Registering Dust Delete Data
Enable sensor dust removal in Canon software
if automatic sensor cleaning doesn’t shift sensor dust spots and you can’t clean the sensor manually, then you can turn to your camera’s Dust Delete Data function. This doesn’t physically remove dust spots from the sensor, but maps where the spots are so that they can be digitally removed by Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software.
You’ll find the Dust Delete Data option in the red Shooting menu. The steps you need to go through to record the sensor dust information are similar to those required to create a custom white balance. Using a lens of 50mm or longer you need to fill the frame with a solid white object – a sheet of paper is perfect – then set the lens to manual focus, focus at infinity and take a picture.
The image won’t be saved by the camera; rather the data is stored and then appended to subsequent photos, whether Raw files or JPEGS. Open these images in DPP, select Adjustments > Apply Dust Delete Data in the menu bar, and the software will automatically remove the spots according to the data.
There are some drawbacks. For a start, only DPP can extract the Dust Delete Data from your images (not Lightroom or Photoshop). You’ll also have to routinely update the Dust Delete Data, as obviously the pattern of spots can change over time; Canon recommends logging a new Dust Delete Data reading before you undertake an important shoot.