Tip: Secure your gear

It's been quite a while that I did not write a good TIP on the blog but as you can image, those who can, time is not on my side for the moment... but fear not I have ordered some more so I can keep up the postings on a regular basis.

Changing dippers has been a must now and each hour that I get I try to rest and sleep the most as possible.
Me and my wife are taking turns on taking care and feeding the babies and while on my "shift" I had this almost prepared only needed to make the pictures and publish it so here it goes.

By the way... it's never too much to thank you all for the wonderful messages that have been arriving and sorry if I haven't respond to all of them but email reading and Internet access as not been so frequent as I was planning.

For all of you
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT AND WELCOME MESSAGES.

Now let's start with today's tip.

After reading fellow photographer Bert Stefani blog it was with great loss that I found that he had his gear stolen while having some lunch at a big photography conference in Spain he explains:

"My bag was stolen during lunch in the congress center. We were in the restaurant that was only for the organization and the speakers and the bag was under my chair (didn’t get up during lunch). After lunch the bag was gone."

How many of you have had a similar situation?

Well I hope not many...

Knowing what I know from that country a 1000 eyes wouldn't be enough to guard your gear and there is always someone looking at you when you pull the camera and while being extremely careful with all your things there is always something that you cannot take care of and that is.. the Eye of the Beholder.

In Portugal there are no insurance companies that are willing to take the risk just because so many have abused from it in the past so now none of the companies want to do it.

I know a couple of people that had reported to the insurance companies that they were robbed or mugged just to get the money so they could buy a new camera in exchange for the older model.

This unfortunately mislead the insurance companies so nowadays there is nothing you can do (in Portugal) except get a stick, a dog, have an extra eye on the back of your head and be always in alert.

A word of advise "NEVER LEAVE YOUR GEAR WITH NO SURVEILLANCE OR OFF YOUR EYE SITE EVEN FOR JUST ONE SECOND".

Once a fellow Portuguese photojournalist was covering a presidential rally in the middle of the crowd and had to change lenses for a better cover up so he exchanged his 70-20 for a 16-35 and put the 70-200 on his backpack.
Later on he needed the 70-200 but when he tried to pull it out someone had open his backpack, without him knowing, and mugged his 70-200 just like that in a blink of an eye, yes just like that, the bag was opened while he was taking some pictures in the middle of a crowd.

Stories like this happen quite often and what is curious is that the stolen gear never returned to it's owner :(

Maybe one day camera manufacturers would create a PIN code for our cameras just like mobiles nowadays, for sure this would not solve the problem but could prevent someone to try and steal your camera just like that.

Hey but wouldn't they still steal our mobiles with PIN codes??

OH!!! WELL!!! I think we are never safe :(

Today I leave you with 2 tips for better secure your camera and gear bags.

I had mentioned it before on my blog on a October 2007 article, you can find it here, called PacSafe.

And this time will make a full review on it because only now the store, here in Luxembourg, had it available and I finally was able to buy it.

The other one is a strap replacement for your camera, also from PacSafe, with a very good balance, very good fasten and easy locks.

Both systems feature eXomesh® Ultimate that is a multi-patented interlocking security system, giving you the ability to lock and leave your belongings.

Pacsafe's revolutionary eXomesh® Ultimate products combine the following three security features to give you the "Ultimate" in anti-theft protection :

* Slashproof eXomesh cage - a lightweight and slash proof high-tensile stainless steel eXomesh cage encases your valuables.
* Locks closed - the patented locking device cinches and locks the eXomesh cage completely closed.
* Locks to a secure fixture - an integrated, heavy duty, stainless steel cable connected to the eXomesh cage and locking device locks your valuables to a secure fixture.



So let's begging with the camera strap.

This is a really cool strap and you can find all the details on the PacSafe CarrySafe 100 page with a price of 14,00 euros I think this is something you cannot look aside.



What's in the package:

* Slash proof adjustable strap
* Snatch proof strap to anchor the camera or binoculars to a secure fixture

Extra features:

* Soft-cushioned breathable neck pad
* Universal webbing connectors fit most cameras and binoculars
* Spring-loaded metal clips allow the strap to be quickly clipped to camera case without removing webbing connectors from camera
* Neoprene sleeves cover joining clips for maximum camera protection and security



Here is a picture of my heavy usage Canon strap. You can notice the rubber is coming out of it and part of the end straps are "falling" apart :)

In Lisbon I asked for a replacement and they told me that would cost something like 30,00 euros or around that. Since they are still holding the cameras I decided not to upgrade them.



Now let's look at them side by side.

The PacSafe strap is more thinner that the Canon strap and it also has some locks that can be removed from the camera easily and you can feel the Slash proof eXomesh around it.

This stays very well around the neck and I did feel more comfortable with them than with the Canon Strap and believe me I have been using Canon Straps for years.



Here you can see how the all strap works. You first tight the ends on the camera and then attach the locks to them.



A closer look at the Lock and camera attaches.



Didn't get it yet?

Well here is a simple photo that shows you how it works.



