Hello Alphanautics:
This is a quick newsflash related to the Alpha mount community.
Sony has finally phased out the 24-105mm f/3.5-4.5 and the DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lenses. None appear anymore in the US SonyStyle site.
This means that if you were considering of buying any of those lenses, you can't do so now through authorized dealers or the SonyStyle sites, you'll have to resort to gray market (eBay and that kind of dubious places...).
There had been the persistent rumour that Sony was making a new 24-105mm lens, G class with SSM and what not, there were even photos of the manual around, but so far it hasn't happened.
Maybe Sony was waiting for all the stock on the 24-105mm to clear before releasing the new one or maybe it was just a rumour that turned out to be false.
The replacement for those lenses are the 28-75mm f/2.8 SAM lens and the DT 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.
The new 18-55mm lens has been receiving a lot of good reviews, putting it ahead of the 18-70mm in every way possible, although some criticism has been given to the SAM motor which apparently doesn't make things smoother or quieter or easier.
The 28-75mm has yet to be tested since it hasn't been released yet. It will be paired with the new A850 as a kit or be sold separately.
My only gripe is that if you're shooting full frame and zoom lenses with long reach are your thing, you'll have to hunt for the 24-105mm someplace else. Now the official option is the 28-75mm lens, which may be a bit short for some of you. Of course it all depends on what kind of photography you exactly do. And isn't that bad either, if you get a 70-300mm or 75-300mm telephoto lens, that one carries on where the 28-75mm left off.
Still, its better to have options no?
The kit replacement was inevitable, those are replaced more frequently than other lenses. The good thing is that the new one its better than its predecessor. Even though the focal length has been reduced, I think its a fair trade off if you're getting better optical quality. Head over at www.kurtmunger.com to read reviews of these and other Alpha mount lenses.
Over and out.
Showing posts with label All Alphas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All Alphas. Show all posts
Friday, September 4, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Frequent Lens Changing Or Why It's Not So Convenient To Carry Multiple Lenses To Shoot With.
Hello Alphanautics:
This time I bring you an article based on my own experience about an issue that happens to photographers that have more that one or two lenses.
Introduction
1 week ago I went with some friends to a place a bit far from where I live to shoot out some scenery and whatever else came across in between.
Normally I can carry everything Ill need, including most of my lenses, due to the case I have. Usually I don't carry it with me per se but leave it nearby for easy access in case I need an item from the bag. It may not sound that practical to some of you, but its better to have that lens or filter near instead of saying "Great, I left it home".
Of course, one could plan meticulously ahead and just take what you'll need and that's that. I have to learn to do that.
Anyway, since we were going in my car and I was driving and it was just two of my pals and me, I had space to carry all my stuff.
Once we got there, I got a bit of a hang of how the shoot would go: we would be moving in short distances, stopping to shoot what we wanted for a "fixed amount" of time (and I use quotes because usually the 10 minutes we agreed on, turned 20 or 30... Nature is a beautiful thing to explore and enjoy) and then move on until we stopped again, we would repeat that routine until we reached the farthest place we could go.
Here is the lens line up I had with me that day:
Sony DT 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3
Sony 28mm f/2.8
Sony 50mm Macro f/2.8
Tamron LD Di Telemacro 75-300mm f/4-5.6
I wish I had taken the Lensbaby 3G I have...
And to my surprise, one of the friends that was going had a Minolta Maxxum 7000 SLR with a Minolta 35-70 f/4 lens. He took it because he wanted me to see it in case I wanted to buy it.So he gave it to me to test out.
So that made for 5 lenses available to use.
I tried the 35-70mm lens but I quickly took it off and switched back to the 18-200mm, the problem with it was that I was going for wide shots, and due to the crop factor of the sensor in my camera (1.5x), the 35-70mm yields a range of 52.5-105mm on my camera. Not exactly wide...That lens in APS-C sounds more useful for portraits or telephoto shots, not wide shots.
That's one drawback from APS-C, the focal lengths required for wide or ultra wide angles have to be from 18mm to 10mm. And that means specially designed lenses, full frame wide angles stop being wide when you use them on a smaller sensor.
Anyway, after the first stop and taking some photos, I realized I was going to want to do both wide angle shots and telephoto shots, so I took out the 75-300mm and put it in my vest. Its worth noting that I didn't left the 35-70mm in my bag, but I carried it around without noticing...
As we moved on, I found myself doing something that slowed me down big time: I was changing lenses frequently.
The problem with frequent lens changing and carrying lenses around.
For a good while, I kept going between the 18-200mm and the 75-300mm. While this produced good shots all over a wide focal length spectrum, it slowed me down and made my moving around very clumsy.
The great thing about the SLR system is that it allows you to change lenses in order to get the shot with the angle you want or get close with something far away. The possibilities are endless.
The problem is that, as you acquire more and more lenses, you have a need/craving to carry them all around and use them all at the same time.
Because you got so many choices, you want to try them all. The problem is that if you don't make up your mind about what kind of shots you want or in what focal length you'll want them, you'll end up switching lenses endlessly.
Back to me, every time I changed lenses, I either had to do some acrobatic stunt while holding two lenses, the camera body and caps or ask a friend to help me out. The problem was, whenever I switched lenses on my own, I stayed behind while my friends moved on.
Not to mention that I had to put my lenses on rocks, even though nothing happened, I was risking them to a fall or worse.
Once I actually managed to switch lenses and catch up, another problem showed up: I couldn't move with enough freedom.
The terrain we were at, was mostly rocky. Some points required jumping from rock to rock, climbing or sitting on the rock and sliding down just to name a few examples.
Its hard to do it as it is with no extra luggage, unless you do it all the time. But add a handicap of one hand busy holding the camera and things get a little bit more complicated, then to that add the fact that you're carrying two lenses in your vest bags, and those lenses wont let you jump comfortably because you risk of smashing them against a wall or press them against you, or they wont let you cross through a narrow space because the pocket is so bulky, or you cant get on the ground on your belly to take a shot because you got to take the lenses out of the pockets and you have a quite handicapped shoot.
After a while of enduring this, i said enough of the bulky 75-300mm and I placed it back in my bag since I wasn't using it anymore.
But then I made another mistake, I forgot to take out the 35-70mm and I took out the 28mm because I planned leaving the 18-200mm in the bag as well and just use a prime for the rest of the trip.
I know, I know, I collected more strikes at this point than a blind person would on the bottom of the 9th inning on the 7th game of the World Series...
In my defense Ill say that, as I was switching the 18-200mm off my camera, I noted a group of large birds landing on top of a rock and some flying around where I was. So I kept the 18-200mm lens on and shoot the birds (not literally of course) but I forgot to leave the 28mm behind...
Then I wandered off on my own and came across a rock that looks like a mushroom and wanted to shoot it at ground level, but just as I was setting on the floor, I felt two bulks on my pockets that didn't let me lay flat.
Yeah, those two bulks were the 28mm and the 35-70mm...
I finally decided to take them back to my car and leave them on my bag and just stick with the 18-200mm for the rest of the shoot out.
After doing that, things proceeded much more smoothly. No more lens changing slowing me down, no more unused lenses in my bag doing nothing but adding weight, no more worries.
Despite these problems, I had a great time and got great pictures. However, once I got home and I reviewed both the pictures and the experience, I came to some conclusions and lessons learnt that Id like to share with you.
What I learnt and what I realized.
The first thing I realized was that carrying multiple lenses around is just NOT practical. The best thing to do is to set on one lens or two at the most and stick to those.
I realized that, personally, I still tend to lean toward zoom lenses than primes. This is understandable; I come from a camera that allowed me to move between wide angle to telephoto shots with the same lens. Most of the cameras Ive used before (video and photography) have zoom lenses. The lens my A700 came paired with is a zoom. There's also the detail that these days, camera manufacturers tend to sell bodies with zoom lenses rather than primes.
This is understandable too, they want to give you options within the same lens. Back in SLR days (before 1980 or so), camera makers used to sell you the SLR with a 50mm lens and that's all you had to make pictures until you bought other lenses. But then lens makers got the hang of making zoom lenses that looked as good or better than fixed focal length lenses, and a lot of people switched to those and became the de facto "go-to-lens" for many.
A zoom lens is a versatile way to have plenty of focal lengths in the same lens to do shots up close or wide as possible.
The problem I see is that, if one sticks to this kind of lenses ALL the time, then one is not exploiting the full power of the SLR system, which one of its advantages is THE ABILITY TO CHANGE LENSES!
One might as well stick to a high end compact bridge camera or P&S in that case...
Since I realized that point, I have decided to shoot for a while only with a fixed focal length lens or a small zoom lens. That way I will learn to shoot in a new way and will get more used to those lenses that I don't use that much.
The other thing I concluded is that is not worth carrying plenty of lenses around "just in case" or "because I want to shoot with all of them". You'll waste more time changing lenses than taking pictures. And if you carry a bulk of lenses around, your attention will be on them; that nothing happens to them, which lens should you use, if they aren't rubbing against each other, etc.
Its just not worth it, the best thing to do is to set on one lens or two and fully exploit them and work around their short coming against other lenses.
For example, if I had just taken the 28mm lens all the way on my trip, I would have had a lighter camera+lens combination than with the 18-200mm. If I had wanted to get close, I would have walked or climbed as much as I could. If I had wanted to go wide, I would have walked back as long as it took to get all I wanted to get in the frame.
Maybe I could have taken the 28mm and the 75-300mm and deal with those. Or just do what I ended up doing: using just the 18-200mm and take pictures.
Its a trade-off, as anything related to photography, but the point in this case is to maximize the time you spend taking pictures instead of taking a lens off and putting another one on.
