Constant dust issue with the ZFc

[Burt]

G'day, new member here..

This is my first mirrorless camera and while being the baby in the Nikon family, I think it is a great little camera...

I do however have an issue. I find myself having to constantly cleaning the sensor for dust, to the point that it has become nearly a daily routine...

I do take lots of pictures every month, and after searching online for an answer I was told that it is the lens fault. The lens is the OEM DX16-50... What I was told is that every time you zoom from 16 to 50, you are actually sucking particle of dust inside onto the sensor... I'm struggling a bit to believe this as while the front of the lens does move, there are no gaps on the back near the sensor... I do have noticed that the lens it is not a tight fit onto the camera.. I mean, it is not loose, but it doesn't feel as tight as when I use other more expensive Nikkor lenses..

My questions here are:

1) Is dust a common issue for mirrorless cameras?

2) Could be that I got a defective OEM lens that is out of spec/tolerance and that allows dust in even when mounted on the camera? As I mentioned the other lenses I got feel a lot more tight when you twist to mounted on the camera...

3) Can anyone provide some help/guideline to alleviate this dust problem..

Thanks

 

[Clovishound]

I can't help you with the lens part of the equation, but I can say that dust on the sensor is a common issue with mirrorless. The sensor is exposed to the environment every time you remove the lens. I understand that the operation of the sensor creates a static charge which attracts dust to the sensor. Having said that, needing to clean it every day seems very excessive to me. I own several Z cameras. My Z5 and Z7ii both required cleaning every few outings. Most of the time, I could get by with using a hand squeezed blower to carefully remove dust. Several times a year I had to break out the cleaning wands. I found that minimizing lens changes in the field, and keeping the camera pointed downward when the lens is off helped to minimize dust. For info, I used a 24-70 F4, 105 micro, and 200-500 F5.6 + FTZ adapter on the Z5 and Z7ii. One tip to easily identify dust on the sensor is to use a small flashlight to shine light at a sharp angle from the side. It will highlight any dust on the sensor and make it very easy to see if the sensor is clean, and where the dust is.

I wish they put the sensor cover that is part of the Z8 and Z9 on all their mirrorless cameras. I've had my Z8 for over a year, and have yet to need to clean the sensor.

 

[nikonbill]

Hello and welcome!

I am suspecting the lens you have "may/could" be the culprit. I had a Z50 for over three years two lens lived on that camera both "pumpers" a 18/300 or my 200/500 zooms. Over my ownership I used a rocket blower one time. I would check to see if the suspected lens is "weather sealed" (even Nikon says weather sealing does not mean dust free).

Clovishound brought several good points on handling during lens changes, I only change lens at home or at a hotel if traveling (having more than one body is key to that success).

If any advise could be given just make sure you are in the best dust free environment when swapping lens. If you have more than one lens maybe you can "test" to see if the issue only occurs with the suspected lens. Once dust gets inside zooming with pumper zooms (lens that move in and out) redistribute it.

Hope you enjoy your camera!

 

[Paliswe]

I have had a Z6 for six years and a Z6iii for one year, and only once I have had my sensor cleaned. I only have Nikon lenses so I do not know anything about how OEM lenses work. Possibly when zooming in and out the air goes via the camera house, but I have never thought of that before.
Sometimes I blow away some dust from the front lens with my rocket-blower.

 

[Burt]

I can't help you with the lens part of the equation, but I can say that dust on the sensor is a common issue with mirrorless. The sensor is exposed to the environment every time you remove the lens. I understand that the operation of the sensor creates a static charge which attracts dust to the sensor. Having said that, needing to clean it every day seems very excessive to me. I own several Z cameras. My Z5 and Z7ii both required cleaning every few outings. Most of the time, I could get by with using a hand squeezed blower to carefully remove dust. Several times a year I had to break out the cleaning wands. I found that minimizing lens changes in the field, and keeping the camera pointed downward when the lens is off helped to minimize dust. For info, I used a 24-70 F4, 105 micro, and 200-500 F5.6 + FTZ adapter on the Z5 and Z7ii. One tip to easily identify dust on the sensor is to use a small flashlight to shine light at a sharp angle from the side. It will highlight any dust on the sensor and make it very easy to see if the sensor is clean, and where the dust is.

I wish they put the sensor cover that is part of the Z8 and Z9 on all their mirrorless cameras. I've had my Z8 for over a year, and have yet to need to clean the sensor.

Thank you for your reply...
You have giving me something to work on and also a bad news, as I just purchased a new Z7II, and I was hoping it had the same sensor cover as the Z8...

 

[Burt]

Hello and welcome!

