There's no silver bullet, but--in addition to minimizing in-field changes (one way I do this is by using both of my camera bodies--mounting my two most-used lenses before leaving a controlled environment)--if I have to change lenses in the field (and it happens), I do the following:
1) make certain that the camera is OFF
2) if it's windy at all, do my best to find a sheltered spot or, at a bare minimum, turn my back to the wind, blocking the camera itself as much as possible
3) have the replacement lens or body cap at the ready--to limit the amount of time that the lens mount is open to the elements
4) with the camera (or, if using a lens with a tripod collar, the lens) mounted on the tripod head, rotate the head position down...so that the camera itself is angled down, minimizing the opportunity for dust (etc.) to blow or fall into it.
5) become very familiar with the entire process of mounting and dismounting lenses, to, again, limit the amount of time the lens mount and sensor are exposed.
And, despite all of this, it's almost a full-blown guarantee that crap will make its way inside anyway. This should, however, limit the amount of said crap that you'll have to deal with. I haven't had the opportunity to use a camera with an anti-dust system, but I'd sure like to have one that functions well.
The only addition to my routine is keeping a body cap handy in nasty conditions. As I lift the lens off, I sliide the body cap into place, only removing it once the second lens is decapped and close to the body for quick installation.
Posted by Buck Ward on January 25, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Kyle -I have a practiced lens change routine that minimizes the time that the body is open. It includes turning the camera off before changing the lens and on after. This activates the anti-dust system before and after the lens change. I think also that having the camera off during the change may lessen the possibility of the sensor attracting dust. I suspect that active anti-dust features will be standard on most DSLRs in the near future.
Kerry - I did not need to clean my 1D Mark III for over three months. If a dust speck showed up on the image, the self cleaning always took care of it. I had to clean the sensor for the first time right after getting the camera back from having the infamous AF fix.
Discussion
3 repliesI'm just curious as to what exactly you all do.
Thanks!!
1) make certain that the camera is OFF
2) if it's windy at all, do my best to find a sheltered spot or, at a bare minimum, turn my back to the wind, blocking the camera itself as much as possible
3) have the replacement lens or body cap at the ready--to limit the amount of time that the lens mount is open to the elements
4) with the camera (or, if using a lens with a tripod collar, the lens) mounted on the tripod head, rotate the head position down...so that the camera itself is angled down, minimizing the opportunity for dust (etc.) to blow or fall into it.
5) become very familiar with the entire process of mounting and dismounting lenses, to, again, limit the amount of time the lens mount and sensor are exposed.
And, despite all of this, it's almost a full-blown guarantee that crap will make its way inside anyway.
The only addition to my routine is keeping a body cap handy in nasty conditions. As I lift the lens off, I sliide the body cap into place, only removing it once the second lens is decapped and close to the body for quick installation.
Kerry - I did not need to clean my 1D Mark III for over three months. If a dust speck showed up on the image, the self cleaning always took care of it. I had to clean the sensor for the first time right after getting the camera back from having the infamous AF fix.