Of course, it all depends on the kind of shooting you do or the environment you shoot at, maybe a zoom will work better than a prime, maybe a heavy lens will be better than a lighter one, maybe a 50mm lens will be better than a 28mm lens.
The possibilities are infinite, only you know what you need to get the shot you want.
The trick is to learn how to get that shot when you don't have the specific lens you want or need.
There is also another issue: whether you're willing to let some shots go.
Take my example, if I had switched the 18-200mm lens to the 28mm and then I spotted the birds I saw, I would have had two choices: 1) Switch the lens again back to the 18-200mm or the 75-300mm or 2) Stick with the 28mm and get as close and as high as possible to the birds and shoot what I could get.
The zoom lenses allowed me to track the birds and get them close enough for the shots I wanted, but the 28mm wouldn't have got me as far as I needed. In that case I would had to compose differently or move to get them as close as possible.
Then there's also the post-processing resource of cropping. Taking a wide picture and then take out pixels off the picture to frame it as you originally wanted. Personally I'm not a big fan of this...
Of course there is always the possibility of hiring one or two people who carry your stuff around and have them have the lenses ready for you. But if you cant afford it or find two people willing to do it, you'll need to learn how to do some lens management.
One interesting and (awfully) surprising detail: Despite all the lens changing I did, I didn't get ANY dust bunnies on my sensor! Woo!
I guess the clean and cool air of the mountain is cleaner even at dust level than the city's air.
But then again I think, if I had done this in...downtown, my sensor would be filled will all sorts of garbage.
Well, there you have it. Some food for thought about how to best use your lenses and how to spend more time shooting than changing lenses or worrying about them.
In summary:
1.- Decide before hand what kind of shots you'll want to get and which focal length you'll need to get those shots. Then pick a lens with the suitable focal length.
2.- Carry as few lens as possible, carry what you need, but dont carry all of your lenses.
3.- Zoom lenses are one good way to minimize carrying many lenses around and switching them frequently, but also explore fixed focal length lenses to exploit the advantage of being able to change lenses in your camera.
4.- Keep in mind the sensor size of your camera, the smaller it is, the longer the focal length of any lens becomes if its meant for a full frame camera. The exception to this is when using lenses especially designed for smaller sensors.
If you shoot with a full frame camera, dont worry about this.
5.- Sticking to one lens may force you to develop the way you frame or compose in order to get the shot you want or a shot that looks just as good, this is a good thing worth exploring into.
6.- The only reason why you wouldnt need to worry about this stuff is if you got a crew of people taking care of your lenses so you just focus on shooting (pun intended).
7.- Its ok to have a lot of lenses, just dont carry ALL of them around, instead learn how to pick them depending on the pictures you want to get.
The only (valid) reason I can think of for carrying plenty of lenses around is because you work for a lens making company and youre displaying them on a show or in a field event sponsored by the lens maker, or borrowing them to people for them to use. But if youre going to take pictures, carrying 4 lenses or more is just going to slow you down.
I hope this article helps you out.
Until next time.
This time I bring you an article based on my own experience about an issue that happens to photographers that have more that one or two lenses.
Introduction
1 week ago I went with some friends to a place a bit far from where I live to shoot out some scenery and whatever else came across in between.
Normally I can carry everything Ill need, including most of my lenses, due to the case I have. Usually I don't carry it with me per se but leave it nearby for easy access in case I need an item from the bag. It may not sound that practical to some of you, but its better to have that lens or filter near instead of saying "Great, I left it home".
Of course, one could plan meticulously ahead and just take what you'll need and that's that. I have to learn to do that.
Anyway, since we were going in my car and I was driving and it was just two of my pals and me, I had space to carry all my stuff.
Once we got there, I got a bit of a hang of how the shoot would go: we would be moving in short distances, stopping to shoot what we wanted for a "fixed amount" of time (and I use quotes because usually the 10 minutes we agreed on, turned 20 or 30... Nature is a beautiful thing to explore and enjoy) and then move on until we stopped again, we would repeat that routine until we reached the farthest place we could go.
Here is the lens line up I had with me that day:
Sony DT 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3
Sony 28mm f/2.8
Sony 50mm Macro f/2.8
Tamron LD Di Telemacro 75-300mm f/4-5.6
I wish I had taken the Lensbaby 3G I have...
And to my surprise, one of the friends that was going had a Minolta Maxxum 7000 SLR with a Minolta 35-70 f/4 lens. He took it because he wanted me to see it in case I wanted to buy it.So he gave it to me to test out.
So that made for 5 lenses available to use.
I tried the 35-70mm lens but I quickly took it off and switched back to the 18-200mm, the problem with it was that I was going for wide shots, and due to the crop factor of the sensor in my camera (1.5x), the 35-70mm yields a range of 52.5-105mm on my camera. Not exactly wide...That lens in APS-C sounds more useful for portraits or telephoto shots, not wide shots.
That's one drawback from APS-C, the focal lengths required for wide or ultra wide angles have to be from 18mm to 10mm. And that means specially designed lenses, full frame wide angles stop being wide when you use them on a smaller sensor.
Anyway, after the first stop and taking some photos, I realized I was going to want to do both wide angle shots and telephoto shots, so I took out the 75-300mm and put it in my vest. Its worth noting that I didn't left the 35-70mm in my bag, but I carried it around without noticing...
As we moved on, I found myself doing something that slowed me down big time: I was changing lenses frequently.
The problem with frequent lens changing and carrying lenses around.
For a good while, I kept going between the 18-200mm and the 75-300mm. While this produced good shots all over a wide focal length spectrum, it slowed me down and made my moving around very clumsy.
The great thing about the SLR system is that it allows you to change lenses in order to get the shot with the angle you want or get close with something far away. The possibilities are endless.
The problem is that, as you acquire more and more lenses, you have a need/craving to carry them all around and use them all at the same time.
Because you got so many choices, you want to try them all. The problem is that if you don't make up your mind about what kind of shots you want or in what focal length you'll want them, you'll end up switching lenses endlessly.
Back to me, every time I changed lenses, I either had to do some acrobatic stunt while holding two lenses, the camera body and caps or ask a friend to help me out. The problem was, whenever I switched lenses on my own, I stayed behind while my friends moved on.
Not to mention that I had to put my lenses on rocks, even though nothing happened, I was risking them to a fall or worse.
Once I actually managed to switch lenses and catch up, another problem showed up: I couldn't move with enough freedom.
The terrain we were at, was mostly rocky. Some points required jumping from rock to rock, climbing or sitting on the rock and sliding down just to name a few examples.
Its hard to do it as it is with no extra luggage, unless you do it all the time. But add a handicap of one hand busy holding the camera and things get a little bit more complicated, then to that add the fact that you're carrying two lenses in your vest bags, and those lenses wont let you jump comfortably because you risk of smashing them against a wall or press them against you, or they wont let you cross through a narrow space because the pocket is so bulky, or you cant get on the ground on your belly to take a shot because you got to take the lenses out of the pockets and you have a quite handicapped shoot.
After a while of enduring this, i said enough of the bulky 75-300mm and I placed it back in my bag since I wasn't using it anymore.
But then I made another mistake, I forgot to take out the 35-70mm and I took out the 28mm because I planned leaving the 18-200mm in the bag as well and just use a prime for the rest of the trip.
I know, I know, I collected more strikes at this point than a blind person would on the bottom of the 9th inning on the 7th game of the World Series...
In my defense Ill say that, as I was switching the 18-200mm off my camera, I noted a group of large birds landing on top of a rock and some flying around where I was. So I kept the 18-200mm lens on and shoot the birds (not literally of course) but I forgot to leave the 28mm behind...
Then I wandered off on my own and came across a rock that looks like a mushroom and wanted to shoot it at ground level, but just as I was setting on the floor, I felt two bulks on my pockets that didn't let me lay flat.
Yeah, those two bulks were the 28mm and the 35-70mm...
I finally decided to take them back to my car and leave them on my bag and just stick with the 18-200mm for the rest of the shoot out.
After doing that, things proceeded much more smoothly. No more lens changing slowing me down, no more unused lenses in my bag doing nothing but adding weight, no more worries.
Despite these problems, I had a great time and got great pictures. However, once I got home and I reviewed both the pictures and the experience, I came to some conclusions and lessons learnt that Id like to share with you.
What I learnt and what I realized.
The first thing I realized was that carrying multiple lenses around is just NOT practical. The best thing to do is to set on one lens or two at the most and stick to those.
I realized that, personally, I still tend to lean toward zoom lenses than primes. This is understandable; I come from a camera that allowed me to move between wide angle to telephoto shots with the same lens. Most of the cameras Ive used before (video and photography) have zoom lenses. The lens my A700 came paired with is a zoom. There's also the detail that these days, camera manufacturers tend to sell bodies with zoom lenses rather than primes.
This is understandable too, they want to give you options within the same lens. Back in SLR days (before 1980 or so), camera makers used to sell you the SLR with a 50mm lens and that's all you had to make pictures until you bought other lenses. But then lens makers got the hang of making zoom lenses that looked as good or better than fixed focal length lenses, and a lot of people switched to those and became the de facto "go-to-lens" for many.
A zoom lens is a versatile way to have plenty of focal lengths in the same lens to do shots up close or wide as possible.
The problem I see is that, if one sticks to this kind of lenses ALL the time, then one is not exploiting the full power of the SLR system, which one of its advantages is THE ABILITY TO CHANGE LENSES!
One might as well stick to a high end compact bridge camera or P&S in that case...
Since I realized that point, I have decided to shoot for a while only with a fixed focal length lens or a small zoom lens. That way I will learn to shoot in a new way and will get more used to those lenses that I don't use that much.
