How do you Minimize dust, when changing lenses?

nkistrup said:

The filter atop of the camera sensor is going to get those ugly dust spots, and at some point it will be bad enough that you will either,

1. Do a wet cleaning, or
2. Hire someone else to do the wet cleaning.

Besides minimizing lens changes, what do you do to minimize the dust landing on the sensor's filter? JerseySailor's post about using an air purifier got me thinking about this: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64702286 . How does the rest of the DPReview community handle this?

Will start off,

• Always point camera down.

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Yes.

nkistrup said:

• Do it in the bathroom.

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Only if I'm taking photos in the bathroom (once in my life).

nkistrup said:

• Do it in still air
• • When out in the field, in the car w. the windows rolled up & fan not blowing.

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I take the weather as I find it; I don't keep lenses on just because there's a breeze. And I wouldn't go back to the car.

nkistrup said:

Expect some of you are laughing at this. Fair enough. But if I can get away w. cleaning each camera body once a year, vs. several times a year, could be worth it.

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I have my dust removal set to run on start up and shut down. I change lenses frequently. I haven't needed to clean a sensor for several years now.

nkistrup said:

• Always point camera down.

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Yes

nkistrup said:

• Do it in the bathroom.

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No, but, I would look for calm air, if possible...

Also, I wouldn't change a lens in adverse conditions - sea spray, sand etc.

My last camera was a D200 which I used for 10 years - I never had to wet clean the sensor. The only time I spotted a couple of dust bunnies they were sorted with a hand blower.

I set my current camera to clean on switch on and off, with the other techniques the same, Haven't had to do anything to clean it so far, but then I've only had it three years.

nkistrup said:

The filter atop of the camera sensor is going to get those ugly dust spots, and at some point it will be bad enough that you will either,

1. Do a wet cleaning, or
2. Hire someone else to do the wet cleaning.

Besides minimizing lens changes, what do you do to minimize the dust landing on the sensor's filter? JerseySailor's post about using an air purifier got me thinking about this: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64702286 . How does the rest of the DPReview community handle this?

Will start off,

• Always point camera down.
• Do it in the bathroom.
• Do it in still air
  • When out in the field, in the car w. the windows rolled up & fan not blowing.

Expect some of you are laughing at this. Fair enough. But if I can get away w. cleaning each camera body once a year, vs. several times a year, could be worth it.

Niels

Click to expand...

I use a DSLR, I can't remember when I last had an issue with dust?

Now my compact cameras with fixed zoom lenses, now that's a different issue but I successfully cleaned my Panasonic DMC LX100, using a shroud over the lens made out of a plastic bottle attached to a vacuum cleaner. A couple of zooms with the cleaner on and the dust was removed.

Like some of the others, I have not had a dust problem in years. I can recall once in the last ten years I've needed to use a blower.

I try to remember to point the camera down and with modern zooms I don't change lenses as often as in the past, but I change when and where I need to -- unless conditions are really bad. Even out here in windy, dusty West Texas I just don't have a serious problem.

Gato

I like to always have my blower near if I can.

Also, don't forget to blow the dust off the rear of the lens...it can eventually fall onto your sensor. I'd see folks attach double-sided tape to the inside of body caps to trap dust, but I don't know if that really works. I always have a lens on, so never have tried it.

And I seem to have less dust problems if I use one of those lens holster where you put the lens in, unmount it, then on to the next. Since the camera is partly shielded by the case seems to help protect it from dust a bit.

nkistrup said:

The filter atop of the camera sensor is going to get those ugly dust spots, and at some point it will be bad enough that you will either,

1. Do a wet cleaning, or
2. Hire someone else to do the wet cleaning.

Besides minimizing lens changes, what do you do to minimize the dust landing on the sensor's filter? JerseySailor's post about using an air purifier got me thinking about this: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64702286 . How does the rest of the DPReview community handle this?

Will start off,

• Always point camera down.

Click to expand...

