D200 and sensor problems

[lorna_tyson]

<p>I have had a D200 since 2007 and I have had continuing problems with dust on the sensor and or optics. Over the last two years I have had to get it professionally cleaned by Nikon at least every 6 months. Has anyone else had this problem or know of a good solution?<br>

Also, I do want to update my camera and I am looking at the D700, as this camera has been around for a while I would value your opinions as to whether it is worth me waiting until Nikon upgrade it or take the plunge and buy it now?</p>

 

[phil_burt]

<p>Lorna are you using this camera in extreme dusty areas? Seems like it.<br>

Do you have full frame lenses to go along with the D700? If not and there really isn't a need for full frame take a look at the new D7000. By the early reports it looks to be a fine camera.<br>

Buying new lenses can be a big dent in the wallet.<br>

phil b<br>

benton, ky</p>

 

[Jerry_]

<p>The idea Nikon put to good use on the newer camera line-up (the D60, the D700, the D300) of having a little camera-sensor cleaning as part of the camera was done to solve the problem you are having with your D200. If you shoot in a dusty environment, you cannot do much to stop the dust when using your D200.</p>

<p>As for what to buy when ... it is your money and you would be the one to decide.</p>

<p> </p>

[lorna_tyson]

<p>Phil <br>

I did have the camera in Arizona for a year but never had a problem with dust there! I have used it in Korea for two years and I am now in Germany so apart from Arizona not really dusty at all. I do not change lenses much at all and I am careful when I do but every month or so I get black spots appearing on my images. I don't have full frame lenses but I am willing to upgrade those too.<br>

Lorna</p>

[phule]

<p>[[Has anyone else had this problem or know of a good solution?]]</p>

<p>The solution is to clean the sensor yourself. It is easy, it is painless, and it is quick.</p>

<p>Dust is a fact of life. Even the anti-dust systems in the new cameras are not infallible. You'll end up having to clean your sensor anyway.</p>

 

[lorna_tyson]

<p>Rob I do clean the sensor myself but it gets so bad that even that doesn't remove everything. There is still a mark somewhere in the optics that Nikon HQ in Seoul could not remove but as it is not on the images I have to accept it as it is.</p>

[geoffs1]

<p>Another vote for Rob's simple "Dust is a fact of life".<br>

DIY cleaning isn't difficult. I use static brushes (ex. from <a href="http://visibledust.com/">Visible Dust</a>) as my primary cleaning technique. I clean my sensor before every major assignment, and I'll do a quick sensor cleaning every day when I'm on a multi-day outdoor shoot.</p>

[szrimaging]

<p>Lorna, what lenses are you using? I shoot in some iffy environments, and rarely get too much dust on the sensor of my D200. In fact, I have never needed more than a blower to remove the dust about once every year.</p>

<p>Perhaps you have a lens that is sucking dust into the camera?</p>

[hammer531]

<p>I have had my D200 for several years and only just recently noticed some small dust specs . Also if you are seeing a spot that doesn't show up in the image , could it be on the mirror and not the sensor ?</p>

[lorna_tyson]

<p>Zach all the lenses I have are Nikon lenses, the two I use most are the 105mm f2.8 or 18-70 mm 3.5 -4.5. I must say the dust isn't easily removed even the Nikon staff have had problems removing marks/dust from the sensor. It is just getting a little frustrating. I haven't noticed the problem occurring in one over the other but I guess that could contribute to my problem. <br>

Thank you for all your help everyone!</p>

[lorna_tyson]

<p>Michael I have also cleaned the mirror and I know some of the marks I am seeing in the viewfinder are attributed to the mirror but when I look through the viewfinder there is a line about 3mm long but it does not show up in the images. </p>

[rossb]

<p> I have a D200 and do not have much of a dust problem. Dust will get into the mirror box and work it's way back however. I usually remove it before that happens. When it's time to swab the sensor it is only a couple minutes to do so. I use eclipse solution with a National Photo solutions sensor swab and just swab it. Works out fine. I have never had any Pancake syrup on my sensor that will not come off. As far as the D700 I do not know what you should do. It's a real expensive camera and it comes with a huge depreciation. It's your money to toss on the table. If my D200 was damaged to much, I would probably buy a D90 as I think I could find a LN- used one on the cheap. But I am just a hobbyist, family and vacation snapper. My photos are not going to be on the cover of National Geographic.</p>

[curt wiler]

