Do I have a dust problem?

[K1W1]

Actually the answer is fairly obvious but this thread is aimed at those who post in a panic thinking the world is about to end because of a spec or two.

I was looking for a location to get some evening shots but when I came home my photos looked like this.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2410/2334078305_a3585596e3_b.jpg

There is another bad spot on the right in the bushes as well but it's a bit harder to see.

Bad huh?

Well it was a 20 second fix.

Take the lens off the camera.
Turn the camera on and lock the shutter up (different methods for different cameras).
Use a blower and instant no more dust.

Now on the blower subject did I use a specialist blower?
No - don't have one.
In this case I used one of these because I couldn't find the little nozzle bottle I used last time.

http://hhracinggroup.com/Quickstart/ImageLib/Water_Bottles.jpg

Completely dry with the top nozzle open, point it into the camera and give it some decent squeezes.

So the moral is dust is not a problem to be worried about and when you get dust into your camera anything the blows air through a nozzle can be used to blow the dust out. Just use imagination and common sense.

[rawpaw18]

Yes you have a dust problem, but that is not the worse part, apparently there is also a small horseshoe stuck on your sensor. Gonna need a bigger blower.

[XaiLo]

Kiwi, were's the "after" shot? I bought a commercial blower it might move a quarter of what that bottle is capable of moving.

[erichlund]

That works great, but you might want to pull the blower out after each squeeze before you the pressure off. Your blower fills from the same place it blows from, which means you essentially reverse the flow of air. That dust you just blew off could be getting sucked right into your blower, or getting redeposited on the sensor. Not saying it doesn't work, since you need all these qualifications, just saying others should understand the potential complications.

The advantage of something like the Rocket blower is that it only blows through the tip. Refilling the bulb occurs at the filtered, one way, valve at the back of the blower.

[TheWengler]

The advantage of something like the Rocket blower is that it only blows through the tip. Refilling the bulb occurs at the filtered, one way, valve at the back of the blower.

I was looking at mine and I don't think there's a valve on the front. So, when it sucks air in it comes in both the front and back but when it blows air out it only comes out the front. But the hole in the back is significantly bigger than the hole in the front so it probably sucks in the majority of the air. This sounds like a bad anatomy class...:o

[wilson44512]

i plan on ordering one of these

http://www.giottos.com/Rocket-air.htm

[XaiLo]

They're not that big order the large one.

[p.du.v]

I was out bush on a photo trek with a couple of mates, including a young blonde female (blonde enough that she charges her phone as rarely as possible so it's not as heavy.. work that one out), who noticed a few dust bunnies when shooting out the window. We were driving along a highway at 110km/h.

She complained about the bunnies for a while, and I could see her (scary) brain turning over. The next time I look over, she has the lens off, the mirror up, and is holding the camera out the window with one hand, sensor facing forward taking the full force of the wind. At 110km/h.

It was a damp day. We were passing swamp lands. There were millions of dead bugs all over the windscreen, gaining more by the second.

She looked unphased.

From memory, it took her boyfriend four sensor wipes to get the sensor clean, and it needed some scrubbing. Then to add salt to the wounds, when we got her back up and running, the 'dust bunnies' were still there.

In her viewfinder.

I guess the moral of the story is never to assume. If you see dust, explore all options first. If it is the sensor, follow K1W1's advice.
And please, don't hold your camera out the window at 110km/h. That one's been tested...

[K1W1]

:D:D:D

Sorry, I can't buy that one.
Paris Hilton has been in Sydney so there is no way that event could have happened on the west coast.

[K1W1]

BTW.

For those people who are curious.
I took some 250 photos yesterday on a bike ride and there is not a spec of dust to be seen on any of them.
The water bottle blower technique works just fine.