Dust

Photo Art

McKaso

Photography By: Steve Sullivan

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One of the biggest issues with a DSLR is keeping the sensor area and lens free of dust. Specs of dust will appear as dark spots in your photos. If there are enough spots (like in the photo below) it will keep you busy trying to clone them out. Keeping your sensor clean is especially difficult when changing the lens in the field on a windy day. Many new camera models have sensor cleaning systems installed that vibrate the dust off the sensor filter, but if you have an older model DSLR that may not be the case. There are many items available to physically clean the sensor, but I avoid using the brushes that come in contact with the sensor area itself. Many camera manufactures will state that the warranty is void if the sensor has been damaged from cleaning it with a brush since the sensor area is highly sensitive. One item that I have used with great success is the Giotto Rocket air blower. It produces a powerful stream of air that cleans the dust from the sensor area and it has an air valve to prevent it from breathing in the dust and particles it removes and reapplying them. It also works very well for removing dust from surfaces with static electricity. Although it is somewhat bulky I always carry this item in my camera bag. To insure that the blower remains clean I also enclose it in a plastic bag. When changing lenses in the field it helps to find a sheltered area or turn your back to the wind to reduce the amount of dust from entering your camera and it helps to keep your camera pointed downwards, which helps prevent dust from settling on the sensor. To keep the lens clean I prefer to use the Carson Stuff-It micro fiber lens cloth and the Carson DigiKlear lens pen optics cleaner. These can be purchased at Adorama. There are many different brands to use that work as well or maybe even better. The ones mentioned above are just the ones I happen to use and prefer.
Below is a photo with a good example of dust that collected on the sensor area. The dust specs are marked in white. A few extra minutes cleaning and being careful how you change the lens helps reduce the amount of time you spend in Photoshop correcting the image.