I noticed a smudge

[Mohamed Younis]

I noticed a smudge in my footage and I'm pretty sure it's not the lens. Any ideas how to clean it?

http://imgur.com/MqNPq
http://i.imgur.com/Rbxo2.jpg

NEW PIC. I see like six spots in there.

its close to the middle on the left really down.

 

[Mark Phelan]

Looks like dust on the OLPF. Two words: Arctic Butterfly.

 

[ericyoung]

Sensor Loupe from same company as Arctic Butterfly is great for seeing spots and dust on the OLPF too.

 

[Mohamed Younis]

I'd have to wait about two weeks for that. I'm shooting something in a couple of days. Anything easily found and some more instructions please

 

[Justin Marx]

Are you using NDs? At 5.6/8 u shouldn't even see that

 

[Julio Quintana]

If you are gentle you can wipe the OLPF with a dry lens cloth. Just make sure to blow air on it first so you don't scratch anything.

 

[Mark Deeble]

Failing an arctic butterfly ( which I highly recommend) if you can see it on the OLPF - try picking it off with a couple of filaments of a really fine paint brush. Whatever you do, DON'T use canned 'air' or anything like it. It will leave a residue that will smear and be a b***er to try and clean.

 

[Paul Russell]

Looks like dust on the OLPF. Two words: Arctic Butterfly.

it's tips like this that make hanging round here so worthwhile

 

[Shane Kelly]

get a rocket blower http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?is=REG&sku=259157&Q=&O=&A=details it'll probably take care of it.

 

[Brian Robbins]

I sometimes find that because the Giottos blowers are not capped that dust can settle inside them, making the problem worse. I prefer the capped blowers by Vanguard http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...lower&A=endecaSearch&N=0&Q=&InitialSearch=yes

 

[Mohamed Younis]

I just noticed a lot more. I need some details on how to clean the sensor with stuff I can easily buy here in Egypt.
Here's a pic

 

[Stacey Spears]

I had a smudge like that on a project and I used Photoshop's content aware fill to fix it, at least for all sky shots. It worked really well. I basically setup a macro that would circle the area, apply content aware fill, and save a new file. I pointed it to a folder of 4k 16-bit TIFFs.

 

[Mohamed Younis]

I had a smudge like that on a project and I used Photoshop's content aware fill to fix it, at least for all sky shots. It worked really well. I basically setup a macro that would circle the area, apply content aware fill, and save a new file. I pointed it to a folder of 4k 16-bit TIFFs.

Thanks Stacey. I'll do that

 

[Billy Summers]

Not a big deal.
Sometimes you get shmutz on the olpf. Just use a lens cloth, arctic butterfly or the non-scratch q-tips from filmtools and you'll be fine.
Filmtools also sells this nice little sensor cleaning tool: http://www.filmtools.com/visible-dust-v-swab-sensor-cleaner-1-0-x.html

boom.

 

[Mark Phelan]

The Artic Butterfly can scratch the OLPF if your not careful. A sensor wand wrapped in a non-abrasive wipe (like a pec*pad) that has a few drops of an optic cleaning fluid (like eclipse) on it will work just as good if not better and you don't have to worry about streaking/ scratching as much. A sensor scope is also a useful tool to have in conjunction with the cleaning supplies.

I seriously cannot see how an Arctic Butterfly can scratch the OLPF if used correctly. Especially compared to a sensor swab like the Pec Pad, which I do use if needed. I completely agree with the use of the sensor scope/loupe that is sold by Visible Dust, that's in my kit as well.

To properly use the Arctic Butterfly one spins the brush for a few seconds BEFORE use. This helps get a charge on the brush so dust jumps to it. Then, lightly, and I mean lightly sweep the brush across the OLPF, you don't even have to touch it. The dust should jump to the brush. The idea is to never drag anything across the surface of the OLPF. That could possibly drag a dust particle that might have sharp enough edges to potentially scratch the surface. Same goes with Pec Pads or anything else that touches the surface. That's what makes the Arctic Butterfly great, not having to actually touch the surface to remove the dust. In the three plus years of owning my R1 I have never had to clean my OLPF with a Pec Pad, only using the Arctic Butterfly. Bottom line, keeping the OLPF as clean as possible will reduce the amount of times you have to go near it. Never change a lens in a dusty environment, always find someplace where the air is still (i.e. inside a closed car with the AC off) for the brief moment you need to change a lens. Most pros do this by rote.

