Nikon D300 Complete Manual page 61

Hide thumbs Also See for D300:

Table of Contents

hit the sensor, all the red photosites in the camera would get

"extra" photons outside the visual range we see. Once that

extra data got into the RGB pixel data, colors will drift. It

wasn't unusual, for example, in early DSLR cameras to see

black fabrics go magenta (the Kodak DCS2000 was notorious

for this, for example).

Yet another component of the anti-aliasing filter on a D300 is

something called an Indium Tin Oxide coating (usually

abbreviated to ITO). This costly and optically transparent

coating is applied to the front of the anti-aliasing filter in order

to reduce the small static charge that builds at the front of the

sensor and which can attract dust. The key word in that

previous sentence is "reduce." ITO isn't a dust removal

system; you can still get dust clinging to the front of an ITO

anti-aliasing filter, it just is less likely than on an uncoated

The downside to ITO is that this very thin layer is somewhat

more fragile than the underlying filter it sits on, and using the

improper chemicals or techniques in cleaning can easily and

permanently damage it.

If you're getting the idea that the D300 sensor is a "sandwich"

of things, you're correct. Here's a run-down of the things light

has to go through to get to the actual "light-sensing" area on

Dust resistant coating (ITO)

Low-pass filter (anti-aliasing)

Infrared removal filter ("IR cut")

Bayer-pattern filter

Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300

Troubleshooting