The other thing I concluded is that is not worth carrying plenty of lenses around "just in case" or "because I want to shoot with all of them". You'll waste more time changing lenses than taking pictures. And if you carry a bulk of lenses around, your attention will be on them; that nothing happens to them, which lens should you use, if they aren't rubbing against each other, etc.
Its just not worth it, the best thing to do is to set on one lens or two and fully exploit them and work around their short coming against other lenses.
For example, if I had just taken the 28mm lens all the way on my trip, I would have had a lighter camera+lens combination than with the 18-200mm. If I had wanted to get close, I would have walked or climbed as much as I could. If I had wanted to go wide, I would have walked back as long as it took to get all I wanted to get in the frame.
Maybe I could have taken the 28mm and the 75-300mm and deal with those. Or just do what I ended up doing: using just the 18-200mm and take pictures.
Its a trade-off, as anything related to photography, but the point in this case is to maximize the time you spend taking pictures instead of taking a lens off and putting another one on.
Of course, it all depends on the kind of shooting you do or the environment you shoot at, maybe a zoom will work better than a prime, maybe a heavy lens will be better than a lighter one, maybe a 50mm lens will be better than a 28mm lens.
The possibilities are infinite, only you know what you need to get the shot you want.
The trick is to learn how to get that shot when you don't have the specific lens you want or need.
There is also another issue: whether you're willing to let some shots go.
Take my example, if I had switched the 18-200mm lens to the 28mm and then I spotted the birds I saw, I would have had two choices: 1) Switch the lens again back to the 18-200mm or the 75-300mm or 2) Stick with the 28mm and get as close and as high as possible to the birds and shoot what I could get.
The zoom lenses allowed me to track the birds and get them close enough for the shots I wanted, but the 28mm wouldn't have got me as far as I needed. In that case I would had to compose differently or move to get them as close as possible.
Then there's also the post-processing resource of cropping. Taking a wide picture and then take out pixels off the picture to frame it as you originally wanted. Personally I'm not a big fan of this...
Of course there is always the possibility of hiring one or two people who carry your stuff around and have them have the lenses ready for you. But if you cant afford it or find two people willing to do it, you'll need to learn how to do some lens management.
One interesting and (awfully) surprising detail: Despite all the lens changing I did, I didn't get ANY dust bunnies on my sensor! Woo!
I guess the clean and cool air of the mountain is cleaner even at dust level than the city's air.
But then again I think, if I had done this in...downtown, my sensor would be filled will all sorts of garbage.
Well, there you have it. Some food for thought about how to best use your lenses and how to spend more time shooting than changing lenses or worrying about them.
In summary:
1.- Decide before hand what kind of shots you'll want to get and which focal length you'll need to get those shots. Then pick a lens with the suitable focal length.
2.- Carry as few lens as possible, carry what you need, but dont carry all of your lenses.
3.- Zoom lenses are one good way to minimize carrying many lenses around and switching them frequently, but also explore fixed focal length lenses to exploit the advantage of being able to change lenses in your camera.
4.- Keep in mind the sensor size of your camera, the smaller it is, the longer the focal length of any lens becomes if its meant for a full frame camera. The exception to this is when using lenses especially designed for smaller sensors.
If you shoot with a full frame camera, dont worry about this.
5.- Sticking to one lens may force you to develop the way you frame or compose in order to get the shot you want or a shot that looks just as good, this is a good thing worth exploring into.
6.- The only reason why you wouldnt need to worry about this stuff is if you got a crew of people taking care of your lenses so you just focus on shooting (pun intended).
7.- Its ok to have a lot of lenses, just dont carry ALL of them around, instead learn how to pick them depending on the pictures you want to get.
The only (valid) reason I can think of for carrying plenty of lenses around is because you work for a lens making company and youre displaying them on a show or in a field event sponsored by the lens maker, or borrowing them to people for them to use. But if youre going to take pictures, carrying 4 lenses or more is just going to slow you down.
I hope this article helps you out.
Until next time.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wet Cleaning & Product Review: Dust-Wand Kit By Dust-Aid
Introduction
So far, I've written articles to deal with dust on your sensor using dry-cleaning products ( such as the Sensor Klear or an air blaster).
However, sometimes that is not enough, dust is persistant and stubborn and won't go away no matter how much you blow or use the Sensor Klear's tip.
That kind of dust is called welded dust.
Welded because it sticks to the sensor filter as if you actually took a welding torch and bonded it with the filter.
The kit contains the following:
2.-.- Set the camera to Cleaning Mode
In the A100: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Clean CCD
A200/300/350: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
A700: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
A900: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
Cleaning Mode (or Clean CCD) locks the mirror up, opens the shutter and cuts power off the sensor for you to clean it.
DO NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT USE BULB SHUTTER SPEED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.
This is risky AND stupid. Bulb is designed for long exposures NOT sensor cleaning. While its true that it opens the shutter and reveals the sensor as long as you keep the shutter button pressed, IT DOES NOT LOCK THE MIRROR UP NOR IT CUTS POWER OFF THE SENSOR, IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY REMOVE YOUR FINGER OFF THE SHUTTER BUTTON AND IT CLOSES, THE SHUTTER CURTAINS CAN CRASH AGAINST THE WAND AND THEY WILL GET BENT, THIS MEANS YOUR CAMERA IS RUINED FOR GOOD.
DO NOT USE BULB SHUTTER SPEED, USE CLEANING MODE.
3.- Remove the lens mounted on the camera and put it aside where its safe.
4.- Clean the loose dust that may be on the sensor filter, for this you can use an air blaster, a Sensor Klear or the Dust-Aid Platinum cleaner (more on that one later).
5.- Apply 3-5 drops of the liquid included (Ultra Clean) to each side of the wrapped tip.
6.- Place the Dust-Wand in the lower corner of the sensor filter and gently move it across the sensor filter.
7.- Remove the Dust-Wand and replace the cloth with a new one to insure you wont have any dust particles in the reverse cleaning. (Check the Notes of use section)
8.- Add liquid again to the tip, place on the upper corner of the sensor and clean.
Youre done!
As you can see, this is a fairly simple and quick procedure. It takes practice to become a master on it, but once you get the hang of this, you will spare yourself the trouble of sending the camera for a clean everytime you got dust since you can do it yourself.
Notes of use
Dust-Aid's Official Site
So far, I've written articles to deal with dust on your sensor using dry-cleaning products ( such as the Sensor Klear or an air blaster).
However, sometimes that is not enough, dust is persistant and stubborn and won't go away no matter how much you blow or use the Sensor Klear's tip.
That kind of dust is called welded dust.
Welded because it sticks to the sensor filter as if you actually took a welding torch and bonded it with the filter.
As with lose dust, this kind will appear when using small apertures, however, it can show up in two forms:
1.- Like a regular black dust spot
or
2.- Like a liquid drop when it dries out on a crystal surface. This kind is tricky, because sometimes you can mistake it for something else or you won't see it because its translucid (meaning it will let light through it but its not completely transparent).
Particles such as pollen or that have a sticky composition will weld into the filter. Another way of welding a dry dust particle is to blow inside the mirror chamber with the sensor exposed with your mouth. The water in your breath will work as a glue for the particle.
If this has or hasn't happened to you yet, rest assured, there is a solution to try before having to send it to the manufacturer.
And that's to perform a Wet Cleaning.
Wet Cleaning
A wet cleaning is basically the cleaning of the sensor filter with a liquid solution and especially made pads or cloths to rub the filter.
There are many ways to do this, the most popular is the Copper Hill method. Of course there are many other sites in the internet that can help you perform a wet cleaning, but this one is one of the most accurate.
The wet cleaning is usually regarded as a very difficult and/or risky process, and if it's the first time you do it, it will be.
Difficult because you got to be precise and fast in your movements, risky because you can make a worse mess on your sensor; you can move it out of place or spill liquid under the filter, and that would be BAD, because it would dry on the sensor itself, which means that all the pictures you take will have the pattern of the dried liquid and will require that you send it to the manufacturer so they can remove the filter and either clean or replace the sensor.
However, a well executed wet cleaning can get rid of all the welded dust attached your sensor, remove liquid stains and lose dust; leaving your sensor filter completely clean.
Just as its inevitable that at some point you WILL have to perform a sensor cleaning, it is INEVITABLE that at some point you will have to do a wet cleaning.
One problem of wet cleaning is the price of materials, they can be somewhat expensive and in the long run it may not be affordable to do a wet cleaning.
Another problem of the wet cleaning is that it's not as fast as blowing air into the mirror box or using a Sensor Klear. Not to mention that requires a clean place to perform the operation, otherwise it will be adding dirt over dirt...
The second point doesnt have much work around, but the first one does have a solution...
The charge of Dust bunny; my personal esperience
A few months ago I noticed a dust bunny (a.k.a. dust spot or dust particle) on the sensor filter of my A700, I blew and blew and blew at it with my air blaster, and just like the wolf from The Three Little Pigs, I ended getting nowhere...
Then I brought out my Sensor Klear and tried to remove it but it wouldnt budge either. I left it alone for a few days and tried again with the Sensor Klear, but the dust bunny had made a home in the sensor filter.
At this point I knew this meant only one thing... Welded dust, dreadful welded dust.
I was pretty much screwed because 1.- I didnt know how to perform a wet cleaning 2.- I didnt have anything to perform a wet cleaning and 3.- The dust bunny prevented me from using small apertures.
One small thing in my favor was that the dust bunny lost itself in the picture most of the time without being noticed, but if I used f/22 to f/40, it was visible if you know where to look for it.
I was pretty bothered at this because I thought I was staying ahead of the dust because I check for dust frequently and if there is, I blow it or rub it away. How this one got welded in particular, beats me.