One of the things that bother me at first was the fact that the locks were metallic and that this could injure my camera back screen but after attaching the strap to the camera and putting it at the right height, this could be a little pain in the ass because of the eXomesh wire but once you got it that's it you do not need anymore adjustments, I noticed a Neoprene sleeves that protects the lock so it won't scratch any part of your camera.

On the left side of the above photo you can see the strap with the Neoprene sleeve up and on the right side with the Neoprene sleeve down and protecting the metal parts.

I started to love this strap ;)



Here the complete rig, camera and PacSafe strap.

I can tell you that I've never thought about changing straps until I saw this priceless PacSafe strap and I'm glad I did since this feels much more comfortable and stable than the Canon one.



Lets take the straps into their 15'' Domke protective wraps. I use this wraps as they secure my cameras and lenses from dust and scratches while packing and traveling.

With Canon straps I had to put them on top of the camera leaving me with a tight space for good camera packaging.



With the PacSafe strap I can put it around the camera or...



Remove it and store it outside the camera.

This is also good because it allows me to shoot without the strap when needed.

Overall I'm still testing the PacSafe camera straps but so far I will not remove them from my cameras and for the price I do think they are a bargain.

The other PacSafe product I would like to talk to you about is the PacSafe 85 anti-theft backpack & bag protector.

Featuring patented eXomesh® Ultimate security technology, the PacSafe is an adjustable high-tensile stainless steel locking device, designed to cover and protect a variety of bags and packs from tampering, pilfering and theft.

Throw it around your pack, secure it to something fixed and get on with your adventure.

Four sizes means there is one to fit almost every type of backpack, soft-sided wheeled luggage or duffel bag.

Built for multi-purpose use. Whether outdoors, touring or adventure traveling, PacSafe's tough and expandable design fits most popular sized backpacks, duffel's or soft-sided wheeled luggage.

This is a must when you are on the move or want you bags more secure so you can spend more time worrying about your photographs than your gear.



I decided to go for the 85 model because my bags are not so big and I wanted something that could be put on my lighting kid or my carry on luggage.

They have several sizes concerning the capacity volume you want 55, 85, 100, 120 and 140. You can get more info here at their page and this one cost me around 60,00 euros.

Pricey but I think it's well worth it, just take a look of the full review and let me know if it wouldn't be better than having your gear stolen.



So lets look what's in the 85 model package:

# Adjustable high-tensile stainless steel locking device
Fits volume approximately: 55 - 85 L / 3400 – 5200 in3
# Padlock included
# Carry pouch included
# Weight: 580 g / 1 lb 3 oz including padlock
# Folds to: 16 x 10 x 5 cm / 6 x 4 x 2 in
# Key chain



This symbol is the head of the metal bag.



I also bought and additional locker since the one that came with the PacSafe 85 anti-theft backpack & bag protector models are one with keys and I'm not into keys because you can leave them anywhere or even loose them.

I feel more comfortable getting a locker with code and this particular one can be opened by a TSA agents for inspection cost about 8,00 euros.



So I've replaced the original key locker with PacSafe 700 locker and it works the same way.



Here is my carry on luggage bag it's a Lowepro CompuTrekker AW and when I'm traveling i try to take all my gear here, at least the one I feel less comfortable leaving on the bilge.



After suiting the PacSafe 85 to the bag here is what it will look like.

It too me sometime to realize how the mesh net works but after a couple of minutes you will get into it pretty easily.

The 85 is a little bit big for this bag but I do prefer to have it a little big then to not make it fit and since this was my first buy for this kind of product this was almost like a tryout, but I do think this is a good option for some other bags to as you can see on the next pictures.



Here is a picture from the side. Unfortunately the Lowepro CompuTrekker AW does not have the removable sleeves so it won't be of any good trying to put the mesh and walking around the backpack on your shoulders, anyway you can always carry this bag with the mesh by the hand strap.



This is what it will look like at the bottom of the Lowepro CompuTrekker AW. You can tight it more if you need so it prevent people from cutting the base of you bag and stole things from there.

I did not pull it tight enough but I guess you can see where I'm getting at.



One example of what you can get.

You can secure it around a table leg or some other unmovable object without the risk of someone stole it of tamper it or you can use that cable, before you close it, to attach it around some other things.



I also have a LowePro Trekker AW II and this was my carry on luggage until the airlines companies had refrain the height on carry on luggage now I cannot use it anymore for airline traveling purposes but it's used for carrying gear to locations and so on.

Here is a photo after suiting it up.



This bag is very good because you can still use it as a normal backpack even after suiting the mesh.

You simply have to put the sholder straps out trough the mesh and afterward you can use it as usual.



My latest acquisition was an IKEA traveling bag (Ref. 400 993 15) for 24,50 euros so I could put all my lighting gear in it.

This is a very good bag and you can find it at the IKEA family products and unfortunately I couldn't find it at the online catalog products so you have to check at your local IKEA.

I Can fit in it 4 Manfrotto Nano 001b stands, 4 Nikon SB-26 strobes, lots of batteries, Cables and accessories, Gels, Power Extensions, Clamps, Snoots... oh well all my lighting gear fits on one bag and since it has a rolling feature it it's very easy to carry it around.



Here is a photo of it open with all of the gear.



