I think I'm over using Rocket Blowers

[Bear Dale]

At least into my camera bodies. I think they're ok for blowing a piece of dust away from either end of a lens, but the common practice of blowing them into a camera body, is no more for me.

I reckon it's the #1 way to get dust up in the viewfinder :(

Do you use yours just for your lenses? Or do you blow it inside your camera body at your mirror?

[Xenedis]

I use mine on my DSLR's sensor, on lenses, on keyboards, the ports on my Mac, and even my guitars.

When using the blower on my DSLR's sensor, I invert the camera so that any dust falls out.

[Bear Dale]

When using the blower on my DSLR's sensor, I invert the camera so that any dust falls out.

Me too, but I think it's still capable of blowing gunk deep into the innards.

It's not clean air that comes out of these things, and if there is something already on the sensor or mirror I think it's got just as much chance of being blown in deeper than falling outwards.

The more I think about them, the more they make sense of blowing lenses, but the less sense of blowing into a DSLR body.

[Xenedis]

I'm not concerned at all.

Which air blower are you using?

Air pressure surely has to get stuff out, not in.

Don't forget, the chamber in your camera is not air-tight. Merely exposing it to the outside world means that minute particles of dust will enter and settle on your sensor's anti-aliasing filter. Using air pressure to dislodge them makes a lot of sense to me, and I've found that a combination of air blower and the in-built cleaning system is better than the cleaning system alone.

[Bear Dale]

I have the Giottos Xenedis.

The only time that I have ever had gunk visible in the viewfinder is after using my blower.

Luckily most times I have been able to shift it off the focusing screen with judicial use. Once I tried to stupidly clean the focusing screen after reading so many DIY strories of how 'easy' it was to do. This necessated (after absolute failure on my part) the body going on a trip to Canon for a new focusing screen and a viewfinder clean because it was up I think in the prism.

I'm still not sold on how they can only shift gunk out and not deeper within the bodies innards.

[Xenedis]

I use the Giottos too.

Honestly I cannot say I've had a problem.

[arthurking83]

LOL! I've been saying that for years, and finally someone with some common sense!

Problem with rocket blowers is that they such dirty air into their bulb, which means that they blow dirty air at whatever they're directed at!
I've been telling folks never to use them on the camera's sensor as all they seem to do is blow very fine particles of dust onto it.
They may remove the large annoyance that may lie on the sensor, but usually this is less problematic than the smaller fine grained dust on a sensor.
The smaller dust particles eventually bake themselves onto the sensor.

Jim, if you want a clean vf, mirror and to remove any large article of contention from your sensor, use canned air .. and use it correctly.
Never shake the can, always hold it as upright as you can, and if you have too, release a short squirt before using it on the sensor.

I've tested a badly used canned air on a UV filter .. UV filters have a certain usefulness afterall! ... and the white residue that was expelled wiped off quite easily with Eclipse and a pecpad.

The best brand of canned air is CRC brand (lasted the longest for an individual can), but at the moment I'm using Helmar Dust Away.
Been using them for years on my cameras, and it the most effective way to clean them out.

if you do try canned air it's usually better to use the included straw for a more concentrated effect even if you are working on a wide area, such as the mirror box.

I have a rocket blower and only ever use it for lenses(but not internally, within the lens)

[Xenedis]

LOL! I've been saying that for years, and finally someone with some common sense!

It's more of a case of finally finding someone who agrees with you. :-P

As I mentioned, I've not had problems with my air blower.

I suppose the best way to put the matter to rest would be to shoot a white background at f/22, and then do the same thing after using a blower.

[arthurking83]

.....

I suppose the best way to put the matter to rest would be to shoot a white background at f/22, and then do the same thing after using a blower.


I used a plain blue sky. Can't remember the aperture settings, but as I don't generally use f/22, I'm estimating it was more along the lines of f/11-f/16.

It was a fair few years back and I may have deleted the images, but if I get a chance to, I'll search back for them.

[Xenedis]

Would be interested to see those images.

I don't use f/22 either due to diffraction, and besides, a 16mm lens at f/16 isn't going to achieve any more DOF by stopping down further.

