K-X, dust on sensor - help?

Hi,

I'm having a tough time with my K-X. I bought the camera perhaps 6 months ago, immediatley fitted the kit lens (18-55?) (in a relatively dust free environment) and started shooting (with no issues for the first few months).

Last month I went on holiday, took a few hundred photos - and every one has two dots in one corner that look typical of dust on the sensor. Doing the automagic k-x 'dust test' confirms this.

Last night I removed the lens and used a 'blower' to try and clean the sensor. One particle has gone, the other remains - however I now also have two black dots always present in the viewfinder.

I've read many scare stories regarding using a brush, dry or wet methods of cleaning the sensor - but I don't really want to send the camera away for professional cleaning every time this happens. I'm in the process of buying additional lenses so expect the likelihood of this happening again will increase.

What's the safest method of cleaning the sensor?

Also, whilst dust in the viewfinder is just cosmetic - it's bugging me. Any suggestions on how to remove this? Is this likely to be in the viewfinder itself or dust on a mirror? How best to resolve this?

I'm a little disappointed as a) I wouldn't expect dust issues so soon and b) my holiday photos are ruined (or will take many hours of editing to clone out the spots!).

Steve

No idea of whether it's deemed good practice, but I had the same issue and just puffed the rocket blower up into the viewfinder area (in a careful controlled manner), holding the camera with the mount facing downwards so hopefully any 'bits' fall out and not straight back on the sensor!

It worked after a few tries.

After that I was more careful re the strength of 'puff' I used on the rocket blower, and the angle, and holding the camera with the mount facing down while I did it.

Haven't had any dust problems on the K7, despite habitually changing lenses when I'm out and about.

Getting rid of dust spots is a doddle with the Heal tool, btw.

Thanks - I'll have another go with the blower tonight. Still unsure how best to shift the stubborn dust from the sensor itself though. Seems I'm just unlucky having such issues without even changing lenses

Arctic Butterfly seems to be quite popular, and avoids the need for a wet clean or blowing crud up into the viewfinder. Perhaps that is the way to go.

Unfortunately debris gets everywhere. When we used film we had to "spot" prints to remove white spots, so with digital it's much better than that at least.

Use the dust removal system of the camera several times and if that doesn't work then hold the camera so the opening is pointing down, open the shutter using the sensor cleaning setting and use the blower.

Be very careful not to put the blower too close as the sensor must not be touched.

If all that fails you will need a contact cleaning kit.

Welcome to DSLRs. My K-r has exactly the same problem but in my case repeated efforts with a rocket blower has failed to shift the dust. It is very annoying and so far a solution evades me.

I've read several do/don't guides online (many conflicting). Advice varies from "only ever use a blower" to "use a clean cotton wool bud to wipe the sensor" - and all levels inbetween (including the £100 statically charged brushes). It seems the sensors are not as delicate as one may think (if handled carefully), but are still easily damaged if dust/grit is dragged across them.

I'll persevere with a blower for now. A couple of guides have said "breath on the sensor first" (NOT blow) as this increases humidity, reduces static levels and makes the dust easier to shift.

Of course, anything other than using a blower has its associated risks and could invalidate the warranty. I'm just repeating what I've read elsewhere...


Steve

Fair enough. You could have a professional clean done, but the rocket blower should work in most cases, eventually....

Pentax make a cleaning kit, but there are others. Extreme care is a good maxim I think, but plenty of users do clean their sensors. Some complain afterwards of streaks and scratches, so I avoid it.

In fact, I've never cleaned a sensor from the *istDS onwards.

I use the Arctic Butterfly, but I have a Rocket Blower and swabs too. The Butterfly gets rid of most crud successfully. Nerve racking the first time you do it, but fine after that.

That said, I have two stubborn bits of crud on my K-5 sensor. I never really had a problem with dirt before - nothing the Arctic Butterfly wouldn't shift any way.
I have used the blower, Butterfly and swabs and still can't get rid of them. They aren't the dreaded stain, they are clearly crud.

I suppose I shall have to fork out for someone else to clean it one of these days..

Meanwhile I am making good use of PSE's healing brush.

Interesting you too have dust in the viewfinder as well as on the sensor. Both my K100 and K10 suffer from this, despite the latter having over seventy seals! I think the muck gets in through the dioptre adjusting slider. It doesn't affect image quality, of course, but is annoying and distracting even so.

Dust is a fact of life with digital cameras. I have a Ricoh R7 compacet, supposedly sealed and the sensor have several unsightly marks on it, I think pulled in through the long (28-200) zoom lens, as it retracts. So it's not just an SLR problem.

As John said, thios is not a new problem: I've spent ages in a darkroom trying to keep negatives, arriers, condensers and enlargiung lenses clean and still end up with little white spots!

My K-5 has dust in the viewfinder too. I can live with that.

The Arctic butterfly always works for me.

Thanks for all the comments; I'll update this once I've solved the dust problem.

I've had to clean my sensor twice, using the Eclipse fluid kit. Highly recommended. It even comes with a guarantee against damage to the camera.

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