No more sensor dust - leave ONE lens on ONE body all the time.

[dave_weber1]

I currently shoot two Fuji S3 bodies. All my lenses are Nikkor. Each S3 body is 2 or 3 years old.

 

The older the bodies get, the more problems I have with dust on their sensors. I believe that I've got pretty good

sensor cleaning abilities and equipment, and I'm extremely careful when I changing lenses so not to allow dust

inside. But as the bodies get older, sensor cleanings have become more frequent, and each time it's harder than

the last time to get them reasonably clean.

 

I'm soon going to be upgrading my bodies (I'm quite happy with my stable of lenses). This is what I'm thinking of

doing - 1. Buy a D300 body and put my 180mm AF lens on it and leave it on for ever. 2. Buy a D3 and put my

beloved 28mm lens on it for ever and ever.

 

Provided my style of photography can be done with just these two lenses, do you think that this "one lens on one

body" method will once and for all solve my sensor dust problems?

[liljuddakalilknyttphotogra]

Well, I've got my D300 set up so that it every time I start it up cleans the sensor. I've had mine since the day they were released here in the US. I've only had to blow the sensor off one time.

 

I should add that I have horses in an arena in the backyard & that I live within L.A. City limits against the mountains & I have a serious dust problem based upon my location. The house is a dust magnet.

 

I change lenses all the time.

 

I love the self-cleaning sensor on the D300

 

Lil :-)

[timberwulf]

Not really Dave. Why not just get it cleaned once in a while? Dust is always bound to get in, whether or not you take the lens off.

 

I have a now 3-year old D200. It's up over 15-20k shutter actuations at this point, and frequently has lens changes. I have very little problem with dust. 2 years of usage of this camera was in AZ where there is plenty enough dust and dirt flying around. Once in a while I get a spec, and I just gently remove it from the sensor, no worries.

[craig_gillette]

I think it would reduce the potential for dust issues but don't know that I'd suggest you won't have any dust problems. I'm getting an impression from my experience, limited as it is, and from other posts I've seen, that a new camera has a certain amount of internal "dust" and that may take some handling and use to get it all shaken loose and then eliminated. After that, not changing lenses would seem to eliminate a lot of opportunity for dust to enter the system.

[robert_hooper1]

Could it be that while you are cleaning the sensor regularly, you are neglecting to clean accumulated dust and dirt from your

mirror box?

[samoksner]

Wow. two S3s up to a D300 and D3. That's a very expensive way to not have to clean your sensor. The D300 and

D3 cost around $7000 combined. I'll tell you what, how bout you keep the S3s and every time you want a sensor

cleaning, you call me and fly me in from San Francisco CA, I'll do the cleaning for $100.

 

Seriously though, it's just dust, clean it.. Lens' get dirty, i clean them, sensors get dust, i clean them. Film

scans have dust and scratches, i clean them and photoshop the dust out. Spending that much money for a bit of

dust is ridiculous.

[Palouse]

I have a better, cheaper idea! Buy a slew--say 7-10 point-and-shoots. No dust, no fuss, no lust!

[ron_hiner2]

I'd suggest a different cleaning technique and/or products. Whatever you are using my be contributing to the problem. I use Visible Dust's kit -- and have very little problem.

[rffffffff]

I have a better approach... I just leave the lens wide open all the time so I can't see the dust thats there.

 

Honestly I think both methods have little merit unless you only shoot one thing or have about 7 camera bodies.

[bill_pearce1]

Interesting thought but not original. I know a Canon endorser that, after getting his boat load of free stuff, was unhappy with the dust problem. He called his contact at Canon, and that's just what they told him!

 

Bill Pearce

[lester_hawksby1]

It won't work.

 

Lenses aren't perfectly sealed. Zooms are worse, but even primes contain plenty of moving parts (focus, aperture ring) and hence allow some dust migration. The mount's not flawlessly dust-proof either; the lenses with a rubber sealing ring might be better but still aren't perfect (and seem to be mostly zooms anyway).

 

Not all dust is related to lens changes anyway. Manufacturers try to assemble the cameras in pretty clean environments, but costs would be a lot higher if all assembly were the highest grade of dust-proof, so there is some dust in all cameras on the day they're made. Then you start using the thing, and the shutter starts blasting up and down at incredibly high speeds. It's designed to hardly wear at all, but sooner or later it will and generate tiny specks. Somewhere in the mirror assembly there must be some kind of soft cushion, too. Old ones were foam - I've not poked my dSLRs in detail so I don't know what they use now, but all possible soft cushions are nightmares if you're trying to maintain a contaminant-free environment. Goodness knows what other materials there might be in a modern dSLR that might not be archive-stable and hence might shed a flake here or a speck there - but I'm pretty sure it's impossible to make so complex a device without any such materials.

 

I have read somewhere (but can't find the reference, sorry) that newer dSLRs have better internal design that reduces the rate at which they generate tiny particles through wear, compared to older bodies (and particularly film-era-derived ones). I find this easy to believe (this only became a high priority in camera design very recently!) but I bet they're still not perfect - no device really can be.

 

Sad to say, there seems to be no escaping dust.

[mendel_leisk]

How about:

 

Could manufacturers put a piece of plain glass in the path, in front of the shutter's swing, sealing the shutter chamber.

[joe_a2]

I gotta agree with Robert Cooper.... I think you're cleaning the sensor, but not blowing off the whole mirror box chamber. Doesn't do much good to dust the table if you aren't going to clean the room.

