I shoot a 5D, so dust is always on my mind.

Lots of folks recommend keeping the camera off when swapping lenses, or running water in the shower, or...... It seems to me that one way to minimize the pain is not to try to keep dust away, but to put something near the mount opening that attracts dust more than the sensor. (or before it can get near the sensor.)

I envision some kind of ring, made out of highly-static plastic, or other material:

You would simply slide it over your lens, with it perhaps attaching to the camera with two tiny pieces of velcro. Then you'd swap lenses. Any dust hanging in the air would (hopefully) be attracted to this ring, instead of entering the camera.

This should certainly work, at least to some degree, but which material? Is there anything that ALWAYS olds a negative charge? -Or perhaps, some material that can be charged by rubbing it, or blowing on it... I think I read of some such plastic-like material once, but memory fails. I think all plastic creates a charge if you rub two pieces together, but that's less convenient.

Any ideas on what the best material would be?


Edited by Cableaddict on Aug 06, 2008 at 06:42 PM GMT

Additional idea / materials question:

The one thing this ring would not do is remove dust from the new lens's rear-element. You would want to do that as well.

So, the "dust ring" could perhaps also have a small, soft, static-filled dingus hanging off it, extending slightly past the bottom of the camera body. You would simply swipe the lens element over this dingus, then mount the lens.

Obviously this material would have to be extremely soft. I'm thinking maybe the material used on synthetic dusters, like you can buy at Walmart. I'll have to try that on some cheapo lens first, of course.

Any other ideas?

You can't be serious.

If Gary Fong sees this you will be able to buy one for sure, at perhaps $40.

The model sporting the dingus would probably sell for $10 more.

It's just dust. It's everywhere and people make much too big of a deal about it. I change my lenses all the time and just take common sense measures to avoid worsening it. I don't do it in windy conditions, I do turn my back to the wind, I do minimize the time the camera is without a lens attached, I do enjoy using my camera and don't worry about a little dust that I can clean easily and/or edit out of my images just as easily.

I find that my freshly washed automobile does a fantastic job of attracting dust. So I did a quick experiment, and sure enough, I found a direct correlation with less dust in the camera when I change lenses while standing next to my clean car.

Of course your mileage will vary...

AJ Nadershahi wrote:
I find that my freshly washed automobile does a fantastic job of attracting dust.....
Of course your mileage will vary...


Aha! So you're saying that the amount of mileage on the car makes a difference? Further experiments needed... Of course, a freshly-washed car is one heck of an expensive accessory.
(Hopefully we'll soon see third-party knock-offs out of Hong Kong.) I'll stick with the $10 ring-dingus. ( "ringus" ?)

But seriously, still looking for ideas. Anyone who's happy living with dust is OK by me, but I hate the stuff. There is every reason to believe that the "ringus" will work. It would pack easily, it would take 5 seconds to attach, it would not have to stay on while you're shooting, it would cost very little, and it would surely cut down on sensor-dust, at least a little bit. Possibly a whole lot.

What's not to love?
---------------------

And for you luddites in the crowd: (you know who you are) Many dust-sensitive industrial devices use something exactly like this. Air conditioners meant for clean rooms have plastic, external filters, some medical cleaning devices use virtually the same type device, etc.

The Brightscreen company even makes some kind of similar thing, but they install it INSIDE the camera. -only in the cameras they sell, it's not available separately. (But by all means, call them and tell them to stop, because it's such a terrible idea!)

I think it makes more sense to use such a collector OUTSIDE the camera, since
A: there's a better chance of stopping dust-bonding before it gets right near the sensor, and
B: An external unit should be easier to clean or replace.

So I'm still not sure what material to use.

Maybe any plastic-based material will work, with something to rub it against. I suppose the dingus could be quickly rubbed against the ring. One more thing to worry about, though.

The Visible Dust Butterfly seems to charge simply be twirly around in the air. does anyone know if that's enough, and if a special type of polymer works best with that method?

Where are all the physicists & chemical engineers when you need one?

Cableaddict wrote:
Where are all the physicists & chemical engineers when you need one?

I think they are all working on realistic projects.

Count me in the "you can't be serious" group. This is making a mountain out of a dust hill.

