"smudge" in D-450Z images?

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Hey there. I just bought an Olympus D-450Z and am quite happy with it, except that I get a semi-circular "smudge" - a slightly gray smear - on the left side of some images. I believe the smudge varies in width depending on the zoom, but always is in the 2 to 5 o'clock area of the picture. Any ideas? seen this before? Is the lens just dirty? Send responses to hollasch@yahoo.com.

Thanks

-- Kyle Hollasch (hollasch@yahoo.com), December 12, 1999

Answers

I bet your problem occurs only with flash. I called Olympus and they claim its due to reflection off dust. When I take pictures in my house or in the office, I get this problem in 1 out of 50 pictures. However, I went to an old auditorium and a gymnastic competition (perhaps both were dusty) and all my pictures had these circular smudges. I was quite disappointed. I thought it was my particular camera but I tried a different 450Z and the same thing happen.

What I want to know is it just the 450z or does this happen with other digital camera.

-- Mitch Goldberg (mitchellgoldberg@netzero.net), December 17, 1999.


Thanks for your response. Actually, I only notice the smudge in pictures taken in a bright outdoor setting. I actually took some pictures of the blue sky on 3 different zoom settings (the smudge gets larger and fainter as you zoom in) to show olympus. What phone # did you call to talk to a real person? Also, my last message was wrong in that the smudge is actually in the 7 to 9 o'clock range of the picture.

-- Kyle Hollasch (hollasch@yahoo.com), December 18, 1999.

The telephone number I called was on the manual - New York # 516 -- Try some flash pictures, you will eventually see some smudges. Read the Kodak DC 280 and whitish diffuse spots question in the discussion forum.

-- Mitch Goldberg (mitchellgoldberg@netzero.net), December 18, 1999.

You may even have dust on the INSIDE of your lense cover. I had the exact same problem with my Nikon CP. Sent it the manufacturer (fortunately...it was still under warranty) and they replaced it. You might want to consider that. Hopefully yours is still under warranty as well. Good luck!

-- Jody Kind (jody@3rdm.net), December 20, 1999.

Jody,

It is definitely not the camera, because I tried a different one. The reason is that the flash is too close to the lens, and if there is dust in front of the lens, there will be illumination of the dust in the picture. Looks like white-gray transparent circles. Olympus will catch on and redesign the camera. Otherwise the 450Z is a great camera-- I like it for its low light capability 640 ISO.

Most pictures are fine, ands it is rare situations -- such as a dusty gymnastic competition (chalk) that messes up the all flash pictures.

-- Mitch Goldberg (mitchellgoldberg@netzero.net), December 20, 1999.



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