Another one with the mesh net, it fits perfectly.

See now why I bought the 85?



Here is a photo of the net mesh opened. On the bottom part you can see the opening and as you pull it stretches to match the size of your bag and the size also depends on the size of the mesh you bought.

The only thing that I found difficult, at first, was to figure it out how to dress the bags since each bag has it's own position depending on it's configuration but the instructions that came with it are so clear that in a minute you will manage how to dress them up.

Hope this could help you decide for a more secure bags while carrying your equipment.

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Adobe Lightroom Plugins

If you are using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to manage and tweak your photos this is good news for viewing your Lightroom catalogs database outside Lightroom and present it or share them with your clients.

LRViewer is a standalone viewer for Lightroom image previews and that's what makes this piece of software so wonderful.

LRViewer makes no changes to the Lightroom catalog, which means that it can't create any previews that aren't already present in some other words it will not temper your Lightroom files by any means.

Both the catalog (ending in "lrcat" or "lrdb") and the associated preview file (ending in "lrdata") must be present. You open just the catalog; LRViewer then opens the preview file automatically. No images have to be exported from Lightroom, since LRViewer accesses the catalog and previews directly.

Select a picture to see its metadata in the panel at lower-left. Double-click a picture to zoom it to fill the window, or to the largest preview size available. You can navigate between zoomed pictures with the arrow buttons at the top of the window or with the left and right arrow keys.

But this is not all. For about $50 you can add to it LRMaker and it will allow photographers to customize the appearance and behavior of LRViewer for their clients. Planned features of LRVmaker include:

* A built-in DVD burner will allow you to easily assemble the package for a client (catalog, preview file, and LRViewer app) so your client can immediately run LRViewer off the DVD, without installing it on his or her computer. (DVD burning on Windows may not be in the first version. In that event, you'll be easily able to burn DVDs with other burning utilities.)
* You can lock a catalog so that LRViewer will open it only under control of the configuration you provide. (Note that anyone with Lightroom can bypass the lock, so it's not completely secure.)

* You can prevent clients from seeing EXIF information and other metadata.
* You can control what top-level items appear in the outline (Quick Collection, Folders, etc.).
* You can control whether JPEGs can be extracted (a planned feature for LRViewer).
* You can control the maximum preview size to be shown.
* You can arrange for a watermark to appear on images, to help guard against screen captures.
* You can put your logo and a link to your web site on the main window.
* There will eventually (probably not in the first version) be a way for clients to rank or otherwise select images, and for that information to be passed back to you. It won't be entered into the Lightroom catalog, but will be available externally, via a file you can browse and/or with an email.

Note that these are planned features, for which there is no commitment. The final design may include more or less than these, and may implement them in different ways. Not all features listed will be in the first version, but updates will be free.

You can download the LRViewer is a free version from here for both Mac and PC users.

The PDF Instructions manual can be found here.

Another Lightroom Plugin is the Geotag. If you are into Geotagging your photos this plugin would be a must.

This project installs menu items into the Adobe Lightroom interface that allows photos to be tagged with geographic information through the Lightroom interface.

Locations are read from the standard GPX file format and exif information is stored in the image files using Phil Harvey's exiftool.

Geotag-lightroom-plugin is still in a Beta stage and it was created by Jeff Barnes.

It uses a feature of the Export SDK, where you can create a menu item within Lightroom.

The plugin reads GPX information and writes it to the file in Lightroom using Exiftool.

The Features included are:

- Sync photo to GPS using picture of GPS display
- Interpolate location between track points
- Add geotags to original images or save to new location

Hope you enjoy these new Adobe Lightroom Plugins.

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Inside a Paparazzi's camera bag

Would like to thank you all for the wonderful messages I've been receiving.

They have been very welcomed and me and my family we thank you all for the support.

On todays article I found this piece very interesting and since a lot of you have been asking me a lot of questions about my gear this should be a good complement to those questions.

Have you ever wonder what's inside a Paparazzi bag?
Wonder no more.

Fellow photographer Henry Flores co-owner of BUZZFOTO show us what he carries in his bag.

This is a rare look inside a working photographers camera bags, along with the reasons for each piece.

Some great advice for general street shooters as he shows us the magical Pepper Spray and explains why he has it.

Take a look at the video after the jump.




I also would like to thank Damon Webster at Photoinduced.com for making these great video series.

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It's a Wonderful Day!!

It was this morning at 9:00.

David was the first one at 9:05 with 2,530g and 44,5 cm then came Tereza with 3,020g and 47 cm.

All went well and now while my wife is a sleep I sneak home for a quick lunch and just wanted you to see some of the quick photos.

Some more photos after the jump :)















Thank you all for the wonderful messages and support.

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Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended LEAKED

It seems that Adobe is planning to make an update on Adobe Photoshop CS3 sonner that we would think of.

I've been playing with Photoshop CS4 Extended version, code name Stonehenge (Version 11.0) for a couple of days but, so far, couldn't find to much differences between CS3 and CS4.

Maybe this leaked version hasn't got any new features except for the name changes and some hidden improvements.

Well this means that Adobe is planning on Releasing a new version sooner than we would expect.