I typically shoot at f/11 or f/8.

[arthurking83]

Yep! same here, but with the Sigma 10-20mm focusing closely and trying to achieve a high level of sharpness in the extreme corner meant that f/16 may have been required.

Besides, I usually tended to use f/16 and or f/22 as a failsafe, that is if I can't see any at f/22 then I certainly not going to see them at f/11! ... and also to pinpoint in a more specific manner what dust particles I may be having troubles with in trying to remove.

Sometimes using the copperhill kit may not have removed a specific spot, and the spot may have been more blurry at a wider aperture setting, so stopping down usually helps to concentrate on the annoyance.

And as I said earlier, the real problem(well for me anyhow) was not keeping on top of the smaller less detectable dust , that bakes itself onto the sensor over time(if not removed).

You can really only see these affected areas at f/22 or smaller, and I don't want them building up over time. The problem I found was that sometimes they smeared across the sensor instead of remove .. and that this happened in an unpredictable manner.
That was with the D70s, and ever since Nikon's built in ultrasonic cleaning systems were implemented(ie. D300 for me) this baking on of dust particles has never really happened again, that I've noted .. or cared to look for.
I used to be quite zealous with cleaning the cameras, and the D70s was always a problem .. D300 was always kept as clean as I could be bothered too, which means: regular cleaning, but much less than the D70s so over time I've spent less time cleaning .. thankfully.

The D70s is most certainly due for a cleanup, and I reckon I've deleted the images I had of the differences between each type of cleaning using blower, canned air, sensor brush, and wet cleaning methods.
I found the folder where all my dust cleaning images have been kept, but all are only of the tutes I've uploaded .. the actual dust ref images are not there(makes sense).

[Bear Dale]

I also have CopperHill for wet cleaning Arthur.

[old dog]

yep, the copperhill method works best and after the first tentative go it is pretty easy and stress free. I use the rocket blower (on the sensor) at times but found it doesn`t really help.

[arthurking83]

Y'a gotta laugh I guess.

Well I checked the D800 for dust just after this, have yet to check the other two cameras .. but I got well nigh on stuck with the D800.

dark dust spots were visible at f/16, and formed sharply at f/22, and in the usual area at the top of the frame(where a plain sky is more likely to be set up).

So I get out the cleaning kit, and I'll be biggered if I could get it clean. Did more harm than good and with every clean, it got worse.
Swear I wasted about half a pack of pecpads and 20 bottles of Eclipse fluid and the damned thing just kept getting worse and worserer!

The surface of the D800 is definitely a bit different to other Nikon's I own(D300 and D70s) where even a monstrously dusty sensor on one of those cameras would clean up after possibly 10 cleans.
When the sensor is massively spotted, I do very gentle swabs to be sure there is no scuffing .. better to be sure than poor!

Anyhow, the problem seemed that the D800 sensors filter pack looks to be coated with a more slippery coating .. which could make sense to keep dust less clingy to the surface .. think non slip(PFTE) fry pans.

The eclipse fluid always left a streaky mark across the sensor's surface. it would eventually dry up, but from what I'm used too with my other cams, this seemed to take an extraordinary longer time to disappear on the D800.

After a bit of trial and errors on my part, eventually the only way I could get dust off the sensor was to clean with eclipse wait for it to dry and then blow out with canned air. Then use the sensor brush(the statically charged brush available from copperhill) .. to brush away any remaining dust spots, that should have been picked up by the sensor swab anyhow.
But, with each single brush stroke of the sensor brush, I had to blow any possible dust clung onto the brush head with the canned air too.

The way the sensor brush works is that you charge it by rubbing it on some supplied paper, which makes it cling onto dust. You then tap the brush to clear it of any picked up dust, but I'm assuming that the tapping didn't clear it off sufficiently .. and so a blast of air did (inspected under a powerful magnifying glass to be sure)
I reckon I wasted about 1 hour at least and maybe 30 or 40 pecpads.

I reckon tho, that the previously unseen spots I was dragging across the cleaner sensor to begin with may have in fact been oily stuff from the very edges of the sensor array .. being dragged with each swab.

