Dark spot on photographs - Canon EF 50mm

Hi,

 

I recently bought a Canon EF 50mm/1.8 lens from B&H. It look ok in general but

in all pictures where it has the sky in the background (clear or cloudy), I see

a couple of dark spots on the pictures. They are always in the same position so

I looked at the lens and it seems like there are some visible spots on the

inner elements of the lens, I can't tell what it really is though. By the way,

I am using it on a 20D.

 

I am attaching a picture where I have cropped the picture so that you can

clearly see the spots in the center (two of them).

 

My question is, is it something that will be considered as a defect so I can

get a replacement from B&H? What are my options here? I am assuming there is no

easy/cheap way I can fix it myself.

 

Thanks for your suggestions, I really appreciate.

 

Himanshu<div></div>

Himanshu, it's dust on the sensor. I doubt there's a problem with the lens.....

I agree, obviously dust on the sensor, I have grit in some of my lenses that you wouldn't believe and they don't affect the images one bit. You were taking a picture of the sky, so you were probably using a very small aperture like F22 or smaller, which is when sensor dirt show up the most. Check with another lens, point it at a white piece of paper and set the aperture really small and you'll see the same specks, Unfortunatly sensor dirt is the price we pay for having digital.

Yeah, try another lens. Bet the spot is still there.

I hope it's dust on the sensor. I do not have access to my other lenses right now, I will be able to try one next weekend. I just looked at some of the pictures taken from the Zenitar 16mm lens and I am seeing similar spots on the sky... so looks like it's indeed sensor dust! I guess I should be able to just use a blower to clean it up as suggested in the manual, right?

 

Thanks a lot for the advice, makes me feel better now. I don't like the idea of returning stuff...

 

Himanshu

That dust will blow away quite easily.

 

One way of keeping the dust under control in your photos is to use the lens at wider apertures, something between f1.8 and about f8. For f-numbers higher than about f8, you need to make sure your sensor is scrupulously clean.

 

Best wishes. Pete

There's no need to hope. It's dust.

Classical dust on the sensor. The hard part is to get up the nerve to try to remove dust without causing damage to your sensor. Read about it first so you know what can go wrong.

It definitely looks like your sensor is marked. Not all 'dust' can be blown away though, sometimes you need to swipe, other times - as with gunk - you need a solvent.