I am suspecting the lens you have "may/could" be the culprit. I had a Z50 for over three years two lens lived on that camera both "pumpers" a 18/300 or my 200/500 zooms. Over my ownership I used a rocket blower one time. I would check to see if the suspected lens is "weather sealed" (even Nikon says weather sealing does not mean dust free).

Clovishound brought several good points on handling during lens changes, I only change lens at home or at a hotel if traveling (having more than one body is key to that success).

If any advise could be given just make sure you are in the best dust free environment when swapping lens. If you have more than one lens maybe you can "test" to see if the issue only occurs with the suspected lens. Once dust gets inside zooming with pumper zooms (lens that move in and out) redistribute it.

Hope you enjoy your camera!

That's exactly what that article I read once was mentioning... The zoom part of the lens acting as a pump...

The thing is I haven't swapped lens for a while and the dust still present itself very often...

I feel a bit stupid now, but I never thought about keeping the camera facing down while changing lens, or even try to do the job in a cleaner (dust free) environment. Thing is, I live in a motorhome and there is always dust...

I thank you both for your advices...

 

[Burt]

I have had a Z6 for six years and a Z6iii for one year, and only once I have had my sensor cleaned. I only have Nikon lenses so I do not know anything about how OEM lenses work. Possibly when zooming in and out the air goes via the camera house, but I have never thought of that before.
Sometimes I blow away some dust from the front lens with my rocket-blower.

I said OEM and by that I meant that it is the original Nikon lens that came with the camera (DX16-50). As I mentioned in my post, it doesn't seem to be as tight when mounted as the other lenses I got, so yes the theory of the dust getting in while zooming in and out (which I do a lot every day) could be the culprit.. I do live in a dusty environment, but I don't change lenses that often..

Another possible issue that I just thought of it now, could be that often the camera sit on the centre console while driving from one place to the next, so it collects dust, and because it has the silver body, you don't notice it..

Obviously I need to take much better care of both where I keep the camera and when changing lenses, to limit the issue...

 

[BF Hammer]

I did not have time to research earlier, but I suspected early that the Zfc did not have the auto sensor cleaning option that the full-frame bodies have. That vibrates the sensor with the in-body-image-stabilization system to shake dust off when the camera is powered down. Many people turn it off to help save a bit of battery power.

I now have had a look at the online Zfc manual and that is true, you do not have an auto sensor cleaning feature in the Photo Shooting menu like my full-frame body does. That is because the DX Z-mount bodies do not have IBIS and rely on vibration reduction built into lenses. Nikon does not rate cameras or lenses as dust resistant. You might look at storing your camera inside one of those neoprene camera covers or a camera-wrap cloth to keep dust off between uses.

I do clean my mirrorless sensor more frequently than my past DSLRs, but I did have to clean them when I found a reoccurring spot in the sky. In my use, I will go weeks between needing to break out the swabs and cleaning fluid. Some use of a blower in-between.

 

[Burt]

I did not have time to research earlier, but I suspected early that the Zfc did not have the auto sensor cleaning option that the full-frame bodies have. That vibrates the sensor with the in-body-image-stabilization system to shake dust off when the camera is powered down. Many people turn it off to help save a bit of battery power.

I now have had a look at the online Zfc manual and that is true, you do not have an auto sensor cleaning feature in the Photo Shooting menu like my full-frame body does. That is because the DX Z-mount bodies do not have IBIS and rely on vibration reduction built into lenses. Nikon does not rate cameras or lenses as dust resistant. You might look at storing your camera inside one of those neoprene camera covers or a camera-wrap cloth to keep dust off between uses.

I do clean my mirrorless sensor more frequently than my past DSLRs, but I did have to clean them when I found a reoccurring spot in the sky. In my use, I will go weeks between needing to break out the swabs and cleaning fluid. Some use of a blower in-between.

You are 100% spot on...

The option in the Zfc is ghosted, and the spots are visible only and always when you look at the perfect blue sky that you get to see how much crap is stuck on the sensor... It is all good if you only take busy subjects or picture where there are no clear parts of the sky. Unfortunately with my obsession of panorama and wild life, the sky is somewhat partially present all the times...
When I use Macro you barely notice it...
From today I have started to put the camera back in its bag and zipped. It only takes an extra minute.. Time will tell how much wild life subjects I will miss because of that.. Things is, it doesn't matter how great a picture is, when it has visible gray spots everywhere, it is simply not enjoyable...

 

[Needa]

I'm constantly getting sand in my bag so vacuuming the bag inside and out is helpful, may help with the dust. Also make sure you keep the back element and mount area of the lens clean.