Almost always a good idea.

nkistrup said:

• Do it in the bathroom.

Click to expand...

Great idea! Now can you go about installing these in multiple locations at every beach, along every hiking trail, cliff top and remote valley in the world? And can you make them subterranean or have them raise out of the ground an lower back down so they are not in the shot?

nkistrup said:

• Do it in still air
  • When out in the field, in the car w. the windows rolled up & fan not blowing.

Click to expand...

Not a bad idea, but often still air isn't where one is whilst shooting.

What I do is turn the camera off.¹

Point the camera away from the wind and shield it with my body

And change lenses as quickly as practicable.

¹As I understand it, the idea is that the camera is more likely to attract dust when it is powered on. Some manuals suggest doing this

nkistrup said:

Expect some of you are laughing at this. Fair enough. But if I can get away w. cleaning each camera body once a year, vs. several times a year, could be worth it.

Niels

Click to expand...

I don't worry about it. I turn my back to the wind, turn the camera off, point the camera opening downward, and make the switch as quickly as possible. I try not to do it in a sandstorm, dust storm, rainstorm or snowstorm. Then if i see dust on the sensor I use a Rocket Blower to try to blow it off. 80% of the time this works. Finally, if there are too many dust spots (and for me that is more than a dozen), then I clean the sensor or send it off to have it done professionally. Unfortunately the pros often do a worse job than I can, so I usually do it myself.

1) Don't do it. Ideally I would have a camera body for every lens, or at least the ones I use most frequently. Not a practical answer, of course, but I do have two combinations that have not had a lens change in many months, and one has not been changed for years.

2) Plan ahead, Minimize unnecessary lens changes as far as possible by keeping a generally useful lens on every camera. Any camera that isn't in deep storage should always have a lens on it and be ready to shoot.

3) Only change lenses at home on the desk or workbench, under controlled conditions, when you will not be interrupted and can therefore work fast. This has the added advantage of reducing the amount of gear you carry in the field.

4) If you can't change a lens at home, do it in another controlled setting-- a hotel room, somebody else's house, a car with the windows shut, etc. A restroom will do in a pinch.

5) If you must change lenses outdoors or in other busy places in the field, turn your back to the sun and wind, hold the camera upside down and employ a helper. The helper uncovers the mount on the new lens, holds it ready while you remove the old lens, then takes the old lens in their other hand when you take the new one and install it. This leaves the sensor uncovered for the minimum amount of time. You then cover the mount on the old lens and pack it away. The helper can be a spouse, reliable older child, patient friend, or in a pinch any friendly looking fellow photographer.

yardcoyote said:

1) Don't do it. Ideally I would have a camera body for every lens, or at least the ones I use most frequently. Not a practical answer, of course, but I do have two combinations that have not had a lens change in many months, and one has not been changed for years.

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Not only not everyone can have multiple camera bodies, but carrying multiple camera body combos is not practical in many situations and is only going to be an option for the most dedicated photographers even then.

yardcoyote said:

2) Plan ahead,

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This suggests that the photographer knows precisely what they will be shooting before they encounter the shot. And whilst I always suggest planning, it is often not possible to know what one will be shooting. This is especially true for amateur photographers

yardcoyote said:

Minimize unnecessary lens changes as far as possible by keeping a generally useful lens on every camera. Any camera that isn't in deep storage should always have a lens on it and be ready to shoot.

3) Only change lenses at home on the desk or workbench, under controlled conditions, when you will not be interrupted and can therefore work fast. This has the added advantage of reducing the amount of gear you carry in the field.

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Again, not practicable in many, if not most, situations.

yardcoyote said:

4) If you can't change a lens at home, do it in another controlled setting-- a hotel room, somebody else's house, a car with the windows shut, etc. A restroom will do in a pinch.