I had to do a lot of reasearch about HOW to clean the filter using liquids, WHAT products to use and not to use and WHERE to get them. And when I say a lot of reasearch, I mean A L-O-T.
I found a lot of products to use but I needed something that included all the items I needed in one box, that was affordable and most importantly SIMPLE to use.
I kept coming across the items required for a wet cleaning separately in Amazon, and unfortunately the liquids I kept founding werent allowed in airplanes due to the fact they are flammable due to their chemical composition.
However, I came across a product called Dust-Wand Kit by Dust-Aid that included all the items needed to perform a wet cleaning, and all in one box.
So I decided to do some research about it.
I went to the official Dust-Aid site and researched the Dust-Wand kit, it seemed to be a good option to purchase for wet cleanings. However, I don't take everything the maker of a product says blindly, when trying to sell something, people will say whatever to convince you. Thats why the input of other people in this kind of stuff is needed.
I then tried to find reviews about this product and came up short of them, I guess because its a fairly new product, not many people have tried it. I kept finding mostly reviews by other users who got it and used it. As with all reviews, there were good and bad ones. Although the bad ones seemed to have happened due to a failure to follow the instructions contained in the box.
At this point it pretty much meant that I either went with it or kept looking. So I bit the bullet and purchased it.
Once it arrived, I reviewed videos, tutorials and articles related to wet cleaning. Then I watched the video by Dust-Aid about how to use their kit several times.
Once I felt sure enough, I did my first wet cleaning.
As of this point, I have performed two wet cleanings using the Dust-Wand kit with excellent results.
The Dust-Wand Kit by Dust-Aid
The Dust-Wand kit its a product from a company called Dust-Aid that offers sensor cleaning products, either for dry or wet cleanings. The Dust-Wand is obviously for wet cleaning.The kit contains the following:
- Travel case, red color
- Instructions manual
- Ultra Clean cleaning liquid (fast drying liquid)
- 3 plastic wands (they come in different sizes to cover the different sensor sizes: 1.0x, 1.6x and 1.3x)
- 3 cloth clips (these are used to hold the cloth on the wand once your wrap it)
- Dust Cloths x 50 (this are the wipes that youll use to clean the sensor)
Things regarding the contents:
- Everything comes packed in zip lock bags, this is in order to keep the items clean. Don't throw those bags away!
- The Ultra Clean liquid is a fast drying liquid (the fastest on the planet according to Dust-Aid) so dont let too much time pass once you apply it. This liquid is safe for travel, so you can take it on airplanes with no problem. It also leave very little trace once it dries.
- The plastic wands are small so they wont clash against the mirror box walls, they come in different ratios to cover different sensor sizes: A200/300/330/700 use the 1.3x wands, A900 should use the 1.0x wand since its the biggest and meant to be used with full frame sensors.
- The Dust Cloths are said to be lint free but I have experienced this isnt exactly true all the time, some of the cloths will have it, but usually it will come up in parts that you wont use to clean the sensor.
Extra recommended items
Aside from the Dust-Wand kit, I will list a few items I consider that you also should have in order to have a successful wet cleaning, especially if its your first time:
a.- Latex gloves: Like the ones doctors use, these will prevent that you touch the cloth with your fingers in the center or elsewhere in the camera.
b.- Head lamp or a lamp: This will allow you to see the welded dust particles and to light the area you need to see.
c.- A magnifying glass: Especially those pocket magnifying glasses with light included. This will help you spot the dust particles and check if your sensor is clean once you perform a wet cleaning.
d.- An air blaster: It may happen that dust falls on the sensor while cleaning it or after you do but before you put the lens back, in that case, the blaster can get it out of the way quickly without having to clean again.
Finally, if you feel you need it, something to cover your mouth and nose, like those things surgeons use while operating. It prevents that you breathe into the mirror box, but again, only if you feel you need it.
How to use it
1.- You first have to put the wand and wrap it with the cloth included in the box. The exact procedure of how to wrap it is included in the instructions as well as in the video of how to use (which Ill link in the Links section). I wont put it here since it wont much sense unless you actually see how.2.-.- Set the camera to Cleaning Mode
In the A100: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Clean CCD
A200/300/350: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
A700: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
A900: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
Cleaning Mode (or Clean CCD) locks the mirror up, opens the shutter and cuts power off the sensor for you to clean it.
DO NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT USE BULB SHUTTER SPEED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.
This is risky AND stupid. Bulb is designed for long exposures NOT sensor cleaning. While its true that it opens the shutter and reveals the sensor as long as you keep the shutter button pressed, IT DOES NOT LOCK THE MIRROR UP NOR IT CUTS POWER OFF THE SENSOR, IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY REMOVE YOUR FINGER OFF THE SHUTTER BUTTON AND IT CLOSES, THE SHUTTER CURTAINS CAN CRASH AGAINST THE WAND AND THEY WILL GET BENT, THIS MEANS YOUR CAMERA IS RUINED FOR GOOD.
DO NOT USE BULB SHUTTER SPEED, USE CLEANING MODE.
3.- Remove the lens mounted on the camera and put it aside where its safe.
4.- Clean the loose dust that may be on the sensor filter, for this you can use an air blaster, a Sensor Klear or the Dust-Aid Platinum cleaner (more on that one later).
5.- Apply 3-5 drops of the liquid included (Ultra Clean) to each side of the wrapped tip.
6.- Place the Dust-Wand in the lower corner of the sensor filter and gently move it across the sensor filter.
7.- Remove the Dust-Wand and replace the cloth with a new one to insure you wont have any dust particles in the reverse cleaning. (Check the Notes of use section)
8.- Add liquid again to the tip, place on the upper corner of the sensor and clean.
Youre done!
As you can see, this is a fairly simple and quick procedure. It takes practice to become a master on it, but once you get the hang of this, you will spare yourself the trouble of sending the camera for a clean everytime you got dust since you can do it yourself.
Notes of use
- The instruction booklet includes diagrams as to how to wrap the cloth around the wand, how to move the wand on the filter, so if you couldnt picture it from the instructions above, dont worry.
- The liquid dries VERY quickly, so once you apply it, go straight for the sensor. A work around for this is to add 6-8 drops of liquid to the tip.
- I personally recommend wet cleaning only when its called for. Some sites recommend you do it weekly, but I feel that too much intervention too frequently on the filter may be more harm than good. If the blower and a dry cleaning dont work, then go for the wet method.
- The instructions recommend you also get a Dust-Aid Platinum for dry cleaning. The Dust-Aid Platinum is a stick with a sticky pad thats supposed to collect dust and other contamination from the sensor without damaging it. However, I cant vouch for the veracity of this, Ive seen the video of how to use it, but I personally dont feel that sticky pads are a thing you want to put in your sensor. I may be wrong, if anyone of you uses this product, let me know your experience.
- You will find a contradiction in the written instructions and in the video of how to use the Dust-Wand Kit. The instructions tell you to replace the cloth when going in reverse, but the guy in the video doesnt do this, he actually turns the wand and uses the same cloth. If you use the tip, then you will need to replace the cloth, but if you actually use the parts just below the tip, you can actually turn the wand around and avoid having to change the cloth. Ive tried this and it has worked perfectly for me. With this Im not suggesting you deviate from the instructions, just pointing out and letting you know the options. You decide what you do.
- One aspect that can turn confusing and requires A LOT of research is the kind of coatings the sensor filter uses. Why is this important? Because some wet cleaning liquids are meant for specifical coatings, not for everyone. The liquid in the Dust-Wand Kit is meant to be used with all Alphas since they all share the same coating. The Sony Alpha DSLRs use the ITO coating, ITO stands for Indium Tin Oxide, which is the chemical that the filter is coated with. For future reference also, if you cant remember the name of the coatiing, go with this, if the liquid you pick is safe to use with the Nikon D300, then its safe for the Alphas, since the sensor of that camera also shares the ITO coating.
- One important thing you will need to perform a successful wet cleaning is a clean room. By clean room I dont mean the one where sensors are actually mounted or records are recorded into the master plaques (in other words, 100% dust-less) If you could use one of these, great, go for it, but a more practical approach is this:
A clean room should be free of:
- Air currents. Turn off the ventilators or close the vents.
- Kids. Ask them out and buy them an ice cream if theyre nice and leave.
- Pets. They let hairs loose into the environment. So take them out of the room.
- Dust. Duh...
- Anything that can distract you. This is a sensitive procedure, and you must put your full attention to it so you wont screw up. Whatever distracts you, get rid of it momentarily.
If you follow this, you shouldnt have a problem when cleaning the sensor on a well cleaned room in your house.
- I recommend that once youve done cleaning with the wet method, to test if the sensor is clean. For this do the following:
- Use the smallest aperture possible on the lens your using. If it goes up to f/40, go there. Raise the ISO if you have to.
- Set the exposure for 0EV or +1EV maximum. If your shutter speed is too slow (0.6" or slower) dont worry about it, the dust will come out even if there is slight movement in the photo. Just dont make the picture TOO bright otherwise the dust will be hidden in the highlights.
- Focus at infinity at a white wall or the sky.
- Take a shot, if theres nothing on it but color, then youre done, if there is a hair or dust spec, go to Cleaning Mode again and try getting rid of that with a blower or Sensor Klear. If it wont do, do a wet cleaning again.
- The gloves I recommended earlier are meant to be used when you manipulate the cloths, here's why: If you touch the middle section of the cloth with your fingers, the oils in your hand will be transfered to the cloth, therefore you will rub them all over the sensor. I recommend using the gloves so you wont touch any of the cloth with your fingers and eliminating the risk of messing the filter worse than already is. If you touch the center and clean the sensor with it and you notice, repeat the procedure for the cleaning but with gloves, the liquid will remove the oil stains.
