My Funny Picture

Weird mark showing up on my pictures with digital canon XTi?

When I take pictures outside on the Program mode (P) and Auto, a strange mark keeps appearing on every single picure I take! Example: http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc273/joshy_tillmanny/_MG_4396.jpg And it's always in the same spot too. Sometimes though, it wont be there if I dont shoot near the sky.

Public Comments

1. It looks like a lint. You can clean your lens inside out by using a can of blower or those plastic blowers pump (professional photographer's best friend - available Office Depot or camera stores or places that sell camera) carefully. Make sure you are in a clean environment when cleaning your lens and the inside of your camera. I assume you know how to take the lens off - when using the can blower, use it in short burst - you don't want to take chance of freezing you sensors in your camera by spraying it too long. Don't shake the can or hold it upside down. Clean the outside side of the lens first and see if you got rid of the lint. If not then it might be inside, then you line the inside side of the lens. Buy yourself an UV or skylight filter for your lens for extra protection (less than $20). There is also a feature on the XTi on lens cleaning for such occasion. Haven't tried it yet, but you can check your manual how to use it. It clean the images of dust - but not the camera itself. You need to do clean the equipment yourself.
2. Looks like dust and maybe hair on your sensor. It is a regular occurrence on DSLRs. Some examples here and possible cures. check your camera manual as well. http://digital-photography.suite101.com/article.cfm/spotty_digital_photos You need to get the sensor cleaned, often a hand air blower is enuogh. do not use a pressure spray.
3. that is on your sensor, too sharp to be on the lens. The XTi has a cleaning mode that flips up the mirror and opens the shutter. You can either buy a kit to do this yourself, or pay somebody $80 to do it for you each time. In P and auto mode the camera aims for a 1/90th shutter speed where the lens aperture allows (this is to avoid shake at the supplied lenses maximum effective focal length) in bright light the aperture is usually much smaller (i,e f16, f22, f32) accentuating the presence of any dirt on the sensor
4. Looks like lint on the digital sensor. Take the camera to the nearest Canon dealer and arrange to have the sensor cleaned. V
5. You need to clean the sensor. http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/