The Photographers' Corner 2013-2020

[seraphim]

The Photographers' Corner

Finally cleaned the sensor on my D200. It was filthy. Amazing difference.

Nice rim shots...



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[Walt34]

Like the rim shots!

I gave up on keeping a photo printer.

I think I'll be printing more than ever for at least a while. DW is giving my matting and framing more credit than they deserve at least at this point but she's now enthused about having more prints hanging on the walls. She may be creating a monster....

Finally cleaned the sensor on my D200. It was filthy. Amazing difference.

Isn't it? And saves all that time in LR or PS to get the spots off.

 

[seraphim]

The Photographers' Corner

Took about two minutes for the sensor. Ordered a decent kit for $35 that had a lot of different cleaning items for lens, sensor and LCD. I'll have to be more careful in the future...


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[ItDontMeanAThing]

Thanks Ronstar, Mr. Paul, seraphim, and Walt 34

It took all my will power not to call them rim shots, but I'm glad others made the connection.

 

[Ronstar]

garden trellis

 

[Ronstar]

And a tree frog resting on our deck table umbrella

 

[seraphim]

Nice shot of the frog: sharp where it should be and slightly soft elsewhere to complement the sharpness.


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[seraphim]

The Photographers' Corner

If you're not the lead dog...



I'd been bemoaning the fact the images from my D200 weren't looking as sharp as I thought they should, but apparently that sensor really needed cleaning; the issues been cleared up.


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[Walt34]

I'd been bemoaning the fact the images from my D200 weren't looking as sharp as I thought they should, but apparently that sensor really needed cleaning; the issues been cleared up.

If you're happy with what you have by all means stay with it but I'd tried a couple and they left a lot to be desired. Got the job done eventually but took a lot of tries and expensive swabs to do it.

Then tried one recommended by one of Scott Kelby's crew (they have built up quite a bit of credibility with me over the years) and I'm very happy with the kit I got from Copper Hill Images. This is the video is the longer more detailed version (~15 min.)

and a shorter (~7 min.) is here.

At the risk of sounding like a shill for them the Copper Hill kit works great and is a lot cheaper than anyone else's especially when it comes time to get more swabs.

And if you get the mega kit they give you the neat little plastic slinky to play with...

 

[seraphim]

The Photographers' Corner

Blew off the dust and used 1 swab. Have three swabs left for another time. Also include a canon lens cleaning kit, LCD cleaning kit. A lot of material for $34. Some duplication of equipment (several brushes and clothes for several purposes) but that's OK. Arrived in three days.


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[Ronstar]

How often do you guys clean your sensors? How can you tell if it's dirty? My camera is only about 9 months old, but went through a dust storm that may have dirtied it up a bit

 

[Ronstar]

Nice shot of the frog: sharp where it should be and slightly soft elsewhere to complement the sharpness.


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Thanks, it turned out ok, but I was trying to keep it sharp across the whole frog. even tried it at around F14. Probably took 20 shots with various settings, but couldn't get the whole frog in sharp focus. Frog was so small that I had to shoot from a few inches away. Had a hard time focusing - couldn't autofocus, and I was standing on a swivel/rocking deck chair so it was difficult to hold the camera still.

What lens / settings do you guys and girls use for your macro shots?

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Spots on photos can mean sensor is dirty, but it could be lens. Sometimes hard to see spots, so one can make test shots of a blue sky or a well lit white wall, like this: How to Spot Dust on Your DSLR Sensor

 

[Mr. Paul]

It was nearly 3 years of heavy use before I cleaned the sensor on my Canon for the first time. Then, 6 months later for the next cleaning. I too use the Copper Hill kit and love it. The cheap illuminated viewer to directly view the sensor is great.

In my experience nothing screams "clean your sensor" like using silver efx pro on an image with dust spots.

 

[Walt34]

How often do you guys clean your sensors? How can you tell if it's dirty? My camera is only about 9 months old, but went through a dust storm that may have dirtied it up a bit

The easiest way is to look at it with the sensor magnifier that is in your sensor cleaning kit but even that won't always spot everything, at least in my experience. While dust is usually easy to see, grease/oil from the camera mechanical parts are not since they tend to be translucent. Those have to be found the other way.

The other way is to stop the lens down to a small aperture and shoot a picture of either a clear sky with no clouds or a white spot-free poster board, or just a white computer display.

Enlarge the image in LR or PS and inspect.

 

[Walt34]

What lens / settings do you guys and girls use for your macro shots?

Right now I only have the 85mm DX macro lens since I wasn't sure how much I would use it. My next lens purchase may well be the Nikon 200mm macro.

If possible and using ambient light I use a tripod. With flash of course it doesn't matter unless I'm planning on using the images in layers.

As to what settings that depends on how much depth of field I want. The difference can be dramatic. The first image is 1/3 sec. at f3.8 and the second is 20 seconds at f36.

 

[Ronstar]

Right now I only have the 85mm DX macro lens since I wasn't sure how much I would use it. My next lens purchase may well be the Nikon 200mm macro.

If possible and using ambient light I use a tripod. With flash of course it doesn't matter unless I'm planning on using the images in layers.

As to what settings that depends on how much depth of field I want. The difference can be dramatic. The first image is 1/3 sec. at f3.8 and the second is 20 seconds at f36.

Thanks for the info Walt. That sums it up nicely. I may have to look into a macro lens.


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[Ronstar]

The Photographers' Corner

And thanks to ItDontMeanAThing, Mr. Paul and Walt on cleaning the sensor info!


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[seraphim]

It was nearly 3 years of heavy use before I cleaned the sensor on my Canon for the first time. Then, 6 months later for the next cleaning. I too use the Copper Hill kit and love it. The cheap illuminated viewer to directly view the sensor is great.

In my experience nothing screams "clean your sensor" like using silver efx pro on an image with dust spots.

I've had the D200 for about ten years, give or take, and never cleaned the sensor before. It just got bad enough to show up on the photos...



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[seraphim]

The Photographers' Corner




Out canoeing this morning....

 

[seraphim]

The Photographers' Corner



This is what the sensor looked like. It's perfectly clean now.


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[Ronstar]

Whoa! - thanks for posting the pic Seraphim. Now I know what to look for

 

[Ronstar]

Tried a macro with my 35 mm prime lens

 

[Ronstar]

And a shot from yesterday's kayak outing

 

[Walt34]

And a shot from yesterday's kayak outing

I always like those "mother duck & ducklings" shots no matter where.

Hot & muggy today so shot some downstairs in my lavishly equipped studio. A card table, two umbrellas three light stands and a reflector. The first one I did yesterday on the back porch but light was fading.