Hello all!

I purchased my D700 a month ago. Yesterday as I'm looking at a landscape image with nice blue skies I notice at least 5 specs from sensor dust. I haven't been able to do a lot of shooting and don't have suitable photos from all the ones I've shot to check for dust spots. I don't think I've introduced all this dust (but who knows) as my D200 has gotten as much or more since I got the D700. I've never had this much dust at one time in the D200.

My question is has anyone received a new D700 which had dust from the beginning?

I've got the sensor cleaning swabs, cleaner, and Riotti blower and have ordered a loupe and a cleaning brush as well. Hopefully it will solve my problems, but am wondering whether it's possible that the camera came with the dust bunnies free of charge.

thanks,
Mark

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Hi Mark,

While anything is possible, it is unlikely it that the dust came from the factory. It may have happened at the retailer or any time you changed lenses or used a zoom lens.
Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty

Thanks Marty.

I meant to say above that my D200 has gotten more use and has much less dust than my new D700. I purchased it (D700) from B&H (mail order). Oh well, I'll just get some more experience cleaning sensors.
I've often wondered if the Artic Butterfly brush is worth the price. I've seen good reviews and then some so so ones.
thanks again!
Mark

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mark remember the D700 has a sensor cleaner built in. i have had my d700 fro 2 years and have never cleaned the sensor, but i have blown a bit of lose dust off with a blower, bit NEVER cleaned.

Bob Baldassano
My Nikonians Gallery

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Retirement is a gift of time - Don't waste it!

Hi Bob,
The auto sensor cleaner is set to clean at startup and I also took the lens off/body downward and ran the cleaner to no avail. Honestly I would have thought I'd go for a while before having to clean as my other two cameras require it, but not that often.
It will be interesting to look at what's inside when I get the loupe.

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I cannot think having the camera onwiththe lens off is going to help you get rid of dust, just the opposite. How much dust are you taking about here? Is it visible in the images at other than 100%? I think you will find that most of us here have had the same experience as me with no wet cleaning required.

Bob Baldassano
My Nikonians Gallery

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Retirement is a gift of time - Don't waste it!

Bob,

I apparently misread the manual regarding manually engaging the camera's sensor clean with lens off and pointed downward. I used a blower after doing that to clean the outside part of the chamber before attaching the lens. Does it matter which way the camera is pointed when engaging the camera's sensor clean; whether at startup or manually?

Yes the dust is easily seen in some photos in normal view size(2 larger, 4 smaller ones); not a big effort to fix in Lightroom, but time consuming with a lot of images to pp.

I'm waiting for the loupe to evaluate and will use the blower first before trying the wet clean.

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When you turn the camera on you create a charge that will just draw dust into the camera with the lens off. When you run the auto clean, it does not matter what the orientation is. Dust is shaken off and falls to the bottom of the chamber. When I change lenses, I always point the camera down, and have the camera off so any loose dust will fall out. I too use a blower. a few quick bursts will clean off the mirror and outer chamber as you hold the opening down, just be sure not to touch the mirror or the sides. I sort of use my finger as a guide. To blow off the sensor, you need to put the mirror up. You need to make sure that you either have a full charge on the battery or have the correct power supply. You use the special mirror lock up described in the manual for cleaning. The mirror will move up out of the way and let you blow off any dust not welded to the sensor. Most people have found that the auto clean is more than enough to keep the sensor clean. I have mine set to run at start up and shutdown.

Bob Baldassano
My Nikonians Gallery

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Retirement is a gift of time - Don't waste it!

Thanks for the explanation, I did not know dust would be drawn into the chamber when the camera is turned on. I always point the camera down as well when changing lenses and have the camera turned off.
I did open it up today and used the blower which got rid of all the visible dust (that seen in an image). Glad I don't need the wet cleaning stuff yet, but will have in case I need it.
Many thanks for your helpful tips.
Mark

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Glad to here it. I am sure you already know, but as a reminder, I will say that you need a different solution and brush for the D700 than you did for the D200 due to composition and size of the sensor. Now that your dust is under control go shoot pictures.

Bob Baldassano
My Nikonians Gallery

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Retirement is a gift of time - Don't waste it!

I've ordered the swab size for the fx sensor...there is a different solution? I'll have to check, but I don't remember the solutions I saw at BH have any special camera designations. Thanks, I would have never known.

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Bob, I did some research to understand the change in sensor materials. Photographic Solutions has said their original Eclispe fluid was fine even though they came out with an E2 version. What I have is Eclipse so am assuming I'm fine as they quit making the E2. I also have the Visible Dust cleaner which I think is a different solution, but says it's fine for all sensors. I do have a brush on order so my order of cleaning (if necessary for each step) will be:
blower, brush, swabs if necessary.
Thanks for all your help. I'm on the road to shooting again!
Mark

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Well, after reading hundreds of posts here on Nikonians I'll make my first one ( I just registered some hours ago).

I bought a D700 this week and it had dust on the sensor already, 3 spots precisely. I'm still to confirm if the dust is still there, or if it's in fact only dust or some oil from the mechanisms, I read somewhere it's a current situation.

Well, I think I'll keep reading and think about subscribing, I'm a lonely professional photographer, this will be fun.