D7000 - A new dust speck after every 10 shots

star5k1

Hello everyone, I'm having a hard time with sensor specks on my D7000.

I've had it for almost a year now. It used to gain some dust after 3 or 4 months, but then it started to get really messy: something like this.
Well, I took it to a service center, they wet cleaned it, and it was absolutely clean. And then, after maybe 10 shots, 1 speck appeared, another 10 shots, 3 more and so on. Well, in a week it was back to this, maybe worse, without even changing lenses during that time (I used Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC). Ever since then, I can't take more than one or two shots without it getting even worse.

So, my question is, what could this be, is it dust or oil? Shooting at f/2.8 all the time is not a solution and spot healing/cloning it out would be extremely time consuming.

Should I send it for repair? I don't really want to clean it after every shot (or am I better selling it straight away and buying a new camera)? It used to work so well, but now, it's unusable because of this.

Thanks for you help in advance.

Msmoto

How many clicks so far on this body?
Is the mirror functioning properly?
Are you zooming the lens between shots?
This appears to be something which is putting both dust and oil on the sensor, but most appear to be dust.

Does it do anything different…noise or other indications of a malfunction. Are exposures consistent when on full manual settings. Maybe a test, constant focal length, both at room temperature and in very cold conditions would show something. A grey scale, shot about ten times in a row…look at the histogram and the actual image to see if there are any variances between exposures.

In any case, it would appear to be a problem which requires service.

star5k1

Thanks for the reply.

There is no other sign of it working improperly, just this mess on the sensor.
The lens zooming was one of the first things that came to my mind, if it's not pumping it from the lens, as there is some dust inside of it. So I tried taking some pictures without zooming or any other manipulation and those specks just kept appearing so I guess this is not the case.

Exposures are consistent, no variations, but the build up of specks.

sevencrossing

when they cleaned the sensor, did they also clean the inside of the camera, the mirror box and back of all your lenses?
?

star5k1

I'm not sure about the inside of the camera, they said they wet cleaned the sensor, but that most of those specks only required a blower.

At that time, I didn't even have other lenses, as the Tamron was very versatile and I didn't have money to spare.
Yes, its back side was clean, however there is some dust inside, but that would require disassembly to clean - they checked, if they can blow out the dust, but it was holding well enough so they told me not to worry about it if it isn't visible in my photos.

I clean my gear after every trip and vacuum clean my backpack regularly.

EDIT: Sorry guys, I clicked accept on your posts, I didn't realize it was meant to "answer the question", could you "un-answer" it, or tell me how to do that? Sorry about that.

EDIT2:

How many clicks so far on this body?

There is approximately 33000 clicks, the first few months were trial and error, so I took tons of shots, nowadays it's much less, but better results

spraynpray

For sure this is a no-brainer. The D7K is a reliable excellent body - yours is faulty. Don't hesitate, send it back with a potted history and images. They will fix it. I clean mine about once a year whether it needs it or not!

star5k1

OK, I'll send it back, I just hope it won't take too long to come back and they'll fix it. Because I'd be left without a camera and I'm not used to that

Thank you all for the help.

ChasCS

It shouldn't take all that long. Besides, would you rather have your camera in new condition, with those dreaded spots removed for good, or keep the camera and continue to be unsatisfied...

Sorry to hear of your plight, but Let's all be happy that it's getting looked after... Smile