500 Series Dust Control with Digital Backs..

I recently started using a P21+ with a few Hasselblad bodies with great results except some really pesky dust

problems. With the V system being older gear it stands to reason that it may be dustier than I ever suspected

when I was using film. Here are a few things that I did to reduce the dust issues when taking photographs. This

advice should only be taken if you know your camera's insides well. Some people may see these steps as

ill-advised, but they worked for me. Proceed at your own risk.

 

1) Inside cleaning. Blower bulb, canned air just seemed to move the dust around and not remove it. Take a 3-5

foot length of small tubing (clear vinyl works) and tape a small artist's brush next to one end and about 1/4" in

front of the end of the tubing. The brush is the only thing touching the shutter curtains and interior space of

the bodies. Attach the other end to a vacuum cleaner placed well away from your cleaning table-- Does not help to

have the vacuum spewing dust as you are trying to clean. I found a small Dyson hand vac that works great. The

small tubing lets you get into almost every interior space without the risk of screwing something up with

excessive vacuum suction. Move around the camera wisking dust loose with the brush as the vacuum removes it.

Pre-release the body and clean more. When I finished I put the body with caps in a new Zip-Lok bag.

 

2. Ongoing dust protection. With two huge flaps going with each exposure it would seem that ongoing dust control

is impossible, but there is something you can do if you feel adventurous. Since the machine is at the service of

man I placed two strips of 3M removable double stick tape. You have to burnish the tape onto the rear shutter

curtains with a small screwdriver/ blunt plastic tool. Now you have a 50% chance that loose dust will land and

stick to the tape and not on the imager. I have had 2 tape strips on my rear curtains for three weeks now and

they have stayed put. With older bodies the flat "flocked" shutter curtain coating can start to shed/ flake off

and this technique captures all of this flotsam under the tape. I put the tape on a few times and removed it to

get the really loose stuff off. . I have noticed any flare as a result of the tape, but if you are shooting high

contrast it could become an issue... I thought that risk was worth it. That matt finish material can be replaced

if you are so inclined... it is a replacement strip. Removing the old material is doable.

 

3. Leave the body and back together. I have started leaving them together when not in use. I figure the chances

of dropping or scratching my backs and introducing dust is greatest when taking them off, putting them on. I also

put 3/16" paper tape (also called camera tape in the movie biz) on the sides and bottom to enhance the seal.

Also, place a small piece on the safety latch on the back removal button. Belt and suspenders on this one.

 

I hope these tips help someone. Apologies to those who find these techniques horrifying.

Meant to say, "have NOT seen any flare" as a result of the tape

Can you post some pics, I'd like to see the results!

Rail car door shot from this AM.. see attached.<div></div>

Obviously Zephyr is not a rail car, I will attach that one here. This shot above taken last night had no dust spots... the MF are easier to get clean than a DSLR but way trickier to keep clean. Have to say this Phase One back is the most remarkable combination of image quality and ease of use. If you have spent years fooling with DSLR and not quite getting the range and results you have been after-- try renting one of these and then figure out how to get one. I have owned and used cameras from 4X5 down to a Minox and this with CF lenses blows me away. Small enough to get out and around to explore for shots and big enough to get amazing quality.<div></div>

One of the things that astroimagers deal with when using digital detectors is the shadows of dust particles on the chip. One method is to

shoot a flat field image to use to help process out those artifacts. Flat fields also help to deal with vignetting. There are also techniques

developed for astroimaging that can help remove noise from longer exposures. This involves taking dark frames.

If my shoot has a lot of sky or flat fields I take a high f stop reference picture at the beginning and end of the shoot just so I can see any dust. In Lightroom I dust spot the frame and sync the correction over all the frames. In some cases the correction has to be adjusted, but it makes quick work of most spots. With what I have done I am down to 1 or 2 spots in a shoot.... works for me.

Geoge

 

Thanks for your information. Would you share you experience and comments that the picture quality between DSLR and digital back? Does it worth to spend on D-back rather than high grade DSLR? Also, I glad to know whether the picture quality of D-back is obviously better than 1dsIII so that many features being developed in DSLR like higher ISO setting, sensor auto cleansing, faster image capture, easy portability, etc becomes insignificant. Some engineer of D-back company told me that old zeiss lenses are shunning in film but not as good as in digital because their resolving power are designed for film. Less resolving power caused some incompatiable problem especially for higher resolution senser more than 39M. Practically, is it correct? Thanks for sharing. SUN