Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
03-24-2012, 12:56 PM   #46
Veteran Member




Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,889
QuoteOriginally posted by Na Horuk Quote
Wait wait, you don't even know where the dust is. Are you sure its not on the viewfinder? At least wait until you have a lens and everything, then see its true effect.
Logically, the only place dust could be when visible looking through the viewfinder is on the focusing screen. Dust on the mirror is invisible, as it's not in focus in the viewfinder. Dust on the lens of the viewfinder looks very different, again, not focused as discrete dots, because it's so close to the eye.

The point is that OP needs to just accept this as a fact of life of using DSLRs. It's not a big deal, doesn't have any effect on photos taken, at all (because it's not in the light path to the sensor), and should just be ignored.

I can't believe this has turned into a four page topic, when it's something so trivial.


Last edited by Philoslothical; 03-24-2012 at 01:57 PM.
03-24-2012, 01:54 PM   #47
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Bristol, NY - Finger Lakes Region
Posts: 131
QuoteOriginally posted by kamisu Quote
Lammie200, I have ordered the 2 yrs extended warranty too (20$), but it looks even the original warranty does not cover dust on focus screen, as some say, or at least does not worth the trouble. It looks like it will happen all the time. Well, on a brand new one, not pleasant.
Not normal to have dust on your VF focus screen for a new camera and no it will not happen all time later either. I had one spot in 1 year and I put it there using a rocket blower one too many times to blow dust off my sensor. It was good practice taking it out and cleaning it so something good came of it. Other than that 1 time my K5 focus screen has been clean but then again I stopped using a blower to clean sensor. Enjoy your new camera.

Last edited by jcp5; 03-24-2012 at 09:31 PM.
03-25-2012, 05:58 AM - 1 Like   #48
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Melbourne
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,386
QuoteOriginally posted by jcp5 Quote
I stopped using a blower to clean sensor.
I have been preaching this for years, blowers give you more trouble then they are worth. If you think logically, if you get dust on the mirror, sensor or focusing screen you will also get dust settling everywhere inside the mirror chamber. If you pump your blower with all your might to try to remove dust from the sensor or focusing screen you will also dislodge, by default, some dust from inside the mirror chamber. And this is added dust you will have flying around because without you blowing this dust would have quite happily stayed there and not bother anybody. I don't care what people say but this dust will swirl around when blowing and will find a new place to settle. Some will escape through the open lens mount but a lot will also settle back from whence it came and some of it will be found back on the sensor, mirror and what not. Maybe not immediately but after a few dozen mirror slaps which create ambulance it will. It just can't be any other way. It is elementary physics.

Also some Chinese made blowers (most are made in China) are not clean inside and some will break down over time and when you blow decayed rubber specs onto your sensor... gut luck. Search the site here it has happened more then once.

I have filed away my blower in the round filing cabinet under the desk and I have never looked back.

Greetings
03-25-2012, 06:50 AM   #49
Veteran Member
krebsy75's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Chester County, Pa.
Posts: 804
The best post in this thread.

QuoteOriginally posted by Schraubstock Quote
I have been preaching this for years, blowers give you more trouble then they are worth. If you think logically, if you get dust on the mirror, sensor or focusing screen you will also get dust settling everywhere inside the mirror chamber. If you pump your blower with all your might to try to remove dust from the sensor or focusing screen you will also dislodge, by default, some dust from inside the mirror chamber. And this is added dust you will have flying around because without you blowing this dust would have quite happily stayed there and not bother anybody. I don't care what people say but this dust will swirl around when blowing and will find a new place to settle. Some will escape through the open lens mount but a lot will also settle back from whence it came and some of it will be found back on the sensor, mirror and what not. Maybe not immediately but after a few dozen mirror slaps which create ambulance it will. It just can't be any other way. It is elementary physics.

Also some Chinese made blowers (most are made in China) are not clean inside and some will break down over time and when you blow decayed rubber specs onto your sensor... gut luck. Search the site here it has happened more then once.

I have filed away my blower in the round filing cabinet under the desk and I have never looked back.

Greetings


03-25-2012, 07:57 AM - 1 Like   #50
Veteran Member




Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,889
QuoteOriginally posted by Schraubstock Quote
I don't care what people say but this dust will swirl around when blowing and will find a new place to settle. Some will escape through the open lens mount but a lot will also settle back from whence it came and some of it will be found back on the sensor, mirror and what not.
Then you're doing it wrong. Very little should remain in the mirror box if you have the lens mount pointed down when using the blower, and use it effectively. As for your happy little dust that supposedly settles in non-critical areas, it's just as likely that the mirror, or other camera movement such as lugging it around, vibrations in a car, etc will stir that up, only to have it end up on the sensor or focusing screen (the mirror is irrelevant, a few specks on it have zero effect on anything - beyond the possibility of them moving somewhere important).

You make a valid point about rubber blowers. It's wise to buy a large plastic one, rather than rubber. Everything else you claim is just superstition, or user error.
03-25-2012, 05:33 PM - 1 Like   #51
Veteran Member
Docrwm's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Somewhere in the Southern US
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 12,285
QuoteOriginally posted by Philoslothical Quote
Then you're doing it wrong. Very little should remain in the mirror box if you have the lens mount pointed down when using the blower, and use it effectively. As for your happy little dust that supposedly settles in non-critical areas, it's just as likely that the mirror, or other camera movement such as lugging it around, vibrations in a car, etc will stir that up, only to have it end up on the sensor or focusing screen (the mirror is irrelevant, a few specks on it have zero effect on anything - beyond the possibility of them moving somewhere important).

