A Tip for DSLR Owners

Dust is a major enemy of digital single lens reflex cameras. When dust gets into a traditional film SLR, the worst thing that happens is that you will see specs of dirt on the mirror when you look in the viewfinder or in the very worst case the accumulated dirt can cause mechanical failure. If dust does get on the film, it just messes up one roll. With a digital camera dust is attracted to the electrically charged sensor. The dust shows up on the pictures. Nikon recommends that you send the camera to one of their service centers for cleaning when dust accumulates. Some people attempt to clean their cameras themselves. I am not brave enough to clean my camera, and I want to avoid Nikon’s steep service charges. The best thing to do is keep dust out of the camera for as long as possible.

Until recently I was not concerned with the dust problem because I had only one lens for my camera. Now that I have a second lens I have been very careful to point the camera down and put the lens on the camera as quickly as possible. I just saw a tip on a photo forum that said to change lenses in a clean bag. I thought about the two-gallon food storage bag I have been carrying with me in case I was caught in the rain with my camera. I am going to keep a clean bag with me and use it for lens changing. The bags are clear, and I can easily see what I am doing.