- Make sure that you do this procedure from A to B with no stops in between. One reason is to reduce the time the sensor is exposed to the environment so it wont gather more dust, another one is to avoid light build up on the sensor itself, it may affect the Bayer filter in it and affect the colors the camera yields.
- If you welded dust that wont budge using the normal dosage of liquid, double it and soak the dust spec by placing the tip over it. In my experience when welded dust is soaked, it lets go easily when you brush it off with the wand.
- I recommend that if its the first time you do a wet cleaning, that you watch the instruction video several times, read this instructions and do a simulation of the movements youll need to do. This way youll be familiar with what you need to know so you dont have to interrupt the procedure when you actually do it.
- An important point: BE CALM when doing this procedure.
- The Dust-Wand Kit is safe for air travel.
- Finally, remember the Sensor Cleaning Axiom #1: IF YOU DO NOT TRUST YOURSELF OR DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO DO A CLEANING PROCEDURE, DO NOT DO IT. TAKE YOUR CAMERA TO AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER OR LET A QUALIFIED PERSON TO DO IT.
Links
Dust-Aid's Official Site
Link to purchase it through Amazon US
Closure
No one likes to clean their sensors, but its a fact we have to deal with until someone invents a way to stop dust from entering the mirror chamber.
Now you know of the three ways I recommend for sensor cleaning: Air blaster->Dry Cleaning->Wet Cleaning. If all else fails, then you have to send the camera to Sony for them to deal with it.
Eventually you will have to do a wet cleaning, which is a trickier procedure than dry cleaning, but it can be done easily and quickly if you got the right tools and you know how.
The Dust-Wand Kit is a product Ive tried on my A700 with excellent results. The first time I used it it removed a spec of welded dust than had on my filter some time, the next one it removed some weird streaks that showed up on the pictures at small apertures. I still dont know how they got there, but they did and the Dust-Wand Kit got rid of them for good.
The good thing about the kit is that you can take it with you and perform a wet cleaning anywhere, just as you would with the Sensor Klear. The procedure isnt as fast as the dry cleaning, but its better to have the option available than having to wait to get home to perform a cleaning and either waste time post-processing your pictures to remove the contamination on your sensor or worse, miss the pictures due to a dirty sensor.
This product is therefore an Alpha Sight Recommended Product.
Finally, if you dont feel up to the ask to do a wet cleaning, dont ruin your sensor and leave it to someone who has done it successfully or take it to an authorized center. Dont risk a more expensive repair or having to replace your camera body.
I hope this article was helpful to you,
Until next time.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Useful Link: Kurt Munger's Site
Hello everybody:
I recently came across a site that I wasn't aware of. A very useful site about reviews for Alpha mount lenses that for once isn't actually biased or that favors another brand.
This site contains very detailed reviews, covering the specs of each lens, shots that display the actual lens and not just mount or frontal element shots, it's short comings (face it, ALL lenses have them no matter how expensive or what brand they are) and good points as well.
The main plus point of this site is that the reviews are done by an Alpha mount user with a pretty objective perspective, displaying both the pros and cons of each lens but without falling in the usual "It's a Sony so don't expect anything great" mentality of a lot of photography sites or blogs. Plus, when applicable, it compares lenses among the same Alpha mount line up, NOT with other brands.
Personally, I think that's very valuable, because despite how professional a review looks to me, I couldn't care less if a lens is better or worse compared to its Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc. equivalents. Sigma and Tamron yes because they can be bought for Alpha mount (most of the time) but I got no use for other camera manufacturer's lenses that I don't own and I don't own a body of that system.
So next time you need to read a useful lens review for that lens you're considering of buying, go to http://www.kurtmunger.com/index.html. And if you can, be nice and donate a few bucks :)
Ill add this link to the Alpha System Dedicated Buttons section for future reference.
By the way, if you need a second opinion about a lens, you can also check http://www.alphamountworld.com , another great site ran by an Alpha mount user with a unbiased perspective as well. It doesn't have as many lens reviews as the first link so far, but nonetheless, its a very very useful link for researching stuff related to the Alpha Mount.
I hope they're useful to you!
Until next time.
P.S. I haven't forgotten about that review I told you about, I'm almost done with it but I'm busy with something at the moment, as soon as I'm done with that, Ill finish it and post it here.
I recently came across a site that I wasn't aware of. A very useful site about reviews for Alpha mount lenses that for once isn't actually biased or that favors another brand.
This site contains very detailed reviews, covering the specs of each lens, shots that display the actual lens and not just mount or frontal element shots, it's short comings (face it, ALL lenses have them no matter how expensive or what brand they are) and good points as well.
The main plus point of this site is that the reviews are done by an Alpha mount user with a pretty objective perspective, displaying both the pros and cons of each lens but without falling in the usual "It's a Sony so don't expect anything great" mentality of a lot of photography sites or blogs. Plus, when applicable, it compares lenses among the same Alpha mount line up, NOT with other brands.
Personally, I think that's very valuable, because despite how professional a review looks to me, I couldn't care less if a lens is better or worse compared to its Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc. equivalents. Sigma and Tamron yes because they can be bought for Alpha mount (most of the time) but I got no use for other camera manufacturer's lenses that I don't own and I don't own a body of that system.
So next time you need to read a useful lens review for that lens you're considering of buying, go to http://www.kurtmunger.com/index.html. And if you can, be nice and donate a few bucks :)
Ill add this link to the Alpha System Dedicated Buttons section for future reference.
By the way, if you need a second opinion about a lens, you can also check http://www.alphamountworld.com , another great site ran by an Alpha mount user with a unbiased perspective as well. It doesn't have as many lens reviews as the first link so far, but nonetheless, its a very very useful link for researching stuff related to the Alpha Mount.
I hope they're useful to you!
Until next time.
P.S. I haven't forgotten about that review I told you about, I'm almost done with it but I'm busy with something at the moment, as soon as I'm done with that, Ill finish it and post it here.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
An Insight On Dynamic Range Optimization By Apical
Everyone one of us who owns an Alpha DSLR, no matter what model, knows (to a bigger or lesser amount) what the Dynamic Range Optimization or DRO Function is.
What some of you may not know is that the technology behind DRO isn't developed by Sony, but licenced from a company called Apical. Apical is a company that develops software used in cameras from major brands, including Sony, that aims to deliver photographs closer to the way we see them with our eyes.
Digital Photography Review has recently posted an article of an interview they did with Apical's managing director Michael Tusch, on which he explains what their software does and what was the reason they created it, along with visual examples of how DRO works better most of the time than using tonal curve adjustment in post-processing.
It's a very interesting read if you're curious about how DRO works, the principles behind it and when is advised to use it and when not to use it.
Feature: Apical dynamic range interview by Richard Butler
What some of you may not know is that the technology behind DRO isn't developed by Sony, but licenced from a company called Apical. Apical is a company that develops software used in cameras from major brands, including Sony, that aims to deliver photographs closer to the way we see them with our eyes.
Digital Photography Review has recently posted an article of an interview they did with Apical's managing director Michael Tusch, on which he explains what their software does and what was the reason they created it, along with visual examples of how DRO works better most of the time than using tonal curve adjustment in post-processing.
It's a very interesting read if you're curious about how DRO works, the principles behind it and when is advised to use it and when not to use it.
Feature: Apical dynamic range interview by Richard Butler
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Exposure Compensation- Helping The Camera Out On Tricky Scenes
Normal behavior
Cameras usually measure light to render the scene in a way that everything or almost everything will be lit and properly exposed. The way they measure light is different than it is done professionally with the use of hand held light meters (This will be discussed in another article).
They take their information from the light that passes through the lens, and based on that, they calculate the proper exposure settings in any mode except Manual; and that is because in Manual you control the exposure values, therefore the light metering is up to you.
However, sometimes you will point the camera at scenes that will contain elements that will throw off the camera and will expose incorrectly.
Tricky scenes
The camera's in built light meter measures the light in a scene based on the light reflected from the subjects in it.
However, there are colors that absorb light, that bounce it off or absorb a part and reflect another.
The camera's metering system is based on the notion that almost all colors reflect roughly the same amount of light and it calculates exposure based on that.
However, it may have happened to you that you pointed your camera at a person with white clothes with plenty of light around it and the camera underexposed the image OR you pointed the camera at something mostly black or made up of a dark color and it overexposed the image. Or viceversa.
In the first case, there isnt enough light in the shot and in the second theres too much light and the colors look washed out.
At this point you either go postal on the camera, switch to Manual or fix the photo in post processing.
All of these options are valid (except go postal on the camera, maybe) but sometimes there isnt enough time to switch to Manual and retake the shot or you dont like sitting in front of a computer for hours fixing a shot that should have come up properly the first time.
Don't panic though, there is a way to fix it right away.
Exposure Compensation
That way is called Exposure Compensation.
By exposure its meant the amount of light that will reach the sensor when you press the shutter.
Compensation in this case means to increase or decrease a value or values in order to properly expose a picture.
The values that directly affect exposure are Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO.
So, if you are in any mode (except Manual) and you point your camera at a subject with bright colors (such as white) or dark colors (like black), the camera will think the following:
Bright colors: There is too much light in the picture, so I must select a fast shutter speed, a small aperture or low ISO in order to avoid overexposing the shot.
Dark colors: There isnt enough light in the picture, so I must select a slow shutter speed, big aperture or high ISO in order to avoid underexposing the shot.
The problem is, under this logic, the camera will underexpose in bright colors or overexpose in dark colors most of the time. It may actually not do this or it may happen that under bright colors you actually need to overexpose a bit and in dark underexpose a bit.
