If you're using a digital SLR and begin to notice dark specks in your photos, don't worry: this is not caused by strange ghosts appearing in your photos. It's simply dust on your sensor. When you change the lenses on an SLR dust can easily get inside the camera and settle on the sensor, which in turns creates dark little spots in the pictures you take.
Some cameras have a built-in sensor-dusting function, but most will require a careful manual cleaning.
1. Buy a self-cleaning SLR.
Dust specks on the sensor cause dark spots like the ones marring the sky in the photo on the left. You can see the spots close-up on the right.
Olympus's E1 and Evolt E-300 SLRs have what the company calls a Supersonic Wave Filter built in. Every time you turn the camera on or activate the filter, it vibrates the sensor to shake dust off. The dust is then collected on adhesive strips along the sides of the sensor. In our experience, this system works pretty well. It's a pity other manufacturers don't offer something similar.
2. Clean your camera with care. If you don't own an Olympus SLR sooner or later you'll need to clean your sensor. You can send it to the manufacturer for a professional cleaning if you're apprehensive about doing it yourself. Unfortunately, that's not a very practical or cost effective way to handle the problem every time you seen a new spot. Although you should always be careful, the best solution to the problem is to clean the dust yourself.
Most sensors are covered with protective glass, and if you scratch or damage it, there's a good chance the manufacturer's warranty will not pick up the tab for repairs. So don't be cavalier about what you stick inside the camera. Never blow compressed air into your camera. It uses propellants that can leave a residue.
Use products that are made specifically for sensor cleaning. A number of companies make them, including Photographic Solutions and Visible Dust. Kinetronics Speck Grabber is useful for getting at particular bits of debris, since it has a little light built in. And Kodak sells its own sensor-cleaning kit and provides detailed instructions on how to clean its cameras' sensors.
When you have purchased your product and are ready to clean the sensor you need to put the camera into sensor-cleaning mode so that the sensor is exposed (check the manual about how to do this with your particular model) and remove the lens. Use should use a bulb blower to blow dust off the sensor (you will want to make sure you hold the camera up so that the dust falls out instead of settling inside again). Carefully follow the instructions of the cleaning product you've chosen. This typically involves carefully swabbing the surface of the protective glass over the sensor.
To make sure that you have gotten rid of all the dust you can take a picture of a blank wall or piece of paper. Look at it at full size on a computer monitor and see if you can detect any remaining specks.
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