Their renewing period is more or less 18 months so if they keep their renewing time lapse for sure we will have a new Photoshop version CS4 by the end of this Fall.

Let's wait and see, I'll keep you posted as soon as I got some more news.

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Tip: Girls & Toys

My daughter and son are due to arrive next Wednesday so my witting an uploading time are very limited so the tips for this week, aren't full of photos and wittings like you are used to, but not all is lost ;)

Because photography is not only a Men's job I decided today to show a few simple tips and techniques for the Ladies and newbies.

I found out this great compact YouTube video from professional photographer Erin Manning that shows what's in her bag.



And how about that Lastolite reflector that you wanted to buy but you are running out of money right now?

This video of Erin shows you another good tip.


And if you are still there take a look at this one too.

Dos and Don'ts for Great Portraits



And last but not least some more basic photography tips.


Hope you enjoy.

As you can imagine Lighting Mods is also for Girls ;)

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iStockphoto's user vulcanacar is doing some inside jobs

say WHAT??,
originally uploaded by _rebekka.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!!

I had already reported the stolen of some of my online images, David Hobby from Strobist noticed one of his photo as an advertisement add with no copyright earnings or even a contact from the editor of the publication.

originally uploaded by strobist.

As per David words "My, what a surprise! No credit, no notice, no anything. Just the "honor" of being an ad in their magazine.
And the editor did not even understand why I was a little upset... "


Follow this Flickr thread in here.

Now it's Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir with a 25 horses images stolen from her personal gallery and added to iStockphoto.

_rebekka is one of Flickr's most popular users, she is out with a photo post today of a screenshot where some user named vulcanacar is selling some of her photos on iStockphoto you can view, read and participate at her Flickr thread in here.

"I thought I'd bring this to light as a warning and wake up call to folks. I'm not putting the blame with iStockphoto per se, but still, this is a problem that is becoming increasingly annoying, for everyone that uses the internet to showcase work. I mean for crying out loud, out of 31 images this particular user has on his "portfolio" , 25 of them are mine, and at least 3 are of me..

I have contacted a copyright lawyer about this, and will be doing what i can to tackle this problem in the best way possible, (please, nobody start sending any angry letters or anything of that sort, this needs to be dealt with in a level-headed way) but i wanted to tell people about this as well, because this is always happening, and your photos could be on there illegally as well. You never know."

The images were also used to promote another website as per mentioned on the iStockphoto forum here with the following comment:

"I just launched a website for a client (www.thegifthorse.us) and I used several photos on the home page (in random format). Thanks for an awesome selection! We couldn't choose just one, so we used them all!".

iStockphoto of course is owned by Getty Images, the largest provider of stock photography in the world. It will be interesting to see how their lawyers handle this one.

And here we are buying a lot of lenses, improving our cameras and skills only to be ripped off by some guy who maybe doesn't even know how to take a picture.

This pxxxxx me off!!!

Hope this could come to a good term and that the vulcanacar user be paying by his mistakes so that people start to understand that someone else's pictures are not FREE domain to grab and use as they please and for their own usage and profit.

As I like to give new Ideas and help people out with their photography situations I DO CONDEMN THE PEOPLE WHO DOES THIS KIND OF THINGS TO OTHERS!!!!

So I could not leave this open and unspoken on my blog.

Feel free to copy and distribute all or part of this blog message and contribute to the "Expose Fraud Cases" cause.

Use the comments to expose some situations that you have had and help others not falling on the same mistakes.

THANK YOU!!

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Tip: How to Clean your gear

A lot of you send me an email asking if it would be possible for me to elaborate the way I do my cleanings since I did not express to well on my previous post concerning the Butterfly cleaning.

When I decided to wrote about sensor cleaning it was not my intention to write this follow around tips since there are already so many places to look for this, just google around and you will see them but I wanted to help you and show you the method I'm using to clean my gear as a solution to all my dust problems.

I tend to think more like - "If I clean my teeth everyday then why shouldn't I clean my photo gear regularly?"

Keep in mind that I also take my cameras and lenses to Canon, once every 6 months or so, to do a full checkup, calibrate the lens and do some deep cleaning of dust inside the lens and more lately inside the cameras viewfinder, this sucks.
Normally you get them inside the viewfinder underneath the prims because you blow inside the chamber so they get there and you cannot remove them unless by Canon technicians because they have to tear the camera apart just to get there. It will not affect the sensor or pictures but for me is very disturbing having a small hair in the middle of the viewfinder or a dust spot on one corner .

So what you are about to see here are just the simple steps I make so that my cameras can continue giving me the full support and not fail me when I have something really important to photograph. And believe me sometimes when you really need them that's when they tend to fail (Murphy's Law).

On the above picture you can see my cleaning table. If you click on the picture you can see the comments for better understanding what is on it.

