Commercial break - DUST-AID
I called this commerical break because i am writing a review for a product i’ve personally used and benefitted as a consumer:)
DUST-AID.
I am sure you would’ve heard about Band-aid. What on earth is Dust-Aid?
Scenario:
Say, you own a DSLR. Lets assume you also own two lenses. Chances are, you are one of those scene parties like me, who would change the lens right in the middle of a shoot. Location can be anything from Yosemite to Koovam.
There is a strong chance that your CCD sensor, (the digital equivalent of film which captures the shot) will accumulate dust. You may not notice this at first. But it will literally mark a mark in each and every photograph you shoot in due course.
We never had this problem with the traditional film cameras because we rewind the film roll for the next shot. Obviously that’s not the case with DSLRs.
Coming to the remedy, don’t for a moment think that wiping off the sensor with a cloth/oil/water would work. It’s called sensor for a reason. By trying these ‘murattu vaithiyam’ tricks, you may actually injure the sensor permanently.
In comes Dust-Aid. I think they called it Dust-Aid because it uses the same adhesive method to ‘heal’ the CCD sensor as BAND-AID. I had this problem during my US trip. NV sir would know that a lot of my photographs were ruined because of this issue. Eventually I found about this product and ordered it via BHphotovideo. It later turned out to be one of the useful purchases I ever made during the trip.
I cleaned my sensor after I reached India and it worked fantastic. My photos of Mani’s engagement came out perfect.
WARNING: There are some Canon users who’ve had problems with DUST_AID. Check out forums like dpreview and use your own discretion. I read that canon uses a coating on the sensor which is markedly different and delicate. DUST AID has a different variant of their product for Canon Users. I however reiterate that readers exercise discretion.
There are also some other competitors who follow a different approach to cleaning the sensor. Please let me know how effective they are if you have used any of the other products:) For now, my vote stays with DUST-AID.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:05 am
OMG!!!!!!!! like like same same machi.. recently bought a zoom lens for my rebel… a little cleaning kit came along with it - you know, the little hand blower thingie, with a soft brush at the end.
Before this though, sometime, dust had accumulated on the sensor and I had this bloody black spots on most of my photos - situated in one corner. So I emailed Canon support and they suggested that I do the manual-brush-blow cleaning… worked wonders…
and yes, I probably might be a scene party who might wanna have to change lenses during the shoot. heh.. “might” because, haven’t actually got the opportunity yet. :)… but looking fwd to one soon….
good post man! will search for the canon-dust-aid too..
May 20th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
arun,
Seems like this is a common problem. dust aid seems to have captured the attention of DSLR enthusiasts in a big way.
I was almost in tears when i had to endure those spots during my yosemite trip!
Nevertheless if the manual-brush-blow thing works fine then there should be no problem