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I am often asked for my advice on accessories by people who have just purchased an new DSLR. I am going to break this in to several parts so I can provide some detail and thoughts about each

Part Two – A bulb type blower

One if the downsides of DSLR cameras is dust. It is all but impossible to avoid but can be easily minimized. Newer cameras now have “Anti-dust” features built-in but trust me you will still get dust inside the lens box. I reality you don’t actually get dust on your sensor but on the filter that covers it and protects it.

Depending on how you shoot as to how much of a problem dust will be for you. If you don’t typically shoot in dusty environments, don’t change your lenses, and only shot at wide apertures you may not notice a dust problem. If this does not describe you then your likely to be like most DSLR photographers and have a dust problem.

The best way to gauge if you do have a dusty or dirty sensor is to stop down your lens to f16-f22 and shoot a photo of a white wall while the camera is moving side to side. By moving the camera only the dust specks will be stationary in the photo. Look at the image in you photo editing software and you will likely see some dust specs. Try adjusting the brightness and contrast of the image to make them stand out even more. Those dark specks you see are dust.

Before you proceed a few words of caution about cleaning your sensor. Never use compressed air on the mirror box or sensor as it can permanently damage it. Do not touch any thing to the sensor or insert anything into the mirror box.

For me I want to avoid every having to physically touch the sensor with anything in order to clean it. What I prefer is an air bulb blower that pulls air from the rear of the bulb and expels it out the front. This way us you dislodge dust from the camera and lens box you are not sucking it right back in to your blower.

I use the Giottos Rocket Air Blaster

This is where the blower bulb comes in handy. Find a relatively dust free spot and remove your lens. Using your blower and with the camera body pointing down gently give you mirror box a few quick blasts to blow out and dust that has accumulated in there. Now activate your cameras sensor cleaning function and this will open the shutter and allow you to blow out sensor with your blower. Give it another few quick blasts and put the lens back on, reset the camera, and take another frame.

Hopefully the dust specks have been diminished and if not repeat and check again. Also I do not recommend doing this any more than is needed. Some photographers can become obsessed with cleaning their sensors. Now for really stubborn dust specks you may have to either have it clean professionally ($$) or if you feel comfortable try cleaning it yourself. Be warned that if you do not know what you are doing you can ruin your camera. I have cleaned mine before in this way with great success and will share that in another post at a later date.