Some words of advice:

- BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN DOING CLEANINGS TO ALL YOUR GEAR.
- PLEASE CHECK TWICE BEFORE DOING IT.
- THE SENSOR IS THE MOST DELICATE PART OF YOUR CAMERA THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT SENSOR (SO YOU CAN BE SENSIBLE WITH IT).
- NEVER USE ANY ABRASIVE PRODUCTS, THEY CAN ACTUALLY "KILL" AND WIPE OUT ANY PARTS THEY TOUCH OR TRY TO CLEAN.
- IF YOU FEEL INSECURE ON MAKING THIS SIMPLE TASKS PLEASE, I REPEAT PLEASE TAKE IT TO YOUR LOCAL REPAIR DEALER AND HAVE THEM TO CLEAN IT FOR YOU.
- CLEAN YOUR SENSOR AND LENS REGULARLY AND YOU WON'T REGRET IT.

I also would like to advise you that this may not work for you, but this is the way I do my cleanings successfully for quite some time now.

So after all this warnings I hope you are still there and if you want to proceed just keep reading ;)



Let's start with lenses. I use the Giottos BIG blower to remove any dust particles that maybe on the front lens filter and on the lens itself. I also ALWAYS use the best filters I can get on the market to put in front of my lenses.

I have tried almost any kind of protective and UV filters from Roddenstock to Hoya Pro but the best, so far, has been the Canon Protect since they do not cast a Magenta when I'm capturing my concert pictures, maybe this will have to do with the actual curve of the filter also noticed that the photos would come out more sharp than previous ones.

And NO I'm no Canon fanatic :)



Next I will apply some neutral lens liquid bought at photo shop for that purpose and sometimes I use a little of Eclipse liquid when that stains are difficult to remove from the front filter.

Try and avoid to clean your lens too much as I've been reading that the coating could come out by cleaning them so much. I'm actually talking about the lens and not the filter because the filter you can buy another one and would for sure be less expensive than having to change the lens.



With some optic paper I clean the filter and remove all the dirty stains and spots.



Also do the same procedure on the back part of the lens.
Afterwards with another clean and dry paper I dry it out nicely and always cleaning in circles from the center to the edge.



I use Eclipse liquid on the cotton buds to clean the metal part and the contacts of the lens.



I have this kind of sponge pac that I just use to clean the outside of the viewfinder also embedded with Eclipse liquid.

The eclipse liquid is very good for this kind of cleanings since it drys almost instantly and leaving no residue.

And here done with the lens cleaning. Just that Simple ;)



Now the camera.

Is never too much to warn you about this procedures here, so be very careful with everything you do and clean.

I always use the camera with its opening down but for the purpose of illustrating this picture I had to put it up so you can really see what I'm talking about.

So, always blow inside the camera chamber with the opening down this avoids the flying dust to land again inside the chamber.

I will open the screen viewer and and will blow inside the viewer and also blow to remove some dust from the mirror.

MIRROR WARNING: THAT IS ACTUALLY NOT A MIRROR SO DO NOT CLEAN IT WITH ANY LIQUID NOT EVEN WITH ECLIPSE.

Now you are warned. I had one time to ask for a mirror replacement due to the cleaning with eclipse. I had somehow a stain on the mirror that was so stubborn that won't want to come out and I decided to apply my killer stains (Eclipse) while brushing it I noticed that instead of cleaning the mirror I was actually removing that small silver cover and when you do this the camera will lose some of his ability to focus too well.

So whatever you have to do on the mirror be careful since it's actually not a mirror ther but a layer of shinny silver film that comes out easily.



Because I do not have an extended Manfrotto arm I just put the Manfrotto super clamp on the edge of the table and use my Manfrotto ball head on top of it to give me a more firm camera.

But has I said before I try to clean with the camera opening to the downside to avoid, as much as possible, to avoid any flying dirt to get inside while I do the cleaning.



I also use a fixed lens, in this case my old 85mm, this would give me more depth of field and also I would not have the zooming pulling the dust inside the chamber while cleaning.

But if you do not have a fixed lens you can do it with a zoom also. Just keep it at end zoom position and you will be fine. Try not to move it so it won't put more dust inside the chamber.



I use the lowest JPG for faster downloading and viewing on the computer. The increase of the JPG will not make your dust looks better anyway ;)

So I just take it to S and use the SD card since my computer has an SD port. I just slide the card there and download the images using the Downloader Pro by Breeze Systems, in fact I use the all Breeze Systems suit for a fast viewing, IPTC and web page creation.

This suite is really incredible I think that all cameras should come with it check out the Breeze Browser Pro and the Remotes for DSLR and Point and Shoots unfortunately is only for the PC platform :(



Next I set my camera to Low ISO in this case I have set it to 100 I believe that 50 would do also great then set your aperture to the lowest you can get on your lens, mine is Av22.

I also put the camera on Av mode so I wouldn't have to worry about the shutter speed.



Then I point it at the sky. I like to do my cleanings on a bright day sky rather than to some white paper because you can get much better contrast. Unfortunately while I was witting this the weather did not helped me :(

But I took the picture and made, on Photoshop, some round dots around some of the biggest and noticeable spots so you could have at least a reasonable viewing on the dust spots.

Here is the shot of the sensor after first sky shot.



Next procedure is to go into the camera menu and select the sensor cleaning option.



Choose OK and then the mirror will lift and the sensor will be showed.

I always choose OK with my camera opening facing down.



I then lift the camera up high and above my head and start my first procedure that is blowing those dust spot off.