[wpahnelas]

if you think you can make your 2-lens solution work, knock yourself out. but then, why bother with a camera with interchangable lenses, if you aren't taking advantage of that capability?

[ronald_moravec1]

I don`t know if the above learned it from me, but I keep writing about cleaning the mirror box after a days shoot. just

blow it out, raise the mirror, blow out the back. Do not open the shutter unless you know there is dust inside. The idea

is to get the dust out before it migrates to the sensor.

 

After 14 months, I have one dust bunny and that was last fall before I figured out just blow out the mirror box on a

preventative basis. The dust bunny was blown right out, no wet cleaning.

 

I am beginning to think this is one big non problem unless you are sloppy.

 

BTW, P&S with fixed lenses get dirty sensors. At least you can clean yours.

 

I did think there was a problem as I kept seeing a small black spot same place every pic. Turned out it was a tiny black

spot on the monitor screen. I cleaned it off.

[sandysocks]

I change lenses very often under all kinds of conditions. I have had my camera (Nikon) for 20 months. I swabbed it at around 10 months. Since the first wet cleaning, I have blown it off with a bulb twice. The two most recent dust bunnies went away on their own. It seems odd that the sensor stays so clean while the mirror is filthy. It sounds like your sensor is somehow attracting dust. Remember to turn the camera off when changing lenses. Could this be a Fuji problem?

[lex_jenkins]

"Dustiny, dustiny, no escaping that for me!" - Young Frankenstein

[dave_weber1]

Thanks to all...for your responses!

 

(Moderator's note: edited in the interest of caprice. -- Lex)

[dan_brown4]

You are not going to beleive this.

 

I change lenses pretty regularly, and I have never had to clean the sensor on my #1 D200 for almost 2 years. Ditto for the

#2 D200 (although it's only a few months old).

 

With my D100, I had to clean it every 2-3 months. Nikon must have done something differrent, becasue I haven't changed a

thing.

[Ed_Ingold]

"...as the bodies get older, sensor cleanings have become more frequent, and each time it's harder than the last time to get them reasonably clean."

 

This couldn't be further from the truth. I have found if you clean the mirror box, the rear of each lens and vacuum out the camera bag from time to time then the sensor cleaning interval is greatly extended - as long as 6 months, and I change lenses a lot. Most "dust" is actually lint from various sources, which is easy to remove with a blower, brush or wet method. If you are foolish enough to blow on the sensor with your mouth, the resulting spots will be hard to remove. I have not used the PEC pad/Eclipse Fluid method since purchasing a "Visible Dust" brush kit a couple of years ago.

 

Incidently, I did read your entire post and find it incredible (i.e., not credible) that someone would pay nearly $7000 for cameras with interchangeable lenses then not use them :-)

[hugh_look]

Well, if Dave Weber is happier that way & can work within those constraints he'll probably feel more relaxed & so

take better photos. Wouldn't work for me, but one can get too hung up on the "best" way to do things. We all have

our eccentricities: I'm just having some lenses overhauled - I'm sure it's not necessary, but I'll feel better

afterwards just knowing they are as good as they can be & enjoy my photography more. In the end, the proof is in

his photography - is he happy with the results, do people who matter to him like his photos, are they

interesting? If the answers to all these questions are "yes" then just do it the way you want, and never mind the

rest of the world.

 

H

[leandro_dutra1]

Just get a Four Thirds set up. Best sensor cleaners in the West.

[siggimatos]

Although I come from halfway around the globe (i.e. Portugal), I'll make a better offer: If you will pay my tickets, I'll clean your sensors for free - sorry, Sam, for dumping prices on sensorcleaning.

 

Seriously now:

 

Dave, when I change lenses, I chose a place where it's not windy, have all the lens hoods at hand and turn the frontside of the camerabody down as I open it / take off the lens.

 

Avoid shoes with rubber soles, as they allow your body to acumulate static electric charge. Its the same pair of shoes that give you a little sting when you leave your car as you touch the door - don't use those shoes on the days you intend to take photos: Your body will attract dust as the front glass of a TV-set (CRT)...

 

Remember that some clothes/fabrics a more prone to making dust than others, as are big movements (and children...)

 

About your suggestion of using only two lenses, on two cameras, I think this will be very (stupidly, sorry, I said it!) limitative on your photography, especially with the two lenses you mention! You said you are 'quite happy with your stable of lenses', so you must have more. Do you not expect to use the rest of them? Where I forced to use only two lenses I would fix a 14-24 on one body and a 24-70 on the other (unless I were shooting grizzly: there I would probably use something ending around 400mm at the narrow end, instead of the 24-70 ;-) )

 

The new Nikon bodies have a user-configurable selfcleaning of the sensorfilter - this should resolve much of your worries concerning specs on your sensors...

[Two23]

I have to admit that when I was first considering a digital camera, my big worry was dust. I photo in grain elevators, blizzards, and around grain harvesting. Plus, it is almost always windy here on the Northern Plains. Much to my suprise two years later, dust on the sensor just neve materialized as a big problem. I use a Rocket Bulb every now & then and have a Visible dust kit if needed. So far, that's been rare.

 

 

Kent in SD

[ky21664882483]

Speaking of dusk, question...I have a Canon EOS 40d. It has auto sensor cleaning which I love and have it turned on to auto when I turn the camera on and off. I have never had trouble with dust, but can anyone tell me where the dust accumulates and do I need to eventually get this cleaned out? Thanks, Kylie