dust

In-Depth Breakdown Shows How to Properly Weather-Seal a Camera

Dave Etchells over at Imaging Resource has released a fantastic breakdown the dives deep on exactly how camera makers—Olympus specifically—go about properly weather-sealing their cameras. In keeping with Etchells' reputation, this video is the most comprehensive overview of the topic that we've ever seen.

Canon Designed a Lens That Sucks

Canon engineers have designed a lens that quite literally and intentionally sucks. The lens pulls in air, swirls it across the image sensor in the camera body, and then pushes it out in order to get rid of the internal dust that causes nasty dark spots in your photos.

Nikon Confirms that the Z50 Does NOT Have Image Sensor Cleaning

A few days ago, Nikon Rumors pointed out that Nikon had suddenly removed "image sensor cleaning" from the tech specs of the recently announced Nikon Z50. Earlier today, we were able to confirm with Nikon USA that this feature is, indeed, missing from the company's latest mirrorless camera.

This is What the Nikon D810 Looks Like After Burning Man

Nikon claims its pro-grade D810 DSLR has "superior" and extensive weather sealing that helps keep moisture and dust out, but that doesn't mean you should treat it as being dust-proof. The camera above shows why. It's a Nikon D810 that was taken to Burning Man.

Idea: Use a Car as a DIY Smoke Machine Outdoors

While shooting a recent series titled American Made, Los Angeles-based lifestyle and advertising photographer Caleb Kuhl needed a dusty scene, so he had someone drive an SUV around to serve as a DIY smoke machine. Above is a 2-minute behind-the-scenes video of the shoot.

Nikon Allocates $17.7 Million to Repair D600 Issues… and Its Reputation

If you're wondering just how big of a pain in the butt for Nikon the D600 sensor oil/dust issues have been, all you have to do is go back into our archives and read about the lawsuits and the outrage... or read the comments on the D610 announcement post.

On the off-chance that's not enough, however, we now have a dollar figure to add to the mix. $17.7 million. That's how much Nikon has allocated to put an end to the D600 issues and repair its damaged reputation.

Law Firms Lining Up to File Class Action Lawsuits Over the D600 Dust/Oil Issue

Just over a week ago, we reported on the news that a US law firm was collecting information from disgruntled Nikon D600 users for a potential class action lawsuit. Well, it turns out they're actually late to the game. Three days after that story broke, a few other law firms actually filed a class action suit against the Japanese camera giant.

Sensor Gel Stick: Safely Clean Your Sensor Like They Do at the Service Center

Sensor cleaning, especially if you've never tried to do it yourself, is a scary prospect. Sure, taking off your lens and using a rocket blower isn't all that nerve-wracking, but start talking to someone about wet cleaning a sensors and beads of perspiration will immediately begin to accumulate on their newly-furrowed brow.

How to Open Up and Clean Your iPhone 5 Camera

Although cracking open your smartphone and possibly voiding the warranty is never a pleasant task, sometimes it's necessary. For example, YouTube handyman JerryRigEverything's friend recently dropped his iPhone 5 and started getting some serious dust buildup on his front and rear cameras.

In the above video, Jerry shows you how he opens up his friend's iPhone and performs a quick cleaning job on both cameras to get them shooting good as new. (Note: If you choose to try this at home, you do so at your own risk)

How to Do DIY Dust Cleaning Surgery on 6 Popular Canon and Nikon Lenses

Here's a question I get asked about 15 times a week: “How can I get the dust out of my lens?” The right answer is you don’t. All lenses have dust in them and it doesn’t affect the images at all 99% of the time. Even if you clean it all out, it will be back after you use the lens a few times.

Nikon D600 Speck Issue May Be Limited to First Few Thousand Shots

Photographer Kyle Clements' time-lapse showing specks accumulating on the Nikon D600 over the first 1000 shots has been seen by nearly 200,000 people around the web in less than a week. Through the exposure his experiment has gotten, Clements received a good deal of feedback and suggestions regarding further experiments and what the specks might be. He has since done two new time-lapse experiments that sheds a little more light on the issue.

Theory: Nikon D600 Sensor Dust Problem Caused by Scratches in the Mirror Box?

It has been widely reported that the new Nikon D600 full-frame DSLR suffers from a higher-than-normal amount of dark spots appearing on the sensor. Yesterday we shared one photographer's time-lapse video that demonstrates that the issue occurs right out of the box without any lens swaps.

Photographer Daniel Gaworski has been experiencing the same problem, and decided to take a closer look at his D600. He discovered that his camera's shutter curtain contains scratch marks on the bottom flap (see above), particularly in one corner of the camera.

A Time-Lapse Showing How Quickly Dust Accumulates on Nikon D600 Sensors

Back in October, we wrote that the Nikon D600 suffers from excessive sensor dust in the upper left hand corner of the frame -- something many owners have been reporting and a flaw confirmed by review sites such as DPReview. Toronto-based artist Kyle Clements wanted to test this himself, so he bought a new D600, pointed it at a white piece of paper, shot 1000 frames, and created the time-lapse video above.

The Nikon D600 Has Sensor Dust Issues

We tend not to get too excited about sensor dust problems at LensRentals; we clean sensors on every camera after every rental, so it’s just routine. When we started carrying the Nikon D600, they all arrived with a fair amount of dust, but that’s pretty routine, too. Manufacturing and shipping can be a dusty experience.

How Dust and Damage on Lenses Affect Image Quality

This photograph was taken by a lens with some "obstruction" on the front element. Aside from the blurry patch of nastiness in the bottom portion of the frame, the rest of the image looks pretty decent. What do you think the "obstruction" is? A little dirt? A smudge where the photographer accidentally touched the front element? A scratch? The answer is a little closer to a scratch than a smudge...