simanta

And yes, Canon did a wet clean (several times) on this to verify that it was under the filter.

 

I was planning to buy 450D or 40D, but I'm really scared now cause both cameras have the "sensor cleaning mechanism" and Canon india says they can't dismantle the sensor assembly for those. Even lifepixel doesn't offer and neither have a DIY.. I know, fungus on sensor is rare, but for me it's 100% cause 20D is the only DSLR i have (had)

Oh ya.. never really thought that even after the fungus is killed it's corpse is going to be there just the same way ! So effectively no improvement on the picture.. only a reduction of their further growth may be :(

 

So in that case, UV i guess is no good for me.

My 3 yrs old 20D has developped some fungus on it's sensor (thanks to the humid

weather in Bombay, India, and ofcourse my lack of care). The fungus is UNDER

the low-pass filter so can't be cleaned in a conventional way.

 

Canon India said that they did fungus clean 5D and 350D, but not for 20D as the

filter seems to be glued to the sensor harder than the other 2 bodies. LifePrixel

doesn't operate in India so I can't convert the camera to an IR body, neither can

request them to open it up and clean it until I go to US, which I don't see is going

to happen in next 1 year.

 

I'm using photoshop healing brush tool to clean the fungus lines in post

processing. It works just fine but takes 5-10 mins per picture.. and is a pain.

 

Now the question - considering there's absolutely nothing I can do to fix my 20D,

should I try to "kill" the fungus by leaving the body open out in the sun (with or

without cap) ? I have read in several places that it might work for the fungus

infected lens, so might it as well work with the sensor too ? But then, what

precautions should I take to ensure that I don't fry my sensor, and also don't let a

lot of dusts get in ? Will keeping the camera near a warm place might help ? I

guess I'm just thinking out loud here, but is there anything that comes in your

mind for any improvment of this fungus situation ?<div></div>

Well here's my situation..

 

1. I am in India and LifePrixel doesn't have a branch here to remove my IR filter, and no one else does it. Canon says they have done it for 350D, 5D but not in 20D because in 20D the 2 parts are "glued much stronger than others", so the risk of sensor damage is high. I have shown them lifePrixel's DIY but they say "it's not as easy as it looks in the picture"

 

2. I have a Leh-Ladakh (Himayala) tour planned (tickets, reservations done) from 21-29 of June and I don't want to hurry buying a new body in this 1 week.

 

3. Apparently, I am not able to find any one who can loan his camera for the trip

 

So, I guess I don't have a choice but to do the painful post processing in each photo from my trip. Now I tried the adobe's "Spot healing brush" or "Healing brush" tool and that is able to remove all the fungus lines. But I was wondering if there's a way I can make it "automatic" for some of the lines where the healing can be generic (something like an excel macro). That way I can reduce my post processing time, do not know if adobe PS allows anything like that, but wanted to get some opinion.

 

Eventually, I would have to have this camera fixed in the US and buy a different body sometime later. But I'm not getting full mental support to buy a 450D right now without pursuing the 20D a little further.

My Canon EOS 20D has got some bad fungus between the IR filter and the

sensor, and after pursuing with Canon for last 1 month, I have understood that it

can't be fixed because the IR filter is glued with the sensor and extremely hard to

take it out.

 

So, until I gather enough fund to buy a 450D or 40D, I have to live with fixing the

photo post processing. See the picture below, if I use the Adobe PS "clone" tool, I

tend to get so many small circles of color blups throughout the entire length of a

fungus line.. also it's extremely painful.

 

So, any other tips on how a picture like this can be corrected ? Note that, since I

mainly shoot landscape, this is where the sky (and mountains) will be.<div></div>

Thought I should just update the post for future reference.. I have carried the eclipse fluid box in the camera bag and no one even cared to look at it... several times, since my first post.

And I had to throw away my favorite lighter a few yrs ago..

So, putting it in the checked-in bag is much more risky than carrying it with me in my camera backpack..I didn't realize that.

 

But, if they don't allow the eclipse to carry-on, will they accuse me of crime or will just ask me to dispose it ?.. I'm going to ask this to my airlines and security as well.

