Think my trusty Panasonic TZ10 has had it…

Getting the same ‘marks’ on all my photos. Nothing on the outside of the lens – how usual it it for dirt to get inside the lens or camera body?

Sometimes when the lens is focussing it’s possible to see two or three sharp shapes in the same place on each image that look like dust or grit, but they tend to show up on photos a dark ‘splodges’ like in the top and left of the image below (not intended to be a decent photo, but wanted to make the marks obvious) –

Economically fixable? Or time to shell out for a new compact?

Can’t help with ID’ing splodges, but I do have my TZ10 for sale, hardly used :-). That’d be economical fix… 😉

Replaced it with an RX100 that beats it on IQ but I do miss the TZ’s big zoom and handleability compared to the Sony.

I’ll be getting a prime compact for work so am out of the compact race for a while. As for compact zooms, there’s tons to choose from with widely varying spec and gizmos so depends on yr must-haves/priorities/budget really?

That’s dirt on the sensor. Easy enough to clean on an slr, don’t know about a compact.

I’d guess that a camera shop could tell help you out for a price, then you have to decide if it’s worth it or if you’d prefer a new toy.

Trouble with zooms is that they can suck in dust – you could try squirting it with one of those compressed air keyboard cleaner things to see if you can shift the dust.

Seem to be quite a few online guides to cleaning the TZ10 sensor and lens…

Time to get the tools out.

gaffer tape funnel and vacuum?

wysiwyg – Member
gaffer tape funnel and vacuum?

Sounds pretty NSFW, but please elaborate.

Dust on the sensor. You’ll struggle to get rid of it yourself.
http://www.hlehmann.co.uk have done cleaning jobs for me, and have always provided a good service.
Obviously its going to cost you and does it outweigh the cost of a new camera?
Either that or shoot at the fastest shutter speed and the widest aperture you can and they’ll probably disappear!
If not, then its time to buy the Leica you always wanted!

Basically youre taping the hose of the vacuum to the lens around the area where the lens zooms in and out. Turn the vac on and see if it shifts the dust.

http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Digital-Camera-Lens-with-a-Vacuum-Cleaner

My Sony dslr has had these marks on my photos for a long while now, no amount of cleaning seems to be working. Have stopped using it since my holiday last year, got tired of having pics ruined. Should really get it cleaned properly and move it on. Find my phone does everything i need now.