Talk to the Olympus engineers that figured out how to place a sticky strip under the sensor to trap dust particles when the sensor vibration process loosens them off the sensor.

Or maybe talk to the Nikon engineers that developed airflow guides inside the mirror box assembly of D60 to help control the flow of dust with every swing of the mirror assembly.

Change the lens with the vacuum running. Put the hose right under so that the lens / body is perpendicular to your hose opening, and set it on high!

Whatever they makes sensors out of seems to attract dust fairly well.

EBH

@cableaddict
any chance you open only once a serious thread ??

Well, I hope you all enjoy your dust.

I'll figure this thing out & then keep it to myself.

Thanks for nothing.

Cableaddict wrote:
Well, I hope you all enjoy your dust.

I'll figure this thing out & then keep it to myself.

Thanks for nothing.

Good grief!

You're posting to a PHOTOGRAPHY forum, but you're asking physics and chemistry questions! Is that very sensible on your part?

Why don't you post to some physics or chemistry forums, or crack a textbook?

The question doesn't come down to material, but how you impart and maintain the static charge. You could do that electronically, but however you did it you'd get a little zap when you picked up your camera (just like when you touched the face of an old-style CRT after you turned it off). (CRT screens were good at grabbing dust)

BUT, having a good dust attractor is a 2 edged sword - if your camera becomes a dust magnet then it will have more dust in its vicinity so even if a smaller percentage of that dust reaches the sensor, it's a smaller percentage of a larger number so the total dust on your sensor might go up.

Also, if you have a device in the vicinity of your camera with a strong static charge you're likely to zap the camera itself with it and damage its sensitive electronics. In the lab where I work we have a little electrostatic "gun" we can shoot at electronic devices to test their durability against static discharge. Many of them fail.

Cableaddict wrote:

I'll figure this thing out & then keep it to myself.


That's about the best idea that has come out of this thread...

Wow, there are a lot of people out there afraid of dust. I didn't realize that so many people with OCD also had digital SLRs.

DanBrown wrote:Count me in the "you can't be serious" group. This is making a mountain out of a dust hill.

8x10 sheets of film seem to attract lost of dust.... maybe try changing lenses next to some sheet film

Ben Horne wrote:
Wow, there are a lot of people out there afraid of dust. I didn't realize that so many people with OCD also had digital SLRs.


When you consider the kind of people that lurk in gear forum, it seems rather natural they would tend towards OCD behavior.

picfox wrote:
@cableaddict
any chance you open only once a serious thread ??

+1

Mike Ganz wrote:
Cableaddict wrote:

I'll figure this thing out & then keep it to myself.


That's about the best idea that has come out of this thread...



+1 Agree

A lot of aggression on this thread .... anyway, to the OP, what you're suggesting sounds like a good idea, but really it's a bad idea. Any kind of material available to consumers that you merely slap on near your sensor is going to do more harm than good because it will attract dust to your camera but will not be able to trap all the dust it attracts -- so a lot more dust will settle on your sensor.

plus you're probably describing a product that needs to be based on electronic circuitry so it can be turned on and off, else it will be attracting dust non-stop. So that raises the question of how bulky will this item be that is attached to a lens or body, and whether you want such a device close to sensitive electronics.

mdude85 wrote:
A lot of aggression on this thread ....

I'm sorry, but I don't see anyone clubbing fur seals, or kicking puppies here. I've had quite a few digital SLR cameras (D30, 1D, 1D mark II, 5D, 1Ds mark II, and 1Ds mark III), and I've never really had a problem with dust. If you see a large spec in your camera, simply blow some air in there and the big specs are gone. If you have some annoying little ones, just use some swabs and they're gone. You're never going to have the sensor 100% perfectly clean, but all the little specs won't show up in real world shots anyways ---- so why obsess about it?

My guess is that those who obsess so much about sensor dust are the same people that obsess so much about a few specs of dust here and there in their lenses. Really folks, it's not a big deal. Just go out there and enjoy your camera. Take photos, and if you see some big offensive specs --- take the 30 seconds that it takes to clean your camera. It's not like we're trying to land a man on Mars here.