Of course some loosen ones will eventually will be removed but some others may not.



Let's take another shot of the sky after blowing. You can see that a lot of dust still remains on the sensor. It's always good to start with the blower since if you do not have many dust on the sensor and chamber then you will not need to proceed even further with the cleaning.

So that's why I always start with the blower fist.



Next I will use my next acquisition the Arctic Butterfly 724.

This dust magnet will get almost all the dust specs on the sensor and since I bought it my cleanings turn a lot easier and sometimes I do not need to make the final wet cleaning.

You can see the full review of the product here.



I will use the Sensor Loupe, from the VisibleDust package, to look inside the chamber and for better viewing the dust particles inside.

Unfortunatly this only has 5x magnification which leaves you with no space to put and use the brush inside the chamber while looking through the loupe.

But besides this it's a great help for better look inside.



A good friend and fellow photographer from Luxembourg gave me another tool that I find also useful to look inside the chamber.

It's the inexpensive stamp loupe from Kaiser.



With this one you can actually work inside the chamber while looking through the loupe. The magnification is very good but unfortunately this is also not the perfect loupe tool because it causes too much reflections on the sensor making it only useful for some sensor parts or for cleaning the chamber.



I spin the Butterfly brush brush for 2 times for about 10 seconds to remove any dust particles that could be in it and then brush the sensor again.

I do 5 or 6 passages before I can proceed to my next and final step. Sometimes I even brush it over specific parts of the sensor just to get them really nice and clean.

Pay close attention to the following things to watch out, they are pretty much common sense:

Avoid touching the brush bristles with your fingers unless you want oil smears on your sensor. Keep the sensor brush dedicated to cleaning sensors only; I keep a separate brush for chamber cleaning, and brushing dirt off lenses and filters. Finally, they recommend cleaning the brush head every few cleanings with pure Isopropyl Alcohol, pure Ethanol, or their Sensor Brush Wash product.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT under any circumstances use your Arctic Butterfly 724 for any other thing like cleaning the chamber, playing with it over your hand or use it has a fan, DO NOT let your friends play with it because it an get some oil and instead of cleaning the sensor it could DAMAGE IT.

THINK OF the Arctic Butterfly 724 AS A CIRURGIC TOOL!!



The final result and best, at least for this time, I could get with the brushing.

It's time to remove those dust spots that seem to be "glued" to the sensor.

And that's when I start the wet procedures so let's see them.



Click on the picture to see the names of each of the products that I have in here.

I bought this all package from Copper Hill Images a long time ago, I think I bought them when people start to mention dust particles on the sensors.

Choose the right Pac size to match your sensor.

--- Update 11/02/2008 ---

It came into my attention that Eclipse has created a new liquid fluid (Eclipse E2) to clean the "sensor" (i.e. Sensor Protective Cover) of the new cameras that now are shipped with tin oxide coating on the front of the AA filter.

So pay attention to this extensive list to find out what will be the best Eclipse liquid for cleaning your cameras and gear.

This is very important because if you use the wrong liquid you can damage the sensor filter and leaving you with lots of money for the repair or replace.

---//---

I remember that Canon by that time were not planning on releasing electronic dust cleaners on their cameras and also mentioned on several articles that their sensors would not collect dust because they did not produce enough static to attract them. Can you believe it ?

Only after Olympus started to implement the Sensor Cleaning on their cameras Canon realized that this would be a BIG problem for users and that one day they need to put this on their cameras. Then Nikon came out with their news digital SLR with sensor cleaning system and Canon followed.

Now Nikon is getting a 2 way system cleaning (Image Sensor Cleaning function & Nikon’s exclusive Airflow Control System) with their new D60, Canon will have to come with something to fight them back. Unfortunately we consumers are caught in this duel.

How many of you have cleaned the chamber of your old film cameras and they last a lifetime ?

Anyway... that's another thing ;)



I use the PecPad of 100 wipe units and cut them in half so this would help me when putting them on the chamber since they will not be too big and bulky.



How to fold the PecPad wipes to be able to clean the sensor?

First I fold them by the middle part like in the above picture.

You can get the full assembly instructions here.



Then without touching the middle part, this will be the part that touches the sensor, I bend it cross to the other side.



Then from right to left.



Use some scotch tape to glue it together.



Here is the final.



I put one 1 drop of Eclipse liquid on each side and that's it. Do not moisture too much the pad or you will end up with too much liquid on the sensor, although it will dry fast but it won't dry fast enough if you put too much liquid in it, and have to remove it later on.

Just 2 small drops is enough.



Brush from left to right then turn the Pac around and



Brush from the other side.



Only use one PecPad and wipe per passage. Do not brush it 2 or 3 times with the same pack because this could bring more dirt and moisture into the sensor.

After it shoot into the sky and see if there are more specs in there if there are still some there repeat this procedure until you have cleaned them all.

Clean them all sounds quite exaggerated because you cannot actually clean it completely but try to clean the biggest one and don't be to annal about it.

Normally the small dust specs are not visible under f8.0 so shoot the sky at f22 and then at f8.0 to check for results and when you feel happy it them stop cleaning.

