The horror of sensor dust

How is Joe Public, who migrates from his P&S to a DSLR going to cope
with stuff like this?

Check out the shots 8 posts in.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...hread=21189207

Now you know why entry-level DSLRs are coming with dust reduction.

Now you know why entry-level DSLRs are coming with dust reduction.

Aw, gees Dr. Anderson ... here we go again.

But does it work?

--
Joan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joan-in-manly

"RichA" wrote in message
ups.com...
: How is Joe Public, who migrates from his P&S to a DSLR going to cope
: with stuff like this?
:
: Check out the shots 8 posts in.
:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...hread=21189207
:
: Now you know why entry-level DSLRs are coming with dust reduction.
:

"Rita Ä Berkowitz" ritaberk2O04 @aol.com wrote in message
...
Joan wrote:

But does it work?

No, that one doesn't, but this is the only dSLR with an automatic dust
removal system on the market that works 100% of the time.

http://www.geocities.com/ritaberk2006/sensor.htm


Rita


Hmmmm...
Did you catch the review of Kodiak's new Gelatin Enhanced Film?

http://www.mendosus.com/film/pdreview.html

J.

Joan wrote:
But does it work?

--


Sigma's does, a window near the lens mount. But, if you listen to
Nikon, some of the sensor contaminants come from inside the camera.
Olympus's does, that is proven. Rarely do Olympus users have to clean
their sensors.
Canon's probably does because their system based on a similar
"frequency of vibration" model to Olympus's.
Sony's apparently doesn't work too well.

One little known cause of sensor contamination is the tiny shavings that
come off of the brass lens mounts when you insert or remove a lens. The best
thing is when going through a cleaning cycle, to make sure to lightly
moisten a Qtip with some sensor cleaner and go around in the area just
inside the mirror box in a circular motion to catch all of this junk prior
to cleaning. The LAST thing you want is to clean a sensor with these shards
floating around on the sensor or in proximity to the sensor. It's not rocket
science. Back in the day (for those old enough to remember) we cleaned our
rubber and metal capstans in a tape recorder or cassette deck to maintain
it's performance. It's not really much different in the case of sensor
cleaning......like all things.......it's just about maintenance. Some are
afraid of it....but need not be.


"RichA" wrote in message
oups.com...

Joan wrote:
But does it work?

--


Sigma's does, a window near the lens mount. But, if you listen to
Nikon, some of the sensor contaminants come from inside the camera.
Olympus's does, that is proven. Rarely do Olympus users have to clean
their sensors.
Canon's probably does because their system based on a similar
"frequency of vibration" model to Olympus's.
Sony's apparently doesn't work too well.

"RichA" wrote in message
oups.com...

Joan wrote:
But does it work?

Not really. It might help prolong manual cleaning, but it doesn't keep
sensors spotless. I've included two pages which show the results of
some "tests" of the effectiveness of built-in sensor cleaners. The
Ephotozine site is the only one I've found so far that has photos
showing the actual results.

Sigma's does, a window near the lens mount. But, if you listen to
Nikon, some of the sensor contaminants come from inside the camera.
Olympus's does, that is proven. Rarely do Olympus users have to
clean
their sensors.

Scroll down about 2/3 of the page below to the section where they show
the results of the Sony and Olympus cameras. The Olympus worked a bit
better, but there was still lots of dust on the sensor and a manual
cleaning would be required:

http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/...fm?test_id=468

Canon's probably does because their system based on a similar
"frequency of vibration" model to Olympus's.
Sony's apparently doesn't work too well.

Reports from Canon owners suggest that it's not any better than the
other guys, more of a marketing gimmick to allay consumers' fears. The
400D test at the same site has this page and again, scroll down 2/3 of
the page to see the results of the sensor cleaning:

http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/...fm?test_id=486

The authors conclusions are different from what I see (perhaps he's a
Canon fan). The sensor is a bit cleaner than before with similar
results to the Olympus, and again far from spotless.

If you want a really clean sensor, you have to do it manually.

But remember that spots like these usually are only visible at small
apertures, say f/16 or so before you can see them. Shooting at such
small apertures is bad practice due to softness from diffraction.
Unless there is no other way to get the shot, it's usually best to use
larger apertures and stay above f/16 or f/11.

--
Happy Holidays!

dcisive wrote:
One little known cause of sensor contamination is the tiny shavings that
come off of the brass lens mounts when you insert or remove a lens. The best
thing is when going through a cleaning cycle, to make sure to lightly
moisten a Qtip with some sensor cleaner and go around in the area just
inside the mirror box in a circular motion to catch all of this junk prior
to cleaning. The LAST thing you want is to clean a sensor with these shards
floating around on the sensor or in proximity to the sensor. It's not rocket
science. Back in the day (for those old enough to remember) we cleaned our
rubber and metal capstans in a tape recorder or cassette deck to maintain
it's performance. It's not really much different in the case of sensor
cleaning......like all things.......it's just about maintenance. Some are
afraid of it....but need not be.

I think you'll find that most of today's cameras have stainless steel
lens mounts, which is more resistant to shavings coming off.

Colin D.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Its all about marketing... Joe Public hears horror stories about sensor
cleaning and demands a 'solution' to the 'problem'; so we have the various
auto cleaning systems.

Whether they work or not is not really relevant as it's just a box to tick
for sales droids... "This model comes with automatic sensor cleaning..."

Slightly more clued up people know that you will have to manually clean the
sensor eventually - and it's really not that big a deal anyway....

Guy


RichA wrote:
How is Joe Public, who migrates from his P&S to a DSLR going to cope
with stuff like this?

Check out the shots 8 posts in.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...hread=21189207

Now you know why entry-level DSLRs are coming with dust reduction.

dcisive wrote:
One little known cause of sensor contamination is the tiny shavings that
come off of the brass lens mounts when you insert or remove a lens. The best

Brass?
Where have you been?
H.