Dust and Sensor Loupes, what do you think?

[KevinCarter]

I got sensor loupe 5x and then 7x for Canon 5D. I love visible dust, but honestly, I can't see what I'm getting here.

I look at sensor with loupe and it seems clean, but then do real test, and I see a blob, big and fat on computer.

With the loupe I see light specs, that don't seem to register on computer on actual test and vica versa. In other words, the dust you see in loupe is so tough to spot and translates to who knows what in real world I can't fathon this is an effective.

Now if the dust was large red spots that might be different, but as it is I'm not sure what to make of this new techonogy. Am I doint something wrong? thanks.

[Roger Sinsheimer]

If I'm reading what you're saying correctly, you have cleaned the sensor until there are no more visible specks with the Visible Dust loupe, but you're still seeing big spots when you shoot?

That has not been my experience. Since it's a far from perfect optic, you do have to spend some time looking around and moving it around to see everything, but I've been pretty happy with the results I get with it. No, it's not as good as shooting an out of focus clear sky shot and then examining the resulting frame pixel by pixel in Photoshop, but it's a darn sight better than what I can do with my unaided eyes.

-- Roger

[KevinCarter]

not sure you understood my post.

[Noel_Carboni]

I read it the way Roger did... You have a loupe, and it's not really helping you find nor rid the sensor of dirt.

-Noel

[KevinCarter]

Thanks Noel!
Well, I'm getting better at readng the sensor with it, it's just so dang hard really.

Seems that the sensor may seems clean, and then on real test there is a big blob, maybe the blob got there after I screwed the lens back on.

Then, you know you can't really get it spotless, what i'm saying is in perfect world the dust would appear in big red spots, you would see four of them, elminate those and you would never have to run real test, as is the theory behind the sensor loupe. As it is, the dust spot are so translucent, and hard to read, I'm not sure it's just not better to run test. What do you think. Do you have one?

[PB&J photography]

I tested a Sensor Loupe. My thing was, the glass on the loupe is getting more dust on it than what is hitting the sensor, so I'm going to be cleaning and trying to get clean what isn't there.

Cooper Hill Images provides something similar yet much cheaper. It's nothing more than a lighted magnifier, which you can find at any bookstore.

I don't use it much either. Testing is proven to me to be the most effective way of checking for dust.

[KevinCarter]

thanks Kix, I bought it already. seems like nice thing, but again, how do read the dust? maybe takes a heck of a lot of practive to read. they are very tiny and almost tranparent.