Comments on: Camera Tutorial: How to Ruin Your Shots (Before You Even Take Them!) http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942 Not a photo blog. A personal blog with photos. Wed, 23 May 2012 20:38:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Don Thomas http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-33825 Don Thomas Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:24:06 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-33825 I don't personally have a sensor-cleaning camera (Nikon D70S), so I don't know how it feels to have one. However, do realize that sensor-cleaning is just one aspect of the dreaded dust monster. Dust on the surfaces of the lens can also add to this and no sensor-cleaning camera can stop that one! :) <span class='jfriedl'>Even with a sensor-cleaning camera body, you still have to watch out, as it can still leave larger bits of grunge. I found this out on a recent trip... a big nasty splotch showed up in most shots, but its location moved all around as the day progressed. Ugh. Dust on the lens won't have any effect on this at all, but it can greatly increase flair and lower overall contrast. —Jeffrey</span> I don’t personally have a sensor-cleaning camera (Nikon D70S), so I don’t know how it feels to have one. However, do realize that sensor-cleaning is just one aspect of the dreaded dust monster. Dust on the surfaces of the lens can also add to this and no sensor-cleaning camera can stop that one! :)

Even with a sensor-cleaning camera body, you still have to watch out, as it can still leave larger bits of grunge. I found this out on a recent trip… a big nasty splotch showed up in most shots, but its location moved all around as the day progressed. Ugh. Dust on the lens won’t have any effect on this at all, but it can greatly increase flair and lower overall contrast. —Jeffrey

]]> By: Eric Scouten http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-21127 Eric Scouten Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:00:27 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-21127 Re: "<i>It sounds like you’re saying that your Canon with automatic sensor cleaning is better than your Canon without sensor cleaning, and that makes a lot of sense, but what does that have to do with the “Canon vs. Nikon” wars?</i>" Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. (Which is surprising given the rather large gap in price between the two.) For me, now that I have sensor cleaning on a camera, I won't buy (or even enjoy <i>using</i>) a camera without it. It's almost like buying a car without a steering wheel. My initial comment on the N vs C wars was a reaction to finding out that the D200 did not have sensor cleaning and my surprise that Nikon would have ceded that competitive territory. That said, I went back and did a little more research and found that the D200 is not a current body, so auto-cleaning might not have been an essentially required feature back in 2005 when it was introduced. <span class='jfriedl'>As far as I can tell, the first Canon with a self-cleaning sensor was the 400D, announced a year after Nikon's D200. (Canon's 5D, announced two days before the 400D, didn't have it). Self-cleaning sensor units have been standard on Nikon stuff since the D3/D300 announced last summer, and my new D700 has it. I'm sure I'll appreciate the self-cleaning sensor, but it's not <i>that</i> big a deal to me, because dust wasn't <i>that</i> big a problem to me. The monster glob on my lens in this post resulted in the first real problems I've had with dust, and was perhaps sufficiently big that automatic cleaning wouldn't have taken care of it had I had it anyway. Dunno. —Jeffrey</span> Re: “It sounds like you’re saying that your Canon with automatic sensor cleaning is better than your Canon without sensor cleaning, and that makes a lot of sense, but what does that have to do with the “Canon vs. Nikon” wars?” Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. (Which is surprising given the rather large gap in price between the two.)

For me, now that I have sensor cleaning on a camera, I won’t buy (or even enjoy using) a camera without it. It’s almost like buying a car without a steering wheel.

My initial comment on the N vs C wars was a reaction to finding out that the D200 did not have sensor cleaning and my surprise that Nikon would have ceded that competitive territory. That said, I went back and did a little more research and found that the D200 is not a current body, so auto-cleaning might not have been an essentially required feature back in 2005 when it was introduced.

As far as I can tell, the first Canon with a self-cleaning sensor was the 400D, announced a year after Nikon’s D200. (Canon’s 5D, announced two days before the 400D, didn’t have it). Self-cleaning sensor units have been standard on Nikon stuff since the D3/D300 announced last summer, and my new D700 has it. I’m sure I’ll appreciate the self-cleaning sensor, but it’s not that big a deal to me, because dust wasn’t that big a problem to me. The monster glob on my lens in this post resulted in the first real problems I’ve had with dust, and was perhaps sufficiently big that automatic cleaning wouldn’t have taken care of it had I had it anyway. Dunno. —Jeffrey

]]> By: Eric Scouten http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-20890 Eric Scouten Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:57:37 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-20890 Wow ... I think you may have just posted one of the more effective arguments yet in the Nikon vs Canon wars. My (original) 1Ds doesn't have sensor cleaning and I encounter this problem <i>constantly.</i> On the other hand, I have not yet seen a <i>single</i> dust spot in ten months of active shooting with my 40D. I can assure you that my careful avoidance of dusty environments is not a factor. ;-) You can guess how much I use the 1Ds now... I must say I was rather shocked that the first Google hit on "Nikon D200 sensor cleaning" contained the word "punted." Why put up with this? <div class='jfriedl'><p>Hi Eric.<br/> (For those of you who don't know, Eric is the primary developer on the part of Adobe Lightroom that allows plugins like <a href='http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/' rel="nofollow">those I write</a>)<br/>I'm not sure I follow your argument. It sounds like you're saying that your Canon with automatic sensor cleaning is better than your Canon without sensor cleaning, and that makes a lot of sense, but what does that have to do with the "Canon vs. Nikon" wars?</p><p>I assume that those who have been shooting with their Nikons (or Sonys or whatnot) that have sensor cleaning also find it better than their Nikons (or Sonys or whatnot) that don't, so your argument here has thrown me.... —Jeffrey</p></div> Wow … I think you may have just posted one of the more effective arguments yet in the Nikon vs Canon wars. My (original) 1Ds doesn’t have sensor cleaning and I encounter this problem constantly. On the other hand, I have not yet seen a single dust spot in ten months of active shooting with my 40D. I can assure you that my careful avoidance of dusty environments is not a factor. ;-)

You can guess how much I use the 1Ds now…

I must say I was rather shocked that the first Google hit on “Nikon D200 sensor cleaning” contained the word “punted.” Why put up with this?

Hi Eric.
(For those of you who don’t know, Eric is the primary developer on the part of Adobe Lightroom that allows plugins like those I write)
I’m not sure I follow your argument. It sounds like you’re saying that your Canon with automatic sensor cleaning is better than your Canon without sensor cleaning, and that makes a lot of sense, but what does that have to do with the “Canon vs. Nikon” wars?

I assume that those who have been shooting with their Nikons (or Sonys or whatnot) that have sensor cleaning also find it better than their Nikons (or Sonys or whatnot) that don’t, so your argument here has thrown me…. —Jeffrey

]]> By: Daniel http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-20877 Daniel Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:26:32 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-20/942#comment-20877 Michael Clark of www.michaelclarkphoto.com has taking a dust reference picture as part of his pre-shoot checklist. Btw, your flickr plugin is great! Michael Clark of http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com has taking a dust reference picture as part of his pre-shoot checklist.

Btw, your flickr plugin is great!

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