It all depends on the subject, amount of light available and the exposure values.
Exposure Compensation is a function that allows you to shift the exposure values and tell the camera to over or underexpose as you consider necessary.
+/-
In all Alpha DSLRs (and even in the cameras made by other manufacturers) the Exposure Compensation is represented by a button with these symbols: +/-. Usually the button is split in two; black on the plus side and white on the minus side.
In the Alpha DSLRs, this button is found at the back of the camera near the viewfinder (A100/200/300/350) or near the shutter button (A700/900).
Exposure compensation scale is based on a scale of exposure values (EV), the plus side illuminates the image and the minus side darkens the image.
When you press this button, either you will get a exclusive screen for you to move the cursor up or down the scale or the scale will light up if you use the Quick Navi screen.
As with any scale, there is a middle ground, in this case is 0, which is always the exposure recommended by the camera.
In the LCD screen looks like this:
+/-
-3 I I -2 I I -1 I I 0 I I 1 I I 2 I I 3+
In the viewfinder it will look like this:
-2 o o -1 o o 0 o o 1 o o 2+
The A700/900 go to -3 or +3, the A100/200/300/350 go from -2 to +2.
If you own a A700/900 don't worry if the scale in the viewfinder wont go to -3 or +3, if you compensate beyond -2 or +2, the camera will compensate to the value you select. The value will be displayed in the viewfinder as you select it, it will disappear once you press the shutter button, but the camera will compensate to the value you select.
Now, you may wonder why the LCD and viewfinder have I or o's between the numbers. Those are the EV steps.
EV Steps
"And what are those?" you may ask.
As I said before, the scale used to compensate its called EV scale, and the units to measure light in that scale are called steps.
As you compensate in either side of the scale, the shutter speed, aperture or ISO values change, it may be just one, two or the three of them.
The point is, whenever one of these values changes, the exposure changes.
The Alpha DSLRs have two ways of measuring in the EV scale: in 0.3 or 0.5 steps.
The A100/200/300/350 have their scales in 0.3 EV steps and the A700/900 can deal with 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps.
The I's in the LCD between the numbers or the o's in the viewfinder between numbers are the markers when you measure in 0.3 EV steps, but when you measure in 0.5 EV steps, the marker is placed between two I's or two o's.
0.3, 0.5, 0.7
So what's the difference between 0.3 and 0.5 EV steps?
The basic difference is the amount of steps you can compensate.
In 0.3 steps, the scale goes like this:
-3, -2.7, -2.3, -2.0, -1.7, -1.3, -1. -0.7, -0.3, 0, +0.3, +0.7, +1.0, +1.3, +1.7, +2.0. +2.3, +2.7, +3
In 0.5 EV steps, the scale goes like this:
-3, -2.5, -2.0, -1.5, -1.0, -0.5, 0, +0.5, +1.0, +1.5, +2.0, +2.5, +3.0
When you use 0.3 EV steps, the scale is larger because you can access 0.3 and 0.7 steps of compensation between numbers.
When you use 0.5 EV steps, you can only access halves between each number. The scale is smaller.
Differences between 0.3 and 0.5 EV steps
Now, if you use a A100/200/300/350, you dont have to worry about 0.5 EV steps because you can't access them, but if you want to know the difference between 0.3 and 0.5 scales, keep reading.
For those of you using a A700/900, there are differences when you use 0.3 or 0.5 EV step scales.
The use of both scales presents tradeoffs. Using a 0.3 EV step scale allows you to use a bigger scale whereas 0.5 is more limited.
The difference is that if you need precise increments, 0.5 EV works a lot better than 0.3 EV, because 0.3 EV presents you subtle changes that wont affect too much the exposure in case you screw up, but it will require you to use more steps to make a visible compensation. And thats another tradeoff, if you want subtle changes without introducing a harsh change in exposure, 0.5 EV wont work for you since that's what it will do, the changes will be more visible, so if you want just a slight touch of more light into the picture, 0.5 EV won't do the job since it will introduce more light in each step than 0.3 EV.
In 0.3 EV, the lack of a middle point between steps is compensated by the fact that you can use 0.7 EV as well, and that step may introduce enough light to make a difference or a little too much. It all depends on the scene.
In 0.5 EV the changes are more predictable, so if you require a visible change and you know how much, 0.5 EV will work better than 0.3 EV since it won't require you to decide whether to use a 0.3 or 0.7 step compensation, it will be just a half and you can learn what to expect. However, if you rather make exposures where the light is increased or decreased in a more gradual manner, chose 0.3 EV.
There is one more thing to keep in mind: the scale you chose for Exposure Compensation also affects the shutter speed and aperture range. If you chose 0.3 EV, the shutter speed and aperture will change in values of 1/3rd whereas if you chose 0.5 EV, the values will change in halves.
This is done in order to match the changes introduced in 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps.
And again, there is a tradeoff, having the speed or aperture shown in 1/3rd gives you a broader range of speed and aperture (limited by your camera's top speed or lens' aperture range) but it will take longer for you to get to the setting you want, which wont happen if you use 0.5 EV.
It's up to you which scale you use; 0.3 or 0.5 EV.
To change between those two in the A700: Menu-> Recording Menu (camera icon) Page 1-> Exposure step-> 0.3 or 0.5 EV
In the A900: Menu-> Recording Menu (camera icon) Page 2-> Exposure Step-> 0.3 or 0.5 EV
Notes of use and Closure
Cameras usually measure light to render the scene in a way that everything or almost everything will be lit and properly exposed. The way they measure light is different than it is done professionally with the use of hand held light meters (This will be discussed in another article).
They take their information from the light that passes through the lens, and based on that, they calculate the proper exposure settings in any mode except Manual; and that is because in Manual you control the exposure values, therefore the light metering is up to you.
However, sometimes you will point the camera at scenes that will contain elements that will throw off the camera and will expose incorrectly.
Tricky scenes
The camera's in built light meter measures the light in a scene based on the light reflected from the subjects in it.
However, there are colors that absorb light, that bounce it off or absorb a part and reflect another.
The camera's metering system is based on the notion that almost all colors reflect roughly the same amount of light and it calculates exposure based on that.
However, it may have happened to you that you pointed your camera at a person with white clothes with plenty of light around it and the camera underexposed the image OR you pointed the camera at something mostly black or made up of a dark color and it overexposed the image. Or viceversa.
In the first case, there isnt enough light in the shot and in the second theres too much light and the colors look washed out.
At this point you either go postal on the camera, switch to Manual or fix the photo in post processing.
All of these options are valid (except go postal on the camera, maybe) but sometimes there isnt enough time to switch to Manual and retake the shot or you dont like sitting in front of a computer for hours fixing a shot that should have come up properly the first time.
Don't panic though, there is a way to fix it right away.
Exposure Compensation
That way is called Exposure Compensation.
By exposure its meant the amount of light that will reach the sensor when you press the shutter.
Compensation in this case means to increase or decrease a value or values in order to properly expose a picture.
The values that directly affect exposure are Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO.
So, if you are in any mode (except Manual) and you point your camera at a subject with bright colors (such as white) or dark colors (like black), the camera will think the following:
Bright colors: There is too much light in the picture, so I must select a fast shutter speed, a small aperture or low ISO in order to avoid overexposing the shot.
Dark colors: There isnt enough light in the picture, so I must select a slow shutter speed, big aperture or high ISO in order to avoid underexposing the shot.
The problem is, under this logic, the camera will underexpose in bright colors or overexpose in dark colors most of the time. It may actually not do this or it may happen that under bright colors you actually need to overexpose a bit and in dark underexpose a bit.
It all depends on the subject, amount of light available and the exposure values.
Exposure Compensation is a function that allows you to shift the exposure values and tell the camera to over or underexpose as you consider necessary.
+/-
In all Alpha DSLRs (and even in the cameras made by other manufacturers) the Exposure Compensation is represented by a button with these symbols: +/-. Usually the button is split in two; black on the plus side and white on the minus side.
In the Alpha DSLRs, this button is found at the back of the camera near the viewfinder (A100/200/300/350) or near the shutter button (A700/900).
Exposure compensation scale is based on a scale of exposure values (EV), the plus side illuminates the image and the minus side darkens the image.
When you press this button, either you will get a exclusive screen for you to move the cursor up or down the scale or the scale will light up if you use the Quick Navi screen.
As with any scale, there is a middle ground, in this case is 0, which is always the exposure recommended by the camera.
In the LCD screen looks like this:
+/-
-3 I I -2 I I -1 I I 0 I I 1 I I 2 I I 3+
In the viewfinder it will look like this:
-2 o o -1 o o 0 o o 1 o o 2+
The A700/900 go to -3 or +3, the A100/200/300/350 go from -2 to +2.
If you own a A700/900 don't worry if the scale in the viewfinder wont go to -3 or +3, if you compensate beyond -2 or +2, the camera will compensate to the value you select. The value will be displayed in the viewfinder as you select it, it will disappear once you press the shutter button, but the camera will compensate to the value you select.
Now, you may wonder why the LCD and viewfinder have I or o's between the numbers. Those are the EV steps.
EV Steps
"And what are those?" you may ask.
As I said before, the scale used to compensate its called EV scale, and the units to measure light in that scale are called steps.
As you compensate in either side of the scale, the shutter speed, aperture or ISO values change, it may be just one, two or the three of them.
The point is, whenever one of these values changes, the exposure changes.
The Alpha DSLRs have two ways of measuring in the EV scale: in 0.3 or 0.5 steps.
The A100/200/300/350 have their scales in 0.3 EV steps and the A700/900 can deal with 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps.
