dust mites on camera lens!

clark · 11-09-2010, 11:30 PM - **2 Likes**

I puled out a lens I hadn't used for a while and noticed some tiny specs of 'dust' moving around

so I pulled out the macro lens and took a look

put the lens in the freezer to kill the bugs, when i took it out I could see a dead bug on the lens cap so i thought i'd get in a bit closer with the macro lens and a reversed 28mm (which I think makes the magnification about 4:1, with a working distance of 1")

snapping off a few frames on live view when the little bugger wakes up and starts eating the silver paint on my sigma lens cap!
Watching the mite was a pretty harrowing/interesting experience indeed- keep your equipment ruthlessly clean!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

to give a sense of scale, the silver you see is the A of 'SIGMA'
The image is cropped to about 25% of original size

Adam · 11-09-2010, 11:37 PM

Poor lens! Any idea why these things would appear?

clark · 11-09-2010, 11:45 PM

Originally posted by Adam

Poor lens! Any idea why these things would appear?

I guess it was when I bought a zenit E from a junk store and the bag was very very dusty, put the sigma lens in the bag- big mistake...

bag now in bin, zenit in freezer- flat mate might shoot me weird looks tomorrow when he goes to grab something to eat and finds a camera in amongst

Adam · 11-10-2010, 06:36 AM

Yup- there's a lot of stuff you need to watch out for. Another biggie is smoke. If you buy a lens that was kept in a smoker's house, you've got to keep it in a place with relatively constant air flow, and (if possible) surround it with smell-absorbing chemicals.

Adam
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jolepp · 11-10-2010, 06:58 AM

It is kind of neat minuscule bug. Too bad one can't train these to go inside the lenses and eat the dust in there (would need to toilet train them too, I suppose :-)

Stringmike · 11-10-2010, 10:38 AM

You probably don't want to hear this, but everyone's house and especially your beds are inhabited by colonies of dust mites.

House dust mite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nice photo!

Mike

clark · 11-10-2010, 11:31 AM

Originally posted by Stringmike

You probably don't want to hear this, but everyone's house and especially your beds are inhabited by colonies of dust mites.

House dust mite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nice photo!

Mike

ha ha, I read that last night while in bed- started experiencing insane amounts of placebo itching and just had to sit under a burning hot shower for about 4 hours ha

thanks

I'm trying to experiment with greater than 1:1 macro's, the reversed 28 gives 4:1 I think, but the working distance is impossible. It also doesn't cover the whole image frame. The 50mm does but with decreased magnification.

I'm going to experiment with a 2x teleconverter to give 2:1 at the same working as I get at 1:1 with no TC, and use extension tubes or a reversed lens to give me some more magnification

that being said I don't know if I could cope with any more mag, the depth of field is pretty ridiculous if you consider the bug is 0.4mm accross and this was shot at f16 (can't go higher because of significant softening), also the tinyest movement caused the image to go out of focus, really was a pain in the ass getting these shots. Was interesting watching it on 10x live view though, they spend most of their time with their body stuck up in the air and just walk around on their front legs, I watched it eat dust and clean it's self, it was a very strange experience indeed to watch something in such detail which to my naked eye just appears to be a tiny yellow dust spec.

what I really want is an electron microscope

Now everything I look at appears to have moving objects on it, i'm constantly itching and i'm scared to point my macro lens at anything

Stringmike · 11-10-2010, 01:56 PM

One of the BBC nature programs did a study on all these little bugs that live in our houses some years ago - that's where I learned how many of them actually co-habit with us. As I recall, there was some stunning macro photography, but the program left everyone feeling itchy!

Bedbugs are making a big global comeback too. Maybe you should concentrate on outdoor wildlife!

Mike

r0ckstarr · 11-15-2010, 11:11 AM

Originally posted by Adam

Yup- there's a lot of stuff you need to watch out for. Another biggie is smoke. If you buy a lens that was kept in a smoker's house, you've got to keep it in a place with relatively constant air flow, and (if possible) surround it with smell-absorbing chemicals.

This may be a new question to ask when buying used lenses off of eBay. What happens when someone smokes near a lens? Will it do something to the IQ / special coating, or just make it smell funny?

alohadave · 11-15-2010, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by r0ckstarr

This may be a new question to ask when buying used lenses off of eBay. What happens when someone smokes near a lens? Will it do something to the IQ / special coating, or just make it smell funny?

Mostly it will smell like an ashtray. There is a very slight chance of smoke particles adhering to the lens elements, but I wouldn't worry too much about that.