<p>If you can see something in the viewfinder then it is in the viewfinder - most likely the focusing screen - NOT on the mirror or optics. Don't touch the mirror with anything more than a whiff of air from a blower, it is easily damaged. The mirror and lens optics do not have focused images so they will not resolve dust. The focusing screen is a different matter, and it is easily cleaned although care is necessary here also. Dust can conceivably get on top of the screen but it can be removed if necessary for cleaning.</p>

[CvhKaar]

<p>Lorna, I do understand youre in Germany now, and think its not dusty at all....<br>

Well, it is quite dusty in the German cities, ( also in the Netherlands for that matter), because of the high density of population and high air polution caused by the traffic ..<br>

I guess you do clean your lenses, ( Lens mounts and and lens caps too) before you put them on your camera ? ( a lot of people don't, you know...).<br>

Apart from that, warm wooly clothes ( autum, winter spring time...) attract a lot of dust too which tends to get in cams. when changing lenses , these are typically not the clothes people wear in warmer climates like korea , and arizona i guess ( or am i wrong here ?).</p>

[hammer531]

<p>Does the line seem to connect to one of the focus spots ? If it does it could be the wire connecting that focus area to the cameras electronics .</p>

[lorna_tyson]

<p>Curt I can only think the line is something in the viewfinder as I am pretty sure if it was elsewhere it would show right?<br>

CPM I do clean the lenses, perhaps not everytime I change the lens though like I should. <br>

Michael the line is just simply 'floating' it is not connected to anything.</p>

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[david_owen3]

<p>Lorna,<br>

I went from a D200 to a D700. Both had some dust but the D700 was noticeably worse. So don't upgrade hoping for better dust performance (though there are plenty of other things to like about the D700) I did a number of tests on the D700 with the inbuilt dust system and found it never once removed a single bit of dust. I could see that it was "working " though by the fact that sometimes a piece would move slightly. Like others, I got sensor swabs as a last resort and Arctic Butterfly which is well worth having.<br>

Now i moved after a dust free year with an Olympus E500 earlier to a Lumix m4/3 system which uses the same patented Olympus dust buster. It's the only one that appears to work.</p>

[lorna_tyson]

<p>Thank you David that is very helpful. I was thinking the self cleaning sensor would be the answer (as well as the fact I would like a new camera!) I just had a look at the arctic butterfly and I will give that a go. Thank you to all!</p>

[CvhKaar]

<p>Lorna,<br />If it is about the specs n spots in this example picture that you are talking about, they do not look like "Dust" to me because they seem to transparent. Dust , in my experiance, merely is opaque .<br />To me those specs look more like :<br />- some kind of condens residu , which can get caused by moving in between cold and of warm or moist environments or something like that.<br />- some kind of oily / lubrication stuff, which sometimes seems to occur when you have been in very warm environments with your cam., this lubricant stuff then comes out of the camera interiors and gets "splattered" around by mirror movement.<br />If it is dust, it will be removed by an arctic butterfly mostly ( I like to use that one too), otherwise you will have to use the "Swab Method" .</p>

<p>BTW, wher in Germany is this ? :-)</p>

[stevenseelig]

<p>A couple of thoughts.<br>

1. I check my sensor after most lens changes. I do that by setting the f stop as high as the lens will support... usually f-22, locking focus on something in the distance, and then point the camera directly to an empty sky. I take two frames (will explain in a minute) and then use the in camera sensor cleaning system (D700) twice and shoot two more frames as described above. <br>

Less than 10% of the time does the in camera sensor cleaning system actually do anything. <br>

I will readily see dust at f-22, but rarely see it at f 2.8. In other words, the coming and going of your observation of dust without changing the lens may be related to what f-stop the picture was taken with. If you really want to know about dust, use f-22 against a blank sky or wall or something.<br>

2. I work very hard to avoid dust. I use a can of 'clean' compressed air around the capped camera end of the lens I am going to put on to reduce the amount of dust present and while the current lens is still on the camera, I blow with compressed air around the lens mount area of the camera. I then make sure the cap on the new lens is loose, and while point the camera straight down, remove the old lens, quickly transfer the cap off the new lens to the old lens, and lift the new lens into place. My goal is to change lens in less than 1-2 seconds. The risk of dust on the sensor continues to increase the longer the mount is open.<br>