Too much cleaning may damage your brains :)



Here is my final result after 15 minutes cleaning one of my cameras.

Now I will have to do this all procedure with the other one ;)

Once you get to know how to clean them you can improve the cleaning speeds timings.

But I do prefer making it slowly and carefully than to have some surprises while doing it.



Here is a compiled version of the steps I have taken on this particular cleaning.

4 Brush passages and and only 1 wet need, sometimes , depending on the previous assignment I have to wet clean it more than one but this time it was easy because the camera I used to make this was parked :)

Final notes:

This is a simple procedure to do, you can make it yourself without having to take the camera to your shop and pay a lot of money to have somebody to clean it for you also you will never know when it comes back from cleaning if it's really well cleaned. By experience they normally never come well cleaned and you still have to pay :(

So take your chance and start cleaning yours even with the new super duper cleaning technologies dust will always be a problem on the sensors.

I cannot be held responsible if you damage your sensor by following my procedures. As I mentioned before they work for me don't mean they are the correct ones for you or even that they will work for you and your cameras.

Hope this will bring you a new perspective on how to clean sensors, oh well at least this is how I clean mine.

Enjoy.

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Europe Shops Major list update

Today I took the day to reprogram the code and select some more European stores that sale Strobist products so that the list could grow and be each time more complete.

On today's update I manage to improve the better looking of the box and included the online store for each item, also made the items visually available by country.

With some help from fellow photographer Timo Schnitzlein I could make a BIG upgrade to the German stores.

As I try to make a complete scan, to exhaustion, of all the web sites and links people have send me, so I can link to direct products descriptions this is (as you can imagine) is time consuming and I'm so sorry if the updates aren't getting frequently, but I'm doing my best here ;)

Please feel free to send me more stores to add to the list or you can follow and add them directly to the Discussion group at Flickr in here because I look it regularly.

If there is a programmer out there who would like to help me out with some coding in order to make the list better for reading and a little more customizable would be very very welcome.

I also would like it to be able to have some tables with descriptions for the shops, user comments, prices, ratings and contacts. This would help us out to choose what would better fit the needs of each one of us and without having to navigate the all online store in search of that particular product I would have direct links to the products... maybe some images too.

Let me know your thoughts and hope you all enjoy the Strobist European online Store on the right side panel of this blog as much as I enjoy making it.

Fellow blogger Udi Tirosh as also recomended 7 stores for the DIY (Do It Yourself) Photographer in his DIY Photographers blog.

You can find links to some of the best hardware stores from Home Depot to Hobby Lobby and Ikea.

Just take a look at the direct link in here.

Also hope the effort will be appreciated by the Strobist community.

Thank you David for everything.

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Cleaning Dust Bunnies with a Butterfly

A lot has been said about cleaning your sensor and I do not want to turn this article into another review of the best tools for the job nor get the attention to some particular tool for the job.

I do my own sensor, lens and camera cleaning with, so far, with great success and the tools I use for me are the best ones since they do a pretty fair job.

I say pretty fair since I do not believe that you can really clean, and when I say clean is CLEAN COMPLETELY the sensor from dust. I say this due to the long time experience I have on cleaning my own sensors.

I would dare to say that would be "almost" impossible to completely clean them because you will never know when you will have a "Bunny" after you have successfully clean it.

Sometimes I got them completely clean and when I attach the lens bangs some dirty Bunny enter somehow because of the zoom friction.

Oh well, I try my best to keep them clean, as much as possible, cause it sucks doing that on Photoshop, Lightroom or other software just when you need to rush for deliver the images to the clients.

For years I've been using some heavy blower, to scare the bunnies off the sensor, and afterwards use the Wet Sensor Cleaning system by Copper Hill Images with great results, but this lead me to having to carry a bottle of Eclise with me and this is no good for airplane travels because of the Methanol component :(

So I decided to do a Google quest search on Sensor Dry Cleaning products that could help me out and somehow complement the ones I already have.

The quest ended with acclaimed Arctic Butterfly 724 from VisibleDust.

So I posted a Kit order containing the Arctic Butterfly 724 and The Sensor Loupe and waited.



Opening the box you can find two black boxes, not the same ones you got on a commercial plane, but two very cool black boxes with a golden logo on them.



The Arctic Butterfly arrived packaged in a swish black cardboard box, which opens to reveal a nice faux-leather travel case. This case has a carabiner for attachment to your luggage, as well as a zip which opens to reveal a rather nice looking, sturdy red plastic case. The hardcase is foam padded, moulded perfectly to fit the red sensor brush inside



Opening the plastic zip pouches this is what you will find inside:

- Red Sleek Case containing the Arctic Butterfly 724
- 2x small batteries for the Sensor Loupe
- Sensor Loupe 5x
- Faux-leather travel case
- 2x carabiners for attachment to your luggage
- 1 blue loop attachment to put the Sensor Loupe around you neck
- 1 Cleaning cloth
- 1 cloth bag for Sensor Loupe protection

It lacked the 2 AAA batteries for it to work so I had to buy them extra.

Everything is very well packed and travel ready.



