Grand Canyon At Thanksgiving

Bill Hilton wrote:

Two other things worth mentioning ... the Canyon trails are usually dusty
(unless it just rained or snowed) and if you have to change lenses a lot you'll
probably have dust on the sensor pretty quick, so a zoom with a wider focal
range means you'll have to change the lens less often, which is good. This
dust problem is one of the curses of digital.

Something of note that came up in the rec.photo.digital
newsgroup is that some zooms can actually pump air (and dust).
For example, I tested my 100-400 L IS and it really pumps
a lot of air with the push-pull zoom design. So which is better:
a zoom constantly pumping air and dust into the camera,
or fixed sealed lenses that you change occasionally?

On a recent trip to Alaska, I used mostly fixed lenses, but
constantly changed lenses and telextenders. I never had one
dust spec appear on my over 5,000 images. I use a
method that minimizes possible dust: I remove the rear lens
cap of the lens going on, and hold it in one hand. The camera
is hanging from my neck or on a tripod so I don't have to
handle it. As I remove the lens on the camera, I slide the
new lens into place, exposing the inside for only a couple of
seconds. I do get dust, but it seems rare, every few thousand
images. For big lenses, like the 500 f/4 which is on the tripod,
I remove the lens caps for the telextender, remove the camera
and quickly slide the TC into place, then put the TC+camera
on the big lens. Some people recommend turning off the camera
to change lenses, but I really do not see the need as the
sensor is behind the shutter. The concern is dust gets into the
camera during a lens change, then during an exposure, dust
gets on the sensor because mirror slap and the shutter stirs up
the dust.

Roger

Bill Hilton wrote:

Two other things worth mentioning ... the Canyon trails are usually dusty
(unless it just rained or snowed) and if you have to change lenses a lot you'll
probably have dust on the sensor pretty quick, so a zoom with a wider focal
range means you'll have to change the lens less often, which is good. This
dust problem is one of the curses of digital.

Something of note that came up in the rec.photo.digital
newsgroup is that some zooms can actually pump air (and dust).
For example, I tested my 100-400 L IS and it really pumps
a lot of air with the push-pull zoom design. So which is better:
a zoom constantly pumping air and dust into the camera,
or fixed sealed lenses that you change occasionally?

On a recent trip to Alaska, I used mostly fixed lenses, but
constantly changed lenses and telextenders. I never had one
dust spec appear on my over 5,000 images. I use a
method that minimizes possible dust: I remove the rear lens
cap of the lens going on, and hold it in one hand. The camera
is hanging from my neck or on a tripod so I don't have to
handle it. As I remove the lens on the camera, I slide the
new lens into place, exposing the inside for only a couple of
seconds. I do get dust, but it seems rare, every few thousand
images. For big lenses, like the 500 f/4 which is on the tripod,
I remove the lens caps for the telextender, remove the camera
and quickly slide the TC into place, then put the TC+camera
on the big lens. Some people recommend turning off the camera
to change lenses, but I really do not see the need as the
sensor is behind the shutter. The concern is dust gets into the
camera during a lens change, then during an exposure, dust
gets on the sensor because mirror slap and the shutter stirs up
the dust.

Roger

Bill Hilton wrote:

Two other things worth mentioning ... the Canyon trails are usually dusty
(unless it just rained or snowed) and if you have to change lenses a lot you'll
probably have dust on the sensor pretty quick, so a zoom with a wider focal
range means you'll have to change the lens less often, which is good. This
dust problem is one of the curses of digital.

Something of note that came up in the rec.photo.digital
newsgroup is that some zooms can actually pump air (and dust).
For example, I tested my 100-400 L IS and it really pumps
a lot of air with the push-pull zoom design. So which is better:
a zoom constantly pumping air and dust into the camera,
or fixed sealed lenses that you change occasionally?

On a recent trip to Alaska, I used mostly fixed lenses, but
constantly changed lenses and telextenders. I never had one
dust spec appear on my over 5,000 images. I use a
method that minimizes possible dust: I remove the rear lens
cap of the lens going on, and hold it in one hand. The camera
is hanging from my neck or on a tripod so I don't have to
handle it. As I remove the lens on the camera, I slide the
new lens into place, exposing the inside for only a couple of
seconds. I do get dust, but it seems rare, every few thousand
images. For big lenses, like the 500 f/4 which is on the tripod,
I remove the lens caps for the telextender, remove the camera
and quickly slide the TC into place, then put the TC+camera
on the big lens. Some people recommend turning off the camera
to change lenses, but I really do not see the need as the
sensor is behind the shutter. The concern is dust gets into the
camera during a lens change, then during an exposure, dust
gets on the sensor because mirror slap and the shutter stirs up
the dust.

Roger

Bill Hilton wrote:

Two other things worth mentioning ... the Canyon trails are usually dusty
(unless it just rained or snowed) and if you have to change lenses a lot you'll
probably have dust on the sensor pretty quick, so a zoom with a wider focal
range means you'll have to change the lens less often, which is good. This
dust problem is one of the curses of digital.

Something of note that came up in the rec.photo.digital
newsgroup is that some zooms can actually pump air (and dust).
For example, I tested my 100-400 L IS and it really pumps
a lot of air with the push-pull zoom design. So which is better:
a zoom constantly pumping air and dust into the camera,
or fixed sealed lenses that you change occasionally?

On a recent trip to Alaska, I used mostly fixed lenses, but
constantly changed lenses and telextenders. I never had one
dust spec appear on my over 5,000 images. I use a
method that minimizes possible dust: I remove the rear lens
cap of the lens going on, and hold it in one hand. The camera
is hanging from my neck or on a tripod so I don't have to
handle it. As I remove the lens on the camera, I slide the
new lens into place, exposing the inside for only a couple of
seconds. I do get dust, but it seems rare, every few thousand
images. For big lenses, like the 500 f/4 which is on the tripod,
I remove the lens caps for the telextender, remove the camera
and quickly slide the TC into place, then put the TC+camera
on the big lens. Some people recommend turning off the camera
to change lenses, but I really do not see the need as the
sensor is behind the shutter. The concern is dust gets into the
camera during a lens change, then during an exposure, dust
gets on the sensor because mirror slap and the shutter stirs up
the dust.

Roger

Couldn't agree more. Thinking about heading down to the canyon late this
week. All this info couldn't have come at a better time.

kwhiner


"Martin Djernæs" wrote in message
news:0pycd.407260$Fg5.268917@attbi_s53...
Bill Hilton wrote:
...

As always a fountain of amazing information Bill. We all thank you for the
time you spend writing really good answers to people.

Martin

Couldn't agree more. Thinking about heading down to the canyon late this
week. All this info couldn't have come at a better time.

kwhiner


"Martin Djernæs" wrote in message
news:0pycd.407260$Fg5.268917@attbi_s53...
Bill Hilton wrote:
...

As always a fountain of amazing information Bill. We all thank you for the
time you spend writing really good answers to people.

Martin

Couldn't agree more. Thinking about heading down to the canyon late this
week. All this info couldn't have come at a better time.

kwhiner


"Martin Djernæs" wrote in message
news:0pycd.407260$Fg5.268917@attbi_s53...
Bill Hilton wrote:
...

As always a fountain of amazing information Bill. We all thank you for the
time you spend writing really good answers to people.

Martin