I also make sure my camera is turned off while I am doing this. <br>

3. Lastly, I use to have my camera cleaned by a local dealer, but it was getting expensive. I now clean it myself, usually once a month or so. 90% of the time I use an arctic butterfly and only when i use improper technique do I need to go to one of the wet systems. I have been told that there is a 'grease' like material around the edge sensor I would guess to mounting or sealing purposes. If you drag the arctic butterfly from the side toward the middle of the sensor, you have a high risk of pulling some of that grease onto the sensor (at which point, you really do have to use a wet cleaning system). I believe (as it has been my experience) that if you clean by moving the arctic butterfly from the center of the sensor toward the side and as you lift the brush you avoid the brush touching the sides of the chamber (sort of like a gentle flipping of the dust into the side areas) it is possible to minimize the risk of grease contamination on the brush. <br>

About every 3-4 times, I clean the brush using 90% methanol. I first take a small glass and rinse it with a little bit of methanol, and discard that. I then fill the glass to a depth that will cover the arctic butterfly, and I place the butterfly in the methanol and turn it on... spinning, but the brush do not touch the sides.. I remove the brush and let it air dry until it is absolutely dry and I spin it occasionally to accelerate the drying process. Once dry, I either use the brush or store it away for future use.<br>

All of this is a pain, for sure. I am working on a new solution... a camera body for each lens that I have!!.<br>

As for why I take two pictures to test--- I have occasionally had an visually undetected bird in the sky and on a single frame would appear to be a bit of dust. The second frame confirms that it is moving or in some cases gone. I really really dislike trying to cleaning dust off my sensor because of a bird in the sky! <br>

Good luck</p>

[robert_k1]

<p>I also don't think the spots in the example image are dust: they are too regular in size and in circular shape. I hate to suggest another possibility, but can they be mold?</p>

[lorna_tyson]

<p>The photo I added was taken in Thailand and there was a lot of humidity so I can easily attribute most of these spots to moisture. This was the first photo taken that depicted marks of any type and they remained in the same place on every image for the rest of the trip. Most of the images since then have had less spots, most larger and darker yet there are a few that are opaque. I can't see the spots being mold, but I guess I cannot rule that out either.<br>

Steven when I do swab the sensor I haven't been particularly careful in avoiding the edges of it so I am guessing this is one of the causes of my problem, and would perhaps explain why the swab is so dirty afterwards! I am careful when changing lenses and do so promptly, however I know this is fruitless when my camera is fully open to clean the sensor as often as I am. I do take a couple of shots against a blank wall to ensure the sensor is clean, and I hadn't really thought much about it until you mentioned this but the f-stop really does make a difference. Just looking at the EXIF info it corresponds to the f-stop as you mention.<br>

Thank you all so much. These tips and comments have all been so helpful, I have a lot to learn! </p>

[david_owen3]

<p><em>90% of the time I use an arctic butterfly and only when i use improper technique do I need to go to one of the wet systems. I have been told that there is a 'grease' like material around the edge sensor I would guess to mounting or sealing purposes. If you drag the arctic butterfly from the side toward the middle of the sensor, you have a high risk of pulling some of that grease onto the sensor (at which point, you really do have to use a wet cleaning system). I believe (as it has been my experience) that if you clean by moving the arctic butterfly from the center of the sensor toward the side and as you lift the brush you avoid the brush touching the sides of the chamber (sort of like a gentle flipping of the dust into the side areas) it is possible to minimize the risk of grease contamination on the brush.</em><br>

Stephen -this is an important point in an excellent post. I can't verify that pulling the Arctic Butterfly from centre to edge is always going to work from my own experience, probably because I found it really hard to lift the brush before reaching the edge --which is where most of the dust spots tend to be found. But one bit of good news is that the lubricants tend to dry out gradually and the risk of the Arctic Butterfly causing more trouble than it solves is greatly reduced over time.<em><br /></em></p>

[terrygilroy]

<p>I have a D200 and have suffered sensor dust problems - I do frequently change lens whilst outside sometimes in windy conditions - and I bought a cleaning kit which was Ok bit now I carry a small brush from an artists shop in my bag and it works very well indeed. Strangely I have had no problems for over a year now.<br>

I am also considering moving to a D700 9because of the full frame) and had hoped to get more encouragement here ( I am reluctant to spend the money) but not much feedback in this direction<br>

Regards</p>

[robert_k1]

<p>The cost of the Arctic Butterfly is roughly a third of an used D200 on eBay.</p>