 

I mean, I was asked to dispose a few alakaline batteries (AA) on Air India once, I couldn't care less about that. If the same thing happens with Eclipse, well that's fine too. But if carrying eclipse is viewed similar to carrying narcotics or a gun, I'll surely choose a dirty sensor over being accused of a crime :)

 

I don't have the visible dust brush, but I do have a similar pesudo-visible-dust-brush that I bought from an aparently reputed seller on eBay. It works okay, guess I will live with that for this trip.

I know eclipse fluid (sensor cleaning) is flamable and all, and can

not be carried on flight.. but can it not be carried even inside the

checked-in suitcase?

 

I'm going to California next week .. and.. well, if they won't let me

carry eclipse in both hand luggage and checked-in luggage, .. should

I just take a chance of slipping it inside the checked-in luggage ?

That's nice picture Larry - I'm going this weekend.. hope to see some of these. I will always be around Maggie Valley and Cherokee

Thanks Angie - I'm planning to go there next weekend if the weather's good - could you pls update this post when you hear from your folks next week ? I'm looking for some greens by the creek and roaring fork and dogwoods primarily, - I called up the park but it's difficult to understand the amount of green when everyone's view is relative..but per John's earlier post, I am shooting for next weekend (22nd).. let me know if you get any update from anyone.

Thanks for the responses...Guess I'll skip a week or two, and yup..I was totally thinking the same, if I'm little late it's still okay because the higher elevations would still be happening. The wildflower festival is in the last week of April I guess, will shoot for that.

Calling for anyone near smokies or have been there recently

 

Is it green yet ? .. atleast, the lower elevations ? ..the road to

cades cove/roaring fork etc - any leaves showing up yet ? Any

flowers, dogwoods by the creek ?

 

How about this weekend.. or should I just wait for a couple of more

weeks ? Lookig for lushy new green

I've never been to smokies in Spring, and seeing all the dogwoods

blooming (and some even leafed out) in around Atlanta area - I'm

wondering is this the best time to see them in smoky mountain ? I

thought it was mid April instead. I understand that we are much south

than smokies, but still, what is the best time for spring photos at

smokies, with an expectation to see some flowering dogwoods and any

other wildflowers. Do the dogwoods bloom in March, much earlier than

the actual wildflower peak ? The nps.gov website has some details

about how the spring is shaping up this year at smokies, but it

doesn't really give a visual idea - is there anyone around there who

could help me out pls ?

 

Thanks!

It's been a while but thought I should update this post.

 

I tried a different lens and NO SPOT. So, it was NOT sensor dust, something inside the lens, probably some tiny fungus.

Mark, I live in Atlanta, and it's quite humid out here, so fungal growth is a high possibility - I will call Canon tomorrow and should be able to update the post with their response. Thanks for your help.

Thanks Mark and Bob, very informative. I bought this 18-55mm EF-S lens as a kit with the Camera back in Aug-05, from Beachcamera.

 

This spot looks like a tiny little piece of a feather or something inside the lens, and I have no idea how it got there, though I understand it's fairly easy to get small dust particles in. I could see the stuff when I look through the back of my lens adjusting the zoom and focus, and it rotates with the focusing ring. I guessed the cost of cleaning would be much more than the cost of lens, so I will just call Canon and try my luck. It's been 6 months since I bought the lens, and I am not sure if they would take care of it... chances are, they won't.

 

I should be able to find one more lens to do a testing, and that's worth the wait because I do not want to mess around with a perfectly clean sensor (I got the SensorSwabs, Eclipse, Brush and Giotto blower - but they will have to wait when the sensor gets nasty).

That's exactly what I had thought. A sensor dust can't just show up at F/22 and disappear at F/36 when the focal length is increased beyond a threshold limit (24mm). If it were dust, it would have got more defined at F/36, irrespective of the focal length. Plus it moves slighly based on the rotation.

 

I'm anyway getting a new lens this week, - I will update the post with the result.

