Well I have seen at least one or two large dust particles inside the front part of my lens for awhile and lately it got worse and I think it has started to affect my photos especially when I point the camera against the sun. I am not sure if dust could create flare but in many of my recent pictures there is this flare that I haven't seen in the pictures taken in the past so I assume it is caused by dirt particles inside the lens. So I am kinda wondering how the hell do I get rid of them or do I have to spend money and get it cleaned at repair shops? btw I have a EFS 17-85mm IS USM lens.

Recent picture with flare taken with my second EOS 40D


Older picture taken with my first EOS 40D

It isn't just a flare? Is there another photo with this "dust" in the exact same spot?

hmm well I have seen that flare or whatever in a lot of the pictures taken with my second EOS 40D
here is another one:
and it looks like to be in the same spot...


This post was edited by Futurama on Feb 3 2009 12:16am

lol - red sparkle ftw!

I know of people cleaning their own lenses, but you gotta be careful.

Yeah I know! lol I mean I don't even know if it's possible to safely dismantle a lens and I don't really think I want to do that if it's too risky and complicated because I don't want to spend a lot of money getting a replacement lens. It's just weird how the dust could even get inside the lens . Have you seen any dust particles inside your old kit lens?

About the red sparkle lol I mean sometimes it's cool to have one but there are times that it's just annoying and kinda ruined the pictures.

This post was edited by Futurama on Feb 3 2009 12:32am

I can see dust in my other Tamron lens, if I tip it upside down, taking all lens caps off, and looking through it with the light in the room. I did have dust I think, on my sensor, but when I got my camera fixed, they must have cleaned it or something. Never had a problem since. They didn't clean my lenses though, I sent my camera away without the lenses.

This post was edited by chantal7 on Feb 3 2009 12:36am

Well there is a huge ass dust particle just behind the front glass thing on my lens and it's very visible. It's too bad that I don't have a second lens otherwise I am sure I would be able to take a picture of it lol. So I guess the dust in your lens are much smaller and much less visible but you really should have sent your camera with the lenses and maybe they would be nice enough to clean them too lol. From what I have heard dust usually get on the sensors when you change lenses so you probably should avoid change lenses too often and the dust reduction systems on your camera as well as mine aren't as good as those newer ones found in 50D or maybe 450D .

why dont you try taking the picture again but with a smaller aperture, this will reduce the flare. I dont think you've got dust in your lens, though.

e/ your 'older' image without the lens flare has a small aperture, and your new images with lens flares are using very large apertures. Im pretty sure thats not dust, its natural.

This post was edited by doyleo on Feb 3 2009 02:19am

You know I can see the dust behind the front glass with my own eyes and one of them is large enough to be seen even in low light

I wish by using a higher F number would eliminate flares but it doesn't. Just look at this picture taken at f/16 and you can clearly see the flare even though its smaller.

If its on the front or back element you can use lenspen to clear that, if not you need to take it to some service where they can open the lens and clean it