5) If you must change lenses outdoors or in other busy places in the field, turn your back to the sun and wind, hold the camera upside down and employ a helper. The helper uncovers the mount on the new lens, holds it ready while you remove the old lens, then takes the old lens in their other hand when you take the new one and install it. This leaves the sensor uncovered for the minimum amount of time. You then cover the mount on the old lens and pack it away. The helper can be a spouse, reliable older child, patient friend, or in a pinch any friendly looking fellow photographer.

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Yes, camera Sherpas or camera caddies. Never leave the manor without one or the other.

Quickly, carefully, not if there is a lot of dust in the air.

I've got a blower with a filter but with sensor cleaning on and off it isn't needed often.

smithim said:

Also, I wouldn't change a lens in adverse conditions - sea spray, sand etc.

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Agreed.

smithim said:

My last camera was a D200 which I used for 10 years - I never had to wet clean the sensor. The only time I spotted a couple of dust bunnies they were sorted with a hand blower.

Click to expand...

Mind-blowing! Cannot conceive going 2 years with any of my cameras. Could also be I'm too quick to give up on the rocket blower as a solution.

Phil A Martin said:

I use a DSLR, I can't remember when I last had an issue with dust?

Now my compact cameras with fixed zoom lenses, now that's a different issue but I successfully cleaned my Panasonic DMC LX100, using a shroud over the lens made out of a plastic bottle attached to a vacuum cleaner. A couple of zooms with the cleaner on and the dust was removed.

Click to expand...

Vacuum cleaner? Interesting idea. When you get around to it, mind posting some photos of your setup?

Gato Amarillo said:

Like some of the others, I have not had a dust problem in years. I can recall once in the last ten years I've needed to use a blower.

I try to remember to point the camera down and with modern zooms I don't change lenses as often as in the past, but I change when and where I need to -- unless conditions are really bad. Even out here in windy, dusty West Texas I just don't have a serious problem.

Gato

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Hi Gato,

Figured West Texas would be bad news, between the sand & static charges (from being so dry).

From the responses I have read so far, amazed how many photographers are not plagued by the dust issue. Maybe NJ is a bigger problem than I give it credit for?

Niels

robgendreau said:

I like to always have my blower near if I can.

Also, don't forget to blow the dust off the rear of the lens...it can eventually fall onto your sensor. I'd see folks attach double-sided tape to the inside of body caps to trap dust, but I don't know if that really works. I always have a lens on, so never have tried it.

Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that. I ALWAYS use the rocket blower on the rear of a lens that is about to be attached to the camera.

robgendreau said:

And I seem to have less dust problems if I use one of those lens holster where you put the lens in, unmount it, then on to the next. Since the camera is partly shielded by the case seems to help protect it from dust a bit.

Click to expand...

Interesting. Additional dust shielding.

I dunno. Think back to the question about 2 lenses that do 95% of your work. Even if it's not true for you, the number is probably pretty small. If you have two camera bodes (which is not unreasonable), it is easy enough to leave one of the 2 most frequently used lenses on one and the other on the other and be ready for a big chunk of whatever is likely to come along at any minute.

That's at home. In the field, its two lenses max, and almost certainly on two cameras. I haven't weighed them, but a small street camera like a Fuji X100T or my X-M1/27mm combo can't be much heavier than a second fast lens for a FF camera, and is certainly less bulky. And no lenses to change!

And of course, I am a fool for cameras, and I would rather have a bunch of different old ones than one sensible "pro" model. It looks like I have a lot of gear, and I do, but it's all pretty rough and ready. I know I have a lot less invested in the whole thing than I would in a "rational" enthusiast kit of a current generation FF body, two fast zooms and a fast fifty. Not rich, just a bit of an idiot.

lilBuddha said:

nkistrup said:

The filter atop of the camera sensor is going to get those ugly dust spots, and at some point it will be bad enough that you will either,

1. Do a wet cleaning, or
2. Hire someone else to do the wet cleaning.

Besides minimizing lens changes, what do you do to minimize the dust landing on the sensor's filter? JerseySailor's post about using an air purifier got me thinking about this: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64702286 . How does the rest of the DPReview community handle this?