I'm usually quite quick and fluent with sensor cleaning, but this exercise was a totally new level of annoying. Won't be doing that for a while again!

[jim]

I use a vacuum cleaner, me.

:p

[arthurking83]

Jim, you sure you're not Ken Rockwell in disguise?!! :D

[jim]

Arthur!!

That's mean. But if Rockwell uses a vacuum cleaner too, it shows he's not as daft as he pretends. Done carefully* it's actually a pretty good way to keep things clean inside your camera.

*Seriously. Carefully.

[arthurking83]

Yeah, I can understand how with an appropriate vacuum adapter thingy at the end, narrow enough to get close to the inside of the mirror box it makes more sense to suck the dust out, rather than just push it about.
but a vacuum won't have enough force to remove dust off a sensor. Most dust bunnies .. the of the small brown dots in your images will be more baked on(statically glued to the sensor's surface).

From my new experience with the D800, it may more than likely be oil of some kind.


EDIT: I we got server problems, I seem to have triple posted my reply :confused:

[Wayne]

It is not uncommon for the D800 to have excess oil in the mirror box assembly, that when not too old will fling it's way everywhere especially if you like shooting burst mode. This was a very common and widespread D7000 issue on release. I noticed when returning from the airport a few days ago, it seems my D4 has a spot or two as well.

Lucky for NPS...

[Bear Dale]

Not sure if I'd use a vacuum. I think you run the risk of sucking stuff through every outside crack on your camera body deep into the innards.

[arthurking83]

Did a quick clean of the D70s .. hadn't been cleaned for years.
results were not perfect with the canned air, but at least the majority of the visible dust was removed.
Even after the canned air was used, the sensor still needed a wet clean.

These three images are basically 100% crops of an affected area. The uncleaned image has a larger article up at the top edge, and a few obvious small spots scattered.
The red markings are there to highlight where the less obvious, but still noticeable spots are. Obviously I didn't mark the very obvious spots.

uncleaned sensor:
97085

rocket blower.
97086
While the two major particles were removed, it blew more smaller spots all over the place. On the full scene, I counted at least 5 or so more than indicated here in the central portion of the shot.

canned air.
97087
My last can is now pretty low on compression. A new can will provide more push power and so may have blown a few more spots off, but my experience is that the persistent spots definitely need a wet clean(or other more thorough method).
While one maybe two spots still persisted and to my surprise here! .. one new spot was blown in, at full view of the image, none of the spots were noticeable in the image, where the rocket blower blew in about 5 or 6 spots all over the frame noticeable in full view mode.

I like to use canned air prior to a wet clean .. when it all works for me that is ... not like it did yesterday with the D800!
My general routine is blow out the mirror box, including a concentrated effort around the matte screen first(mirror down), then about a 10-20sec effort on the sensor whilst holding the camera almost upside down. reason for this is that the less dust that is on the sensor surface, the less likely it will abrade the surface.

[Rattus79]

I'm with you on the canned air, Your Majesty.

It's clean and it's filtered. If you use it correctly in conjunction with the copperhill method, it's un-beatable.

I also have the Giottos Rocket blower, and all it does is pump dust.

When cleaning my sensor, I always get out the steam cleaner and give the room a good steaming first. It may make the room a bit hotter, but the steam will condense on any dust in the air and make it fall to the ground leaving the room "clean"

[arthurking83]

..... but the steam will condense on any dust in the air and make it fall to the ground leaving the room "clean"

Good idea, and that's what I reckon happened in my canned air attempt too.

FWIW: I primed the rocket blower prior to use and gave it many vigorous pumps before actually using it on the sensor .. obviously an attempt to dislodge any dust present in the tube and or the bulb body.

Similarly with the canned air, gave it a 2 sec burst to expel any dust and (just in case) propellant.

the room here at the back of my house is quite dusty.

[Rattus79]

the room here at the back of my house is quite dusty.

I reccommend using the bathroom. People generally keep the bathroom quite clean, there is mirrors and generally they have good lighting in them too.

75% of all household dust is comprised of dead skin cells. (I think that's about the right percentage)