The I's in the LCD between the numbers or the o's in the viewfinder between numbers are the markers when you measure in 0.3 EV steps, but when you measure in 0.5 EV steps, the marker is placed between two I's or two o's.
0.3, 0.5, 0.7
So what's the difference between 0.3 and 0.5 EV steps?
The basic difference is the amount of steps you can compensate.
In 0.3 steps, the scale goes like this:
-3, -2.7, -2.3, -2.0, -1.7, -1.3, -1. -0.7, -0.3, 0, +0.3, +0.7, +1.0, +1.3, +1.7, +2.0. +2.3, +2.7, +3
In 0.5 EV steps, the scale goes like this:
-3, -2.5, -2.0, -1.5, -1.0, -0.5, 0, +0.5, +1.0, +1.5, +2.0, +2.5, +3.0
When you use 0.3 EV steps, the scale is larger because you can access 0.3 and 0.7 steps of compensation between numbers.
When you use 0.5 EV steps, you can only access halves between each number. The scale is smaller.
Differences between 0.3 and 0.5 EV steps
Now, if you use a A100/200/300/350, you dont have to worry about 0.5 EV steps because you can't access them, but if you want to know the difference between 0.3 and 0.5 scales, keep reading.
For those of you using a A700/900, there are differences when you use 0.3 or 0.5 EV step scales.
The use of both scales presents tradeoffs. Using a 0.3 EV step scale allows you to use a bigger scale whereas 0.5 is more limited.
The difference is that if you need precise increments, 0.5 EV works a lot better than 0.3 EV, because 0.3 EV presents you subtle changes that wont affect too much the exposure in case you screw up, but it will require you to use more steps to make a visible compensation. And thats another tradeoff, if you want subtle changes without introducing a harsh change in exposure, 0.5 EV wont work for you since that's what it will do, the changes will be more visible, so if you want just a slight touch of more light into the picture, 0.5 EV won't do the job since it will introduce more light in each step than 0.3 EV.
In 0.3 EV, the lack of a middle point between steps is compensated by the fact that you can use 0.7 EV as well, and that step may introduce enough light to make a difference or a little too much. It all depends on the scene.
In 0.5 EV the changes are more predictable, so if you require a visible change and you know how much, 0.5 EV will work better than 0.3 EV since it won't require you to decide whether to use a 0.3 or 0.7 step compensation, it will be just a half and you can learn what to expect. However, if you rather make exposures where the light is increased or decreased in a more gradual manner, chose 0.3 EV.
There is one more thing to keep in mind: the scale you chose for Exposure Compensation also affects the shutter speed and aperture range. If you chose 0.3 EV, the shutter speed and aperture will change in values of 1/3rd whereas if you chose 0.5 EV, the values will change in halves.
This is done in order to match the changes introduced in 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps.
And again, there is a tradeoff, having the speed or aperture shown in 1/3rd gives you a broader range of speed and aperture (limited by your camera's top speed or lens' aperture range) but it will take longer for you to get to the setting you want, which wont happen if you use 0.5 EV.
It's up to you which scale you use; 0.3 or 0.5 EV.
To change between those two in the A700: Menu-> Recording Menu (camera icon) Page 1-> Exposure step-> 0.3 or 0.5 EV
In the A900: Menu-> Recording Menu (camera icon) Page 2-> Exposure Step-> 0.3 or 0.5 EV
Notes of use and Closure
- The primary function of Exposure compensation is to illuminate or darken an image when the camera doesn't expose correctly because its pointed at a subject or scene mostly made of white or black.
- Exposure Compensation is useful, especially since Auto Mode tends to underexpose sometimes.
- It must be used with caution since it can ruin a photo if not used properly. Use only as much as you need to get the shot you want, if you over do it in any part, you may do a worse mess than the camera's.
- For pictures that require a drastic and precise compensation, use 0.5 EV, for pictures that require subtle and gradual changes use 0.3 EV.
- It doesn't work in Manual Mode, but will work in the rest of the modes, even Scene Modes.
- In Manual Mode, the Exposure Compensation scale changes to M.M.; which means Metered Manually, the camera still offers its opinion about the proper exposure to chose but the final choice its up to you and you can ignore the camera's recommendation.
- There is more range in compensation in 0.3 EV than in 0.5 EV, but in 0.5 EV the changes are more visible in each step.
- For some weird reason, in the A700 happened that when using Exposure Compensation; the exposure values DIDN'T change BUT the illumination in the picture DID change a bit.
Exposure Compensation is a useful tool when you're shooting in P,A,S or any Scene Mode (except in the A900, it doesn't have Scene Modes) and the shots aren't coming properly exposed. It allows you to do a quick tuning and let the camera do the rest, you just tell it how bright or dark you want the picture to be regardless of what it thinks.
This function will save you time in front of your computer and will give you more time to take more pictures.
One final advice: I strongly recommend you conduct experiments of your own with this function so you learn the changes it introduces in a picture and how does the camera behave when you use it, this way you will learn to know what to expect from this function and will give you a solid idea of how much to use and when to use it.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Product Review: Sensor Klear Cleaning System
An apology for the long delay in bringing you this article, Ive been busy and I couldn't work on it, but here it is now.
Introduction
One of the most important parts of your camera is the sensor.
The sensor is the part that work like film does in SLRs. It's the part that captures the image your lens is seeing.
However, unlike film, the sensor is fixed on its position, and its prone to get dirty.
Ever since the beginning of the digital age in photography, sensors have been getting dirty and it was a problem that camera makers addressed by implementing filters and vibrating mechanism to remove dust that attaches.
However, sometimes that's not enough and a more thorough cleaning is needed. This article will review a product that will help you clean your sensor in an easy and safe way.
How does a sensor gets dirty?
If you use a DSLR, eventually you will get your sensor dirty. Theres no way to avoid it.
Unlike P&S cameras that have their sensor locked and sealed within the body, DSLRs have it exposed, being protected only by the shutter. The sensor per se isn't exposed, you can see it, but in front of it, there is a filter that protects it. This filter is the one who catches dust and other contamination.
The first DSLRs didn't have any filter in front of the sensor, so if dust was around, the sensor itself caught it, which posed a problem when cleaning since there is dust that will go away with a blower and dust that will require more effort to remove. The dust that didn't go away with a blow could end up scratching the sensor, rendering it useless.
All the Sony Alpha DSLRs (A100/200/300/350/700/900) have a filter in front of the sensor, so there is no risk of ruining your sensor per se.
Dust is the most common form of contamination that a sensor can experience.
Every time you change your lens, the mirror chamber is exposed. Behind the mirror, there is the shutter (those black curtains that move when you take a picture), behind those curtains, there is the sensor.
The camera runs an electrical current through all of it in order to function, this includes the lens. The movement of parts (mirror, shutter, AF mechanism, etc.) generates static electricity.
This electricity attracts dust, dust is sensitive to this kind of electricity. If dust enters in the mirror box, its prone to attach to the filter in front of the sensor once the shutter opens to take a picture.
Since the sensor is running a current and the shutter curtains move, the dust has it easy to stick to it.
In theory, dust is the only contamination your sensor should experience, unless you wet it with something or stick something to it. Read this article for more information about it.
Introduction
One of the most important parts of your camera is the sensor.
The sensor is the part that work like film does in SLRs. It's the part that captures the image your lens is seeing.
However, unlike film, the sensor is fixed on its position, and its prone to get dirty.
Ever since the beginning of the digital age in photography, sensors have been getting dirty and it was a problem that camera makers addressed by implementing filters and vibrating mechanism to remove dust that attaches.
However, sometimes that's not enough and a more thorough cleaning is needed. This article will review a product that will help you clean your sensor in an easy and safe way.
How does a sensor gets dirty?
If you use a DSLR, eventually you will get your sensor dirty. Theres no way to avoid it.
Unlike P&S cameras that have their sensor locked and sealed within the body, DSLRs have it exposed, being protected only by the shutter. The sensor per se isn't exposed, you can see it, but in front of it, there is a filter that protects it. This filter is the one who catches dust and other contamination.
The first DSLRs didn't have any filter in front of the sensor, so if dust was around, the sensor itself caught it, which posed a problem when cleaning since there is dust that will go away with a blower and dust that will require more effort to remove. The dust that didn't go away with a blow could end up scratching the sensor, rendering it useless.
All the Sony Alpha DSLRs (A100/200/300/350/700/900) have a filter in front of the sensor, so there is no risk of ruining your sensor per se.
Dust is the most common form of contamination that a sensor can experience.
Every time you change your lens, the mirror chamber is exposed. Behind the mirror, there is the shutter (those black curtains that move when you take a picture), behind those curtains, there is the sensor.
The camera runs an electrical current through all of it in order to function, this includes the lens. The movement of parts (mirror, shutter, AF mechanism, etc.) generates static electricity.
This electricity attracts dust, dust is sensitive to this kind of electricity. If dust enters in the mirror box, its prone to attach to the filter in front of the sensor once the shutter opens to take a picture.
Since the sensor is running a current and the shutter curtains move, the dust has it easy to stick to it.
In theory, dust is the only contamination your sensor should experience, unless you wet it with something or stick something to it. Read this article for more information about it.
Effects of dust in a sensor
All camera makers do not want you to futz with the sensor if it gets dirty so you wont break or ruin your camera. The most recommended solution is to blow air into the sensor to remove it.
But there is dust that wont go away with a blow (and by blow I mean using a blower to do so, not your mouth since you can spit over the sensor).
So what happens when you have dust on your sensor?
The thing with dust is that you wont notice it if you use large apertures such as f/1.4, 2.0, 2.8, 3.5 and so forth. Since light is splattered all over the sensor, it conceals the dust.