Okay, could someone pls tell me how should the image look if there's one decent size dust particle visible inside the lens when I look from the back ? I know that small particles inside the lens would have no effect on the image, but how about just one biggie ?

18-22mm, F22 = Spot; <p> 23-55mm, F22 = No spot; <p> 23-55mm, F36 = No spot; <p>

 

I realize that I might be wrong and it may really be a sensor dust, but as far as I knew, we don't *focus the dusts* on the sensor to show them up on image. The dust particles just cast a harsh shadow on the sensor when the aperture is very small and that shows up on the image. So, I don't see how it can depend on focussing, or the focal length.

<p>

I thought, the only way the spot COULD depend on the FOCAL LENGTH is if there's some particle stuck on the rear element of my lens, and as I zoom out from 55mm to 18mm, that rear surface comes closer to the sensor and changes the way the sensor views that spot. And I could actually see some kind of amoeba shaped stuff there as I said in the first post.

<p>

This is what I do to see the dusts on the sensor, and using this method, I have 2-3 spots on it, and they look like the typical speck. (1) I set longest focal length (to achieve the smallest aperture) and smallest aperture F/36 (2) I take a picture of a white computer screen and take a picture with MF (not focussed) and SHAKE the camera while taking the picture so that the dusts on the comp screen don't disguise as the sensor dust.

<p>

Lots of words.. I'll see if I can get myself a lens for just 1 shot from somewhere else.

By saying "This is from the full frame, Not a 100% crop" in the last post, I meant the first picture was from a full frame without any cropping.

 

Actually, there is no cropping in both the images. One shows spot (18mm, F/22) and other one doesn't (55mm, F/36).

This is from the full frame, Not a 100% crop and it's too huge for a dust, and besides, wouldn't the dust show up in all focal length of the lens ? Look at this pic taken at 55mm zoom with the same lens, and with a much smaller aperture F/36...and NO spot. That totally strikes out the option of sensor dust I think because sensor dust shows up more prominently at smallest aperture (you actually should be able to find one on the right-top border)

 

I don't have any other lens to try.. would have tried that first if I had one.<div></div>

I am using a 20D with the kit 18-55mm EF-S lens.

 

A hazy blob showing up from 18-22mm in the middle of the image (see

pic) and seems to be slightly changing it's position when I rotate

the focus ring and also goes away from 22 - 55m. When I see the lens

from the back, I see an amoeba shape spot INSIDE the lens (blowing

off doesn't help).

 

This doesn't seem to be sensor dust (I have a clean sensor F36 and

see couple of tiny spots, but this doesn't look to be sensor dust as

it doesn't show up > 22mm even at F36.

 

So, if this is something INSIDE the lens (Is it ?) - is there a way

to clear it off ? Any easy repar possible ?.. or will it outcost the

price of the lens ?

 

Thanks.<div></div>

I have ordered the Eclipse, Swabs and Pecpads (for lens) from FARGO

Enterprise to clean my EOS 20D sensor, but could not order the

visible dust brush as $80 is little too expensive..Bought a walmart

brush (Bob Atkins' post).. not used yet. In the mean time, I looked

in eBay and found this "CleanSkies" brush.. which seems a compromise

between Walmart and Visible dust..but I have no idea how authentic it

is. Google/PN search doesn't give much..

<P>

 

<a target=_top href=

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7572575291

>eBay CleanSkies</a>

 

<P>

 

Anyone used these brushes or know anything about ?

 

<p>

 

Thanks,

Simanta

I am back to the square one and I do not have a choice but to clean the sensor myself.

 

Got the camera back from Canon today, it's cleaned for most dust spots, except about 2/3. But worst is, it now shows something like a textile fiber in every photo.. which I never saw before..

 

Canon's warranty doesn't include shipping so it's worth it, and chances are they will not be able to do it right again.. and most importantly, I think it's time I give this a period.. it's just getting on my nerves, and I will clean it myself first using the blower - then brush and the swabs. I have a hurrican blower, but don't have the brush and swabs.. so I will have to wait for them..guess I will get the brush from Walmart ..<div></div>