Will start off,

• Always point camera down.

Click to expand...

Almost always a good idea.

lilBuddha said:

• Do it in the bathroom.

Click to expand...

Great idea! Now can you go about installing these in multiple locations at every beach, along every hiking trail, cliff top and remote valley in the world? And can you make them subterranean or have them raise out of the ground an lower back down so they are not in the shot?

lilBuddha said:

• Do it in still air
  • When out in the field, in the car w. the windows rolled up & fan not blowing.

Click to expand...

Not a bad idea, but often still air isn't where one is whilst shooting.

Click to expand...

What can I say? Have almost a phobia about dust, so I change lenses as infrequently as possible.

lilBuddha said:

What I do is turn the camera off.¹

Point the camera away from the wind and shield it with my body

And change lenses as quickly as practicable.

¹As I understand it, the idea is that the camera is more likely to attract dust when it is powered on. Some manuals suggest doing this

Click to expand...

Agreed on all 3 points, except the 1st only applies to mirrorless. For my Nikon D7100, have to have it turned on, to force the mirror to be in a locked position.

CameraCarl said:

I don't worry about it. I turn my back to the wind, turn the camera off, point the camera opening downward, and make the switch as quickly as possible. I try not to do it in a sandstorm, dust storm, rainstorm or snowstorm. Then if i see dust on the sensor I use a Rocket Blower to try to blow it off. 80% of the time this works. Finally, if there are too many dust spots (and for me that is more than a dozen), then I clean the sensor or send it off to have it done professionally. Unfortunately the pros often do a worse job than I can, so I usually do it myself.

Click to expand...

Practice makes perfect. But sometimes have wasted more $$$ on supplies than a professional cleaning.

Have heard horror stories like yours, of really bad paid-for cleaning jobs.

yardcoyote said:

1) Don't do it. Ideally I would have a camera body for every lens, or at least the ones I use most frequently. Not a practical answer, of course, but I do have two combinations that have not had a lens change in many months, and one has not been changed for years.

Click to expand...

Can appreciate that. And have lenses for each of my bodies that are workhorses & can be left on most of the time. Problems:

1. When I had my Sony a6300, saw it get dust get on the sensor even when it hadn't had a lens changes in months. (Did it get sucked in from the lens?)
2. Cannot get away from it: There are times that I want to switch lenses. Went interchangeable for a reason.

yardcoyote said:

2) Plan ahead, Minimize unnecessary lens changes as far as possible by keeping a generally useful lens on every camera. Any camera that isn't in deep storage should always have a lens on it and be ready to shoot.

Click to expand...

I'm an amateur, so shoot, so can afford to do this ... most of the time.

yardcoyote said:

3) Only change lenses at home on the desk or workbench, under controlled conditions, when you will not be interrupted and can therefore work fast. This has the added advantage of reducing the amount of gear you carry in the field.

Click to expand...

yardcoyote said:

4) If you can't change a lens at home, do it in another controlled setting-- a hotel room, somebody else's house, a car with the windows shut, etc. A restroom will do in a pinch.

Click to expand...

yardcoyote said:

5) If you must change lenses outdoors or in other busy places in the field, turn your back to the sun and wind, hold the camera upside down and employ a helper. The helper uncovers the mount on the new lens, holds it ready while you remove the old lens, then takes the old lens in their other hand when you take the new one and install it. This leaves the sensor uncovered for the minimum amount of time. You then cover the mount on the old lens and pack it away. The helper can be a spouse, reliable older child, patient friend, or in a pinch any friendly looking fellow photographer.

Click to expand...

In general, agree with your points; the sort of the thing that I was looking for, when I posted the question. But as you said, not always practical.

a_c_skinner said:

Quickly, carefully, not if there is a lot of dust in the air.

I've got a blower with a filter but with sensor cleaning on and off it isn't needed often.

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Have those too. Wonder how effective they REALLY are?