 

[Brian Robbins]

Perhaps you missed the first few words of my post "...can scratch the OLPF if your not careful." The recommendation to use pec pads w/ eclipse was not said just because. I've seen people improperly use the Artic Butterfly and have streaking/ occasional scratching problems. I'm very aware of how it properly functions but that doesn't take away from the fact that it comes with instructions and for recommending something to someone that I assumed may not be familiar with the tools available I think pec pads and eclipse is much more simplistic and those specific products or similar ones (that should work the same) should be readily available.

I seriously cannot see how an Arctic Butterfly can scratch the OLPF if used correctly. Especially compared to a sensor swab like the Pec Pad, which I do use if needed. I completely agree with the use of the sensor scope/loupe that is sold by Visible Dust, that's in my kit as well.

To properly use the Arctic Butterfly one spins the brush for a few seconds BEFORE use. This helps get a charge on the brush so dust jumps to it. Then, lightly, and I mean lightly sweep the brush across the OLPF, you don't even have to touch it. The dust should jump to the brush. The idea is to never drag anything across the surface of the OLPF. That could possibly drag a dust particle that might have sharp enough edges to potentially scratch the surface. Same goes with Pec Pads or anything else that touches the surface. That's what makes the Arctic Butterfly great, not having to actually touch the surface to remove the dust. In the three plus years of owning my R1 I have never had to clean my OLPF with a Pec Pad, only using the Arctic Butterfly. Bottom line, keeping the OLPF as clean as possible will reduce the amount of times you have to go near it. Never change a lens in a dusty environment, always find someplace where the air is still (i.e. inside a closed car with the AC off) for the brief moment you need to change a lens. Most pros do this by rote.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I can see at least 5 dust spots on your sample pic Mohamed.

Brush off the area around the lens and mount before removing the lens, too.
If you can't immediately fit the replacement lens on, cap the camera, even if it's only for a second or two.

It can be helpful to take a still frame into P/shop (And RCX I guess) and crank the contrast "color burn" layer etc... That will help reveal positions of dust spots. And it can help reveal problem dust areas on your sensor before cleaning.
I've occasionally failed to see a subtle blemish on the monitor only to discover it on the output print, and that is a pain to find on an otherwise good ( 30X60 inch) print, etc..
Slowly scrolling an image up and down on the monitor can also help reveal subtle spots.

 

[Jean Guerra]

is it the sensor???

 

[Andrew Benz]

is it the sensor???

No Jean...

Mohamed has several particles of dust on his OLPF. Please read Mark Phelan's post above, he is "spot on" in his method of cleaning the OLPF! There are other several great tips on here like NEVER use compressed air when cleaning you OLPF in case the can disperses propellants and refrigerants onto your OLPF and make a huge mess of things per Mark Deeble's post above and I strongly concur.

Jean, were you at REDucation in Sept? I wish you had been one of my students, I went through this VERY process with my gear to show my guys how to prep an Epic or RED MX for a job from all the proper techniques on sensor cleaning, the proper tools and how to clean for various problems one may encounter on set and also the variables on Black shading/balancing plus the thought process behind the "variables". Then we really got down to business on other prep subjects....

Hopefully next time! Would love to meet you and help out... Cheers.

 

[Zeb B]

No Jean...

Mohamed has several particles of dust on his OLPF. Please read Mark Phelan's post above, he is "spot on" in his method of cleaning the OLPF! There are other several great tips on here like NEVER use compressed air when cleaning you OLPF in case the can disperses propellants and refrigerants onto your OLPF and make a huge mess of things per Mark Deeble's post above and I strongly concur.

Jean, were you at REDucation in Sept? I wish you had been one of my students, I went through this VERY process with my gear to show my guys how to prep an Epic or RED MX for a job from all the proper techniques on sensor cleaning, the proper tools and how to clean for various problems one may encounter on set and also the variables on Black shading/balancing plus the thought process behind the "variables". Then we really got down to business on other prep subjects....

Hopefully next time! Would love to meet you and help out... Cheers.

I was there . . . you were . . . AWESOME!