11-09-2010, 11:30 PM - 2 Likes	#1
clark Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 301	dust mites on camera lens! I puled out a lens I hadn't used for a while and noticed some tiny specs of 'dust' moving around so I pulled out the macro lens and took a look put the lens in the freezer to kill the bugs, when i took it out I could see a dead bug on the lens cap so i thought i'd get in a bit closer with the macro lens and a reversed 28mm (which I think makes the magnification about 4:1, with a working distance of 1") snapping off a few frames on live view when the little bugger wakes up and starts eating the silver paint on my sigma lens cap! Watching the mite was a pretty harrowing/interesting experience indeed- keep your equipment ruthlessly clean! Uploaded with ImageShack.us to give a sense of scale, the silver you see is the A of 'SIGMA' The image is cropped to about 25% of original size

11-09-2010, 11:37 PM	#2
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,595	Poor lens! Any idea why these things would appear? Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

11-10-2010, 10:38 AM	#6
Stringmike Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 283	They're everywhere, they're everywhere! You probably don't want to hear this, but everyone's house and especially your beds are inhabited by colonies of dust mites. House dust mite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nice photo! Mike

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11-09-2010, 11:45 PM	#3
clark Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 301 Original Poster	Originally posted by Adam Poor lens! Any idea why these things would appear? I guess it was when I bought a zenit E from a junk store and the bag was very very dusty, put the sigma lens in the bag- big mistake... bag now in bin, zenit in freezer- flat mate might shoot me weird looks tomorrow when he goes to grab something to eat and finds a camera in amongst

11-10-2010, 06:36 AM	#4
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,595	Yup- there's a lot of stuff you need to watch out for. Another biggie is smoke. If you buy a lens that was kept in a smoker's house, you've got to keep it in a place with relatively constant air flow, and (if possible) surround it with smell-absorbing chemicals. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

11-10-2010, 06:58 AM	#5
jolepp Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Finland Photos: Albums Posts: 3,196	It is kind of neat minuscule bug. Too bad one can't train these to go inside the lenses and eat the dust in there (would need to toilet train them too, I suppose :-)

11-10-2010, 11:31 AM	#7
clark Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 301 Original Poster	Originally posted by Stringmike You probably don't want to hear this, but everyone's house and especially your beds are inhabited by colonies of dust mites. House dust mite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nice photo! Mike ha ha, I read that last night while in bed- started experiencing insane amounts of placebo itching and just had to sit under a burning hot shower for about 4 hours ha thanks I'm trying to experiment with greater than 1:1 macro's, the reversed 28 gives 4:1 I think, but the working distance is impossible. It also doesn't cover the whole image frame. The 50mm does but with decreased magnification. I'm going to experiment with a 2x teleconverter to give 2:1 at the same working as I get at 1:1 with no TC, and use extension tubes or a reversed lens to give me some more magnification that being said I don't know if I could cope with any more mag, the depth of field is pretty ridiculous if you consider the bug is 0.4mm accross and this was shot at f16 (can't go higher because of significant softening), also the tinyest movement caused the image to go out of focus, really was a pain in the ass getting these shots. Was interesting watching it on 10x live view though, they spend most of their time with their body stuck up in the air and just walk around on their front legs, I watched it eat dust and clean it's self, it was a very strange experience indeed to watch something in such detail which to my naked eye just appears to be a tiny yellow dust spec. what I really want is an electron microscope Now everything I look at appears to have moving objects on it, i'm constantly itching and i'm scared to point my macro lens at anything

11-10-2010, 01:56 PM	#8
Stringmike Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 283	One of the BBC nature programs did a study on all these little bugs that live in our houses some years ago - that's where I learned how many of them actually co-habit with us. As I recall, there was some stunning macro photography, but the program left everyone feeling itchy! Bedbugs are making a big global comeback too. Maybe you should concentrate on outdoor wildlife! Mike

11-15-2010, 11:11 AM	#9
r0ckstarr Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,507	Originally posted by Adam Yup- there's a lot of stuff you need to watch out for. Another biggie is smoke. If you buy a lens that was kept in a smoker's house, you've got to keep it in a place with relatively constant air flow, and (if possible) surround it with smell-absorbing chemicals. This may be a new question to ask when buying used lenses off of eBay. What happens when someone smokes near a lens? Will it do something to the IQ / special coating, or just make it smell funny?

11-15-2010, 07:56 PM	#10
alohadave Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Quincy, MA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,024	Originally posted by r0ckstarr This may be a new question to ask when buying used lenses off of eBay. What happens when someone smokes near a lens? Will it do something to the IQ / special coating, or just make it smell funny? Mostly it will smell like an ashtray. There is a very slight chance of smoke particles adhering to the lens elements, but I wouldn't worry too much about that.