Other Field Shooting Issues; Keeping The Sensor Clean - Nikon D300 Complete Manual

Other Field Shooting Issues

Keeping the Sensor Clean

One difficult aspect of using a D300 in the field is keeping the
sensor clean. To minimize the need to clean the sensor, you
should:
• Minimize lens changes, especially in dusty environments.
Each time you change lenses, you expose the mirror box
area, and ultimately the sensor, to the elements.
• If you can, change lenses with the front of the camera
pointed downward. Dust settles downward, thus if you
point the front of the camera upwards while changing
lenses, you increase the possibility of dust getting into the
mirror box.
• Keep the camera in the bag. Assuming you keep your
camera bag clean, each ring of protection you can put
around the D300 can decrease the chance that dust gets
anywhere near the sensor. In dusty Africa, when I'm not
using a camera body, I put it in a plastic bag (with the air
removed), and then place the plastic bag in my camera
case. Then I put my coat over the camera case. I also
make sure that the sensor orientation during travel is
downwards, so that any dust already in the camera settles
on the back of the shutter, not the sensor.
• Use the built-in cleaning function. Set Clean image
sensor to run when you turn the camera off, or use it
periodically.
Dust appearance in images is aperture related. At very large
apertures (e.g. f/1.4), you won't see the dust in your images.
At small apertures (e.g. f/32), it often appears as a nearly in-
focus black dot.
Still, even with the utmost care and using the built-in cleaning
you may find that the sensor collects dust. To examine your
D300's sensor for dust, use one of these methods:
Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
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