What am I to do about chronic dust contamination?

Tradewind35

Am devastatd - almost at my wits end - serious dust contamination problem - earlier today I am sure I say a few specks of dust - at least more than one on my Epson scanner glass. ( I even think there may be a speck of dust on the slide itself. What am I to do? Help!
Oh, wait a second, I just blew the dust speck of the glass and blew the spec off the slide - no need for panic. Perhaps film isn't that bad after all......


Robin

MikeGunter

Hi,

Dust can and will also land on the film in the canister and adhere to the film while the first bath is developing - you do know that? It leave spots on the film.

Dust can also contaminate the chemistry - any of it during any step - and subsequently spot the film during any part of the process for future developing of that roll or future rolls. It is one of the main reasons that D76 was used as a 1:1 throw away process in develop process.

Dust can also settle on drying film and cause some real problems.

Some darkroom procedures would use atomizers with water to mist, thing wipe down to minimize dust before
doing any work.

Dust is a terrible contaminate for photography, whether it be digital sensors or film, but it is the number one enemy of the film shooter.

My best,

Mike

spraynpray

I think this should have been in the humour thread or fun and weird.

Msmoto

Hey, back to the good old days...darkrooms were pressured with filtered air....Loading 35mm film from the 100 foot rolls...oh yeah....

I do not remember serious problems only a speck or two which was handled on the print easily. Nothing like the sensor problems some have today...

spraynpray

I think you have both missed the point - Tradewind35 is taking a shot at the digital age and its problems with dust on the sensor. Of course I could be wrong and something got lost in the translation....

MikeGunter

Hi all,

I think SnP has it right. The original post was a joke.

My bad.

In the many, many thousands of rolls developed, dust was a huge problem - if only we had Photoshop then.

Filtered air was luxury that came later... Much later, I personally didn't see it.

My best,

Mike

Tradewind35

Spraynpray has read his meter correctly, sorry I hadn't noticd that we had a"fun and weird" compartment - clearly where I belong. I do however wonder how I would get on with such vulnerable technology as a digital body - change lenses in all weathers on my boat without much of a care -
think I would have to buy shares in a sensor cleaning company i I went digital.
Robin

spraynpray

Dust at sea is not a problem Robin - it will be the salt spray that will kill it....

So, buy a pro body and lenses which you should change below decks and you're good to go.

mk2pop

ive shot all my bodies, be it film or digital in all manner of weathers, changed lenses at the beach etc heck i even went on a dune buggy with my D90 and 18-200 and never had a problem (the camera and lens were coated in fine sand) i think too many people are overreacting at how fragile these cameras are, im just back from a days shooting and i left my D90 and Sig 100-300 lying in the snow for half an hour and its still going

Tradewind35

Thanks spraynpray and mk2pop - nice to have some antidote to the many posts reporting sensor problems on DSLRs.
Robin

Msmoto

D4, oil may occur in first few thousand clicks (10,000), clean it and no problems thereafter. The assumption is...nice boat deserves nice camera....