Let's take a look at the Sensor Loupe. You can see that it has 6 super bright lights all around and when you lighten it up you can see everything perfectly. On this one you can barely see the blue light it emits.



Here is a zoom view of it while making a test on the batteries pack. This loop has a magnification of 5x and I think now they haded another one with 7x. I find that the 5x are more than enought to see the Bunnies jumping :)



Here is a look of the 6 lights.



Pick up the Arctic Butterfly 724 and you'll notice that the most important bit - the brush head - is cleverly protected by a removable, transparent plastic cap.

The brush head is detachable for cleaning by giving it a firm tug, which might also indicate that it can be replaced. The green handle is constructed of a nice matte plastic, with the company name very stylishly embossed on the front.

The side of the brush sports an on/off slide switch, and the back of the brush slides open to reveal a compartment for 2 AAA batteries (not included, unfortunately).



Now you're probably wondering why a sensor brush would need batteries. One problem with traditional cleaning brushes is that sweeping dust simply slides the dust around, and there is a possibility of leaving some behind.

Some brushes overcome this by "charging" the bristles with static electricity prior to use, to allow them to literally attract and pick up dust particles. This usually requires the use of compressed air or special paper.

The Arctic Butterfly 724 achieves this effect through spinning the bristles at high speed using a built-in motor. As an added benefit, spinning the bristles also dislodges any residual dust trapped in the bristles.

Do this 3 times for 5 seconds, and your sensor will be completely charged.

Now you're ready to go.



The Sensor Loupe is very useful so you can see inside of your camera. This will give you a perfect even illumination of the full sensor no matter what is the size of yours.



Simply brush the sensor carefully to pick up the Bunnies and debris. Do not make too much pressure on it or else you could end up getting more dust that actually removing it.



Here is a sensor shot before using the Arctic Butterfly 724. It's not VERY dirt but it has some had black Bunnies on some places but it needs a clean.



After first Arctic Butterfly 724 pass. You can clearly see that it removed part of the Bunnies but is not a miracle worker ;)



Let's charge it and give it another try...

Now it's getting a little bit better on the second try.



Once again I did a 5 second spin to remove the debris it already caught and let's try it one more time.



Last spin and last cleaning for now. As you can see it did what it's announce it does. It removed the heaviest part of the sensor Bunnies and considering that I had my lens was at f22. Normally and on a regular basis I would not use this aperture except for some specific assignment works.

You can normally start seeing more specks or Bunnies at f8.0 and above this would give an increase of those terrible black dots on your pictures.

I would like to advise you that, unfortunately, I do not have any contract with this company nor have any commission on their products. I just wanted to express my feelings towards this great product that I think now is part of my cleaning pack.

Hopefully this could help you out to decided what will be your cleaning kit and if you choose the Arctic Butterfly 724 and Sensor Loupe as a complement you will be VERY, VERY happy with it.

Pay close attention to the following things to watch out, they are pretty much common sense:

Avoid touching the brush bristles with your fingers unless you want oil smears on your sensor. Keep the sensor brush dedicated to cleaning sensors only; I keep a separate brush for chamber cleaning, and brushing dirt off lenses and filters. Finally, they recommend cleaning the brush head every few cleanings with pure Isopropyl Alcohol, pure Ethanol, or their Sensor Brush Wash product.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT under any circumstances use your Arctic Butterfly 724 for any other thing like cleaning the chamber, playing with it over your hand or use it has a fan, DO NOT let your friends play with it because it an get some oil and instead of cleaning the sensor it could DAMAGE IT.

THINK OF Arctic Butterfly 724 AS A CIRURGIC TOOL

Digital SLR sensor cleaning is a straightforward activity which should be done regularly, to ensure clean, pleasing photos without unwanted blobs. Products such as the Arctic Butterfly 724 from VisibleDust make this process very much pain-free, with good results too.

I found that it worked as advertised, with no problems picking up dust and leaving the my sensor spot-free. The spinning mechanism is a very novel way of self-cleaning and charging up the bristles, without having to resort to compressed air. As a result, it is very quick to use and put away, with minimum fuss and mess. I was very impressed too by the sturdiness and quality of the construction, and the hardy protective cases supplied.

There aren't many negatives to point out - the most apparent would be the high price of the unit. Surveying the market, rival sensor brushes are retailing as low as a quarter of the price for a basic brush, or even in one case, a complete wet and dry cleaning kit for the equivalent money. This can be justified though, in that you are paying a premium for the patented spinning system, and one doesn't need to carry cans of compressed air, making it very travel friendly. There is also a slightly more affordable model, the SL-700, that spins at a slower speed.

All in all though, I was very pleased with the Arctic Butterfly 724 sensor brush from VisibleDust, and would definitely recommend it.

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Wonder How To...

Ever wonder how to Make a trebuchet, Fold a t-shirt quickly, Make people naked with Photoshop, Download any YouTube video clip onto a hard drive, Use a viewfinder while painting watercolor or Copy your photos with a camera (film or digital)?

Dont' wait any longer the answer to all your questions maybe at the recently new webpage Wonder How to - Video Guide for a Curious World.

From Photography tips to the most hilarious findings you can get them all there.

Take a look and contribute with your own videos.Type your summary here

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