Originally posted by Basie Hi my bovine friend
I never used a dark bag, but used a thick jacket folded over and putting arms through the sleeves for an impromptu darkroom ( mostly when an unused 35 mm film swallowed the film tip before I put in the camera) but that was always a dusty and hairy affair.
I walk a lot with my k20 and three lenses and do have to change it outside. The Toyota is usually more dusty inside than out on the plains. Maybe I should get a k5 as well so that the lens changes is at less. Problem is it is not available even at the wholesalers in South Africa, which is my nearest place
Thanks again for all the really helpful suggestions
Hi
Look, the whole business with dust is really elevated to a bigger problem than it needs be. Sure, it is a pain in the derriere but it is ever present and one has to learn to live with it. In the old film days where I grew up certainly dust was around just the same but by transporting a new stretch of film in front of the focal plane, it meant the problem was less apparent. However the digital age has changed all this and "dust management" is now a discipline to be learned.
I for one do not get overly paranoid about dust. I recognize the problem but won't let it spoil my day. While the above mentioned suggestions to affect a lens change inside a bag is a good one, the reality is it's not practical in the field. Sooner or later dust and fluff will find itself inside the bag as well and for all you afford you will probably not be better off.
So my approach to the problem is to do a lens change as quickly as possible and by assessing the prevailing conditions try to modify this activity as best as I can. I also have come to recognize that, despite everything that has been said about sensor cleaning, this is a simple and none destructive activity. These sensors are quite robust little buggers and only the most talented person will find them easy to destroy.
This means when I shoot (and change lenses) in unusually dusty places I simply clean the sensor more often and in particular at the end of the shoot. I use now exclusively a soft artist's nylon brush and just brush the sensor clean. By doing it often there is never a buildup of dust to worry about. I can tell you the soft nylon brush with its light static charge picks up dust that has settled on the sensor surface nicely. After all you just wipe a soft brush over a small "glass" area, how difficvult is this? If you do this at the end of the day after a dusty shoot there is never a chance any of the crap will weld itself onto the sensors AA filter's surface through condensation.
My K-5 is now pretty well 12 months old and I have lost count of how often I have used the nylon brush on the sensor. I can guaranty you the sensor is in absolute perfect condition. Companies that sell sensor cleaning gear at prices which return them a 2000% margin hate guys like me.
So, as they say in the classics, people get "their knickers in a knot" for nothing (Or not much anyway)
Greetings