You make a valid point about rubber blowers. It's wise to buy a large plastic one, rather than rubber. Everything else you claim is just superstition, or user error.
+1. Elementary physics indeed. Try gravity (as Philoslothical said - turn the camera so that the opening is pointing down when you use the blower) and shearing force wind. It is important not to use the blower in a dusty environment in the first place and to make certain its in good shape. To do so I blow it onto white paper first to ensure that there are no pieces of the rubber (you are deforming it each time you use it after all) coming off and I store it in a bag.
03-25-2012, 09:35 PM   #52
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Bristol, NY - Finger Lakes Region
Posts: 131
QuoteOriginally posted by Schraubstock Quote
I have been preaching this for years, blowers give you more trouble then they are worth. If you think logically, if you get dust on the mirror, sensor or focusing screen you will also get dust settling everywhere inside the mirror chamber. If you pump your blower with all your might to try to remove dust from the sensor or focusing screen you will also dislodge, by default, some dust from inside the mirror chamber. And this is added dust you will have flying around because without you blowing this dust would have quite happily stayed there and not bother anybody. I don't care what people say but this dust will swirl around when blowing and will find a new place to settle. Some will escape through the open lens mount but a lot will also settle back from whence it came and some of it will be found back on the sensor, mirror and what not. Maybe not immediately but after a few dozen mirror slaps which create ambulance it will. It just can't be any other way. It is elementary physics.

Also some Chinese made blowers (most are made in China) are not clean inside and some will break down over time and when you blow decayed rubber specs onto your sensor... gut luck. Search the site here it has happened more then once.

I have filed away my blower in the round filing cabinet under the desk and I have never looked back.

Greetings
"Well said" and I agree---other methods work better "for me" because they are more consistent/effective/less time consuming. Having said that people should use the method that works for them. I read a post where a person used his vacuum cleaner to suck the dust of his sensor and was proud of it. I thought that was funny but saw no reason to deny his satisfaction or apparent success. It's his camera.

Personally I see turning my camera upside down and blowing my sensor off as "flying blind" and prone to "user error" with inconsistent results. I found that taking a pic of a blue sky or white sheet of paper---seeing dust---then blowing off my sensor and retesting only to see dust in a different spot---then doing it again until all was clean as "flying blind" and a waste of time. I found a better method for me that makes cleaning my sensor fast/effective/painless so I will stick with that and my VF focus screen remains clean.


Last edited by jcp5; 03-25-2012 at 10:57 PM.
03-26-2012, 01:38 AM   #53
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Melbourne
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,386
Hi

If you want to vacate matter (such as dust) from a "blind hole" such as the mirror chamber of the camera you do need more air pressure than ate blower can provide. All you do is create is turbulence in a confined space. The bit of dust this weakish puff of air will dislodge will uncontrollably be re-distributed inside the chamber according to the law of chaos. You will have no control over it. By chance some dust may indeed find itself escaping through the lens mount opening and it makes absolutely no difference whether the opening is facing down, to the side or up. The rest, even the majority will be redistributed according to the law of chaos.

Again you need a much stronger stream of air to generate enough back pressure to force air back out of the mirror chamber and taking all the crap with it. But this high pressure would destroy the camera.

Would you put a camera with the lens removed, mount pointing up, on the table for any lengths of time? Of course you would not. Because rightly you would assume that the more or less dust laden ambient air would deposit dust into the opening. Right then, the same "dust laden" air you don't want to expose the up pointing camera to is the same air which is available to your blower. It goes in one end of the blower and comes out the other. You now have a neat little "dust cannon".

And here is another thought: If you could make visible the dust and crap which sticks on the inside wall of the blower the same way as it shows on the sensor you would be absolutely horrified. And this is the device you use to blow air into your cam ?

Would you use a blower to remove dust from the mount end of a lens ? I know you would not, because you know that there is a very real chance that you will blow dust through the gaps that are there and inside the lens.

Would it not be better to aim at dust on the sensor with a statically charged nylon brush ? Pick it up, remove it, dispose of it (not re-locate it). It is safe, precise and easy. And if this does not work because the crap has "welded" itself to the sensor surface a blower won't work anyway. You need a wet clean.

So, using the blower to remove dust from inside the camera is useless, I wont use it to remove dust from the back of lenses (see above) and for the front glass of a lens I use a brush (always have) or a lens cloth, what then am I using the blower for ? To coin an Australian phase: I'll be buggered if I know !

Guys, if blowing inside your camera works for you, or you think it works, keep blowing. You and I live in a free country.

Greetings

P.S. I know I am never wrong, and everybody is entitled to my opinion.

Last edited by Schraubstock; 03-26-2012 at 02:23 AM.
03-26-2012, 09:50 AM   #54
Veteran Member
rfortson's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Houston TX
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 2,129
I've used Rocket Blowers for years, though starting with the K20D, the dust removal has worked remarkably well. I've even used it to remove dust from my viewfinder on occasion. I just leave the mirror down and give it a few blasts. Eventually it leaves the viewfinder.

The only caution I've heard about blowers is that you want to use something like a Rocket Blower that uses a filter to pull air in the base, and expel it out the nozzle. Don't just buy a bulb from the drug store as you can suck dust into the bulb and blow it into your camera.

For me, though, the Rocket Blower has been the only sensor cleaning tool I've used on my dSLRs (from *ist DL, to K100D, to K10, K20 and K5).
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
camera, dots, dslr, k-5, k-5 ii, k-5 iis, k5, lines, pentax k-5, viewfinder
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Just received a SMC Pentax-A - Aperture Ring Question Spodeworld Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 7 11-22-2011 08:49 AM
Just received my K-5 velvia Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 3 12-30-2010 07:47 AM
Just received my K-r today. sklai Pentax K-r 7 11-30-2010 01:56 AM
Quick question regarding my just received FA20 arthur pappas Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 5 07-06-2008 04:38 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 06:16 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top