Jon Savage , Sep 05, 2010; 02:57 p.m.
Hi,
Just a couple of quick questions. I had a large dark spot from some sensor dust so yesterday I went to the local camera shop and bought a blower and an Arctic Butterfly as the in built cleaning vibration function didn't shift it. Good news was using the blower cleared the spot, bad news was I needn't have bought the brush!
The shop happened to do a cleaning kit set with the brush for the same price as just the brush only so I thought I might as well have the one with the kit. But they didn't have my size so I had the Visible Dust 1.0x Kit. My thoughts were Full Frame is 36x23.9mm. DX is 23.6x15.8mm. So I could use the 24mm Full Frame swab but wipe down rather than across. It sounds too simple, can anyone see a problem with this? Its not great loss to not use them, I have the cleaning fluid so I can just buy the correct DX 16mm swabs when I need them.
My second question was about the vibration cleaning function in the camera as it has prompted me to think about using it more. The default is off which makes me hesitate to change it to clean at startup/shutdown.
Why wouldn't Nikon use it if it helps keep the sensor clean? Are you going to increase the chance of wear or could you possibly impact the sensor position enough to see front/back focus changes with fast lenses? What's the consensus for using this feature all the time? Something is better than nothing?
Thanks for you thoughts.
C.P.M. van het Kaar , Sep 05, 2010; 03:13 p.m.
Why wouldn't Nikon use it if it helps keep the sensor clean?
Reasons I could think of :
- It uses extra battery power ; when switching on and of often that could count.
- It slows down startup of the cam. which sometimes is not favourable..
- It needs ( acording to the manual) the camera in a horizontal position ( i.e. not poiting with the lens straight down or up , the firs position would shift the dust on ( or into with a 300mm f4) the lens, the latter would have no results :-).
- "If it aint broken, don't fix it" , no dust to remove why bother....
- I'm sure you could find other reasons .... :-)
Wade Y , Sep 05, 2010; 05:49 p.m.
- It slows down startup of the cam. which sometimes is not favourable..
That's the major drawback I see with it. On my Nikon, the cleaning function is actually enabled by default. I'm not sure why that is, seeing as how yours is turned off by default. Maybe it's because my camera is newer, or maybe it's because my camera is lower-end.
Seems to me, though, that having it turned off is the better way to go. It takes a good second or two for the routine to complete. If that delay causes you to miss a shot, well...dust spots are pretty easy to deal with, in comparison. When I think about it, it's similar to the reason I will never use a camera strap again. The first time it got in the way of my viewfinder, I missed a shot of my baby niece sliding down a slide for her first time. Off with the strap!
Alvin Yap 
, Sep 06, 2010; 05:48 a.m.
Can't help you with your first question as as luck would have it, most dust motes dissapear with a few puffs of my rocket air blower :)
2nd question wise I'd be in the same boat as the rest - startup time. I only use the sensor shaker when I'm doing regular air blower maintenance.
Edward Ingold 
, Sep 06, 2010; 10:58 a.m.
A blower moves the dust mot to some other location inside the camera, whereas a Visible Dust brush removes it completely. Something to think about.
If you keep mirror box and lenses dust free, then you seldom get dust on the sensor. I only clean mine every 3 months or so, unless I'm in a dusty environment. I haven't needed to do a wet cleaning in over three years.