However, if you close your lens up to f/11, 16, 22, 32, 40 and so, you will start to notice dark spots on your pictures. In a closed down lens, light is fed to the sensor in a more precise way, so if there is something in front of it, it will come out in the picture.
You can either use large apertures to avoid dust from coming out on the shot or clean your sensor.
Ignoring the issue is easier than doing something about it, but keep in mind this: If you ever require to use a small aperture in order to have as much Depth Of Field as possible or your camera selects a small aperture, your shot will show dust spots and you will have to waste time removing them with post processing software.
It's far better to deal with the issue so you have your whole aperture range at your disposal and not limited.
Cleaning methods
There are a thousand different ways to clear your sensor, some are just plain silly and will leave a worse mess than you originally had, some are very effective but require precise movements and time and above all, skill.
As Ive stated before, here in Alpha Sight the axiom I follow regarding cleaning sensors is:
IF YOU DO NOT TRUST YOURSELF OR DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO DO A CLEANING PROCEDURE, DO NOT DO IT. TAKE YOUR CAMERA TO AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER OR LET A QUALIFIED PERSON TO DO IT.
This is in order to avoid that you make things worse or ruin your equipment for good when trying to clean it.
The scope of sensor cleaning is vast and wide, this article will focus only in one. If you would like to learn more about other sensor cleaning methods, check out the links at the right side of this blog, ask in photography forums, and surf the net. There are plenty of answers out there.
Finally, if you rather leave this in expert hands, you can look for a Sony Authorized Service Center or take it to Adorama or Calumet Photo.
If you want to learn an easy way to clean your sensor, keep reading.
The Sensor Klear by LensPen
If you read the previous article, you will see a review of a cleaning product for lenses called LensPen.
Well, the company that produces that item, also produces items to clean other camera parts, including the sensor.
Their product is called Sensor Klear.
The Sensor Klear is similar to its LensPen cousin, its the size of a pen, although a bit smaller and thinner than the classical LensPen.
It's made of a retractable brush and a cleaning tip with the same carbon based compound that the LensPen has. For those of you who don't know, the tip is made of carbon, similar to the one found in pencils or in the ink of newspapers. The ink contains carbon, and the carbon absorbs impurities.
Unlike other methods (like the wet one) that require flammable fluids or tissues or swabs, the Sensor Klear doesn't create waste. And it's safe to take it on planes, whereas the liquids used for cleaning sensors with the wet method aren't allowed.
The cleaning tip of the Sensor Klear is smaller than the one in the LensPen, but there is a reason for that; it gives you more control over the handling of the tip when you clean the sensor.
Whereas on a lens you have a broad space to work with, on a sensor is different, you got to be careful not to mess with other components inside the mirror box. Having a smaller cleaning tip allows you to move the Sensor Klear just enough to clean the sensor and avoiding touching something else.
There is another feature to the Sensor Klear's cleaning tip: its in a triangular shape. This is done to allow you to clean the corners of the sensor if its required, if it had been a circular shape, you wouldnt reach the farthest corners of the sensor, and if you got dust there, it would be a problem.
To maximize the usefulness of the Sensor Klear, the head bends in order to give you flexibility in case you need to move the pen in an angle.
How to use it
1.- Set the camera to Cleaning Mode
In the A100: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Clean CCD
A200/300/350: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
A700: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
A900: Menu-> Setup (Wrench Icon) Page 3-> Cleaning Mode
Cleaning Mode (or Clean CCD) locks the mirror up, opens the shutter and cuts power off the sensor for you to clean it.
DO NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT USE BULB SHUTTER SPEED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.
This is risky AND stupid. Bulb is designed for long exposures NOT sensor cleaning. While its true that it opens the shutter and reveals the sensor as long as you keep the shutter button pressed, IT DOES NOT LOCK THE MIRROR UP NOR IT CUTS POWER OFF THE SENSOR, IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY REMOVE YOUR FINGER OFF THE SHUTTER BUTTON AND IT CLOSES, THE SHUTTER CURTAINS CAN CRASH AGAINST THE SENSOR KLEAR AND THEY WILL GET BENT, THIS MEANS YOUR CAMERA IS RUINED FOR GOOD.
DO NOT USE BULB SHUTTER SPEED, USE CLEANING MODE.
2.- Remove the lens mounted on the camera and put it aside where its safe.
3.- Hold the camera body firmly and position it in a downward angle to prevent dust or other materials from entering the mirror box.
4.- Use the retractable brush on the Sensor Klear to remove any dust on the lens mount. Make sure you retract it back when you're done with it.
5.- Use a high quality air blaster to blow away dry and easy-to-remove dust from the sensor.
Note: It may happen that by doing this, the dust particles on your sensor may be blown away and that's it, no more cleaning required. However, make sure you don't blow the dust into the mirror or inside the viewfinder. If it lands on the mirror, use the brush gently to remove it. You will only notice if its on the mirror or the viewfinder once you turn the camera OFF and the mirror comes back down and you look through the viewfinder. If you see spots, its in one of those two. Blow or brush it away. Keep in mind that dust in those places WILL NOT show up in the picture.
6.- Use the Sensor Klear's cleaning tip to remove any dust, stains or oil from the sensor. Play close attention to the corners. If you used a blower, dust may have moved to the corners and hide there.
7.- Once you're done, put the cap back on the cleaning tip and give it two twists to leave it ready for next time.
8.- Use the brush to remove dust from the rear element in your lens if there's any. If you see finger prints or something else, you will need a LensPen to remove it.
The cleaning tip
Inside the cap, you will find a foam pad, that is the replenisher that contains the carbon compound, everytime you use the Sensor Klear make sure to put the cap back on and give it two twists to replenish the cleaning tip for next time you need to clean the sensor.
Notes of use
Here are some points to keep in mind when using the Sensor Klear:
- It's possible that one pass with the Sensor Klear won't do. Sometimes dust is sticky and requires more passes to remove. Keep using the Sensor Klear until the sensor is completely clean.
- The test to find dust on your sensor is: Point the camera to a white piece of paper or at the sky at infinity focus, select f/22 or a smaller aperture and take a picture. If there are spots, there is dust. When you clean your sensor perform this test to confirm your sensor is clean or if there are still spots to be removed.
- It's possible that you clean dust on one part of the sensor and it shows up on another part. If this happens, do a thorough cleaning of the whole sensor to ensure that no dust is left behind or just moved.
- Again, DO NOT USE BULB SHUTTER SPEED, USE CLEANING MODE.
- Do NOT use the brush to clean the sensor, use only the cleaning tip.
- The Sensor Klear lasts 50 uses.
- There are replaceable heads in case you use it 50 times, you just pull the tip off and insert the new one.
- The Sensor Klear is advertised to work with CCD sensors, it also works with CMOS sensors.
- DO NOT TOUCH THE BRUSH WITH YOUR FINGERS, YOU MAY ADD SKIN OILS TO IT AND IT WILL STREAK WHATEVER SURFACE YOU USE IT ON.
- DO NOT TOUCH THE CLEANING TIP WITH YOUR FINGERS EITHER.
- When using it, do NOT press hard against the sensor or the mirror, you may disalign them and that is B-A-D.
- It's recommended that you use a clean environment with no breezes.
- I recommend using a strong light and a magnifying glass to see what youre doing. The company that produces the Sensor Klear is about to release a magnifying glass designed for sensor cleaning as well.
- Use latex gloves and a gown if possible, this will reduce the chance you will touch something you shouldnt and ruin it or breathe or sneeze over the mirror box and/or sensor.
- Do NOT blow the sensor with your mouth, your breath contains saliva, which may end up falling over the sensor. If it does, use the cleaning tip.
- DO NOT USE CANNED AIR UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. Canned air has been proved to contain all sorts of particles on it and you may end up giving those to your sensor.
- The Sensor Klear is environmentally friendly, it doesnt create waste nor it requires flammable liquids, swabs, tissues, etc.
- The Sensor Klear reduces static build up on your sensor, this will help to reduce the amount of dust being pulled towards your sensor.
- A blower is recommended with this product because sometimes dust will go away before you use the Sensor Klear.
- Clean your sensor only when necessary, check for dust every month and remove it as soon as you find it, the longer dust stays there, the harder it is to remove.
- Finally and again: IF YOU DO NOT TRUST YOURSELF OR DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO DO A CLEANING PROCEDURE, DO NOT DO IT. TAKE YOUR CAMERA TO AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER OR LET A QUALIFIED PERSON TO DO IT.
Links
Official Site
Sensor Klear
How to use the Sensor Klear presentation
Link to purchase it through Amazon
Closure
Sensor cleaning is a tricky business. If done well, it's not an issue, but for the inexperienced it can be something terrifying to do.
Methods to do it there are by the boat load, but the few that really work need practice and skill.
The Sensor Klear is an easy way to clean your sensor quickly and with no hassle if done correctly.
To have a dirty sensor these days can be a problem, especially if youre not aware of it. It may present a problem when you least expect it and you will need to waste time removing dust spots from your pictures in post processing.
You may ignore the issue using large apertures, but like I said, one day you will need to use a small f/stop and you will be in trouble.
The Sensor Klear is a method that works everywhere and you can always take it with you since it doesnt take much space at all. And the procedure is really simple and doesnt require special liquids or swabs or whatever. You can travel with it since its completely safe.
This product is therefore, an Alpha Sight recommended product.
Finally, if you purchase this item and you've never cleaned a sensor before, read this whole article again, read this article as well too. Read and watch the presentation at the official site. If you have any questions, you're always welcome to ask me.
And remember, if you dont feel confident enough to clean your sensor, DON'T, leave it to someone who does know what he is doing.
Until next time.
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