surface of the "sensor" to see what I'm working with. I might also take a sample photo of a plain white wall to note the location of any dust bits (noting that the image is rotated 180º... so if you see dust in the upper-right corner of the senosr, that dust is really in the lower-left corner inside the camera.)
The cleaning solution I use is called "Eclipse" by "Photographic Solutions, Inc." The solution itself is nearly pure methanol (so it is a flammable alcohol). The advantage of it is that methanol evaporates very quickly and leaves virtually no residue behind. This means it'll cut whatever is making things stick to the sensor but you wont have any streaks to deal with afterwards.
The solution is applied using special "Sensor Swabs" (sold by the same company). The swaps come in sizes designed to match the height of your sensor. It's a plastic paddle with a lint-free material wrapped around the end.
Follow the instructions (and there are numerous tutorial videos demonstrating how it's done) and you'll place just a few drops (typically 3 - don't use too much.) Then you give it a gentle wipe from one edge of the sensor to the other and immediately throw the swap in the trash (do not re-use - even if it looks clean. Otherwise you could be dragging stuff around on your sensor. When you calculate the cost of a pack of swabs, you'll realize these things cost about $3 each. That may sound like a lot for a simple swab. But a $3 swab is a lot cheaper than an expensive sensor repair because you scratched the sesnor by trying to re-use the swab. Some "dust" can be extremely sharp (ashes, for example) and have an abbrasive property that can easily scratch the filter surface.
There's a new system that uses a gummy material and the end of a stick. You press it to the sensor and then pull it away -- and the material is so gummy that things will stick to the cleaning product and not to the sensor. I don't own this tool so I can't personally attest for how well it may work but others seem to report that it works as advertised.
Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da
