dSLR: Bye bye dust bunnies

After shooting pics at a really small aperature, I noticed dust bunnies in my shot. :(

Much web searching, talking to the pro shop dudes and digi-photo book skimming here's what I've found.

1. For large dust particles, use a hand held rocket with the mirror flipped up to dislodge some of the dust.

Nikon's Professional Cleaning kit video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPcvaJl-eS4

2. For those more problematic dust bunnies checkout:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2yfZL0edqs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDsLUX2aveA

Applicable sensor kits:



[Link]

Visibledust makes some fine products as well.


Now to put this knowledge to test... wish me luck.

Nikkor 18-200mm VR initial take

I noticed some barrel distortion when I was framing on wide (18mm) shots. I think I may have to keep my 18-55mm lense just incase I want to mitaget that. Similarly, I noticed more distortion at ~55mm on the 18-200mm VR compared to the kit lense.

I need to use this lense more extensively before I can make a conclusive review. As of now, this is a beasty and heavy compact super zoom lense.

Nikkor 18-200mm VR lense just came in...

Time to test out this elegant piece of hardware when I get home :) yeppie.

Re-learning how to take night shots pt. 1

Well, after "upgrading" my digicam from a Sony F717 to a shiny new, err should i say matte new Nikon D80 and whoa... I gotta re-learn how to take pictures! So to learn what my lense and I are capable of, I decided to fool around with some settings.

Experiment #1 Shooting at Dusk - how to hand hold a non VR (Vibration Reduction) 18-55mm f/3.5-5 lense

1. Knowing what F-stop I can stop down to
1/80 - produces really blurry pics
1/100 - produces soft blurry pics
1/125 - ok, given suffucient light, pictures start to become 'soft' and may start to blurry
1/160 - ok, good hand holding shutter speed

2. ISO sensitivity
1. ISO1600 produces noise in regions where one would expect gradients
2. ISO 1250 starts to produces visable noise
3. ISO 1000 noise is present, but no longer annoying

This experiment leaves out apperature, as I'm playing with shutter and ISO.

Sample(s):


Lower Queen Anne
f/7.1, 1/125s, ISO100


Near Myrtle Edwards Park, on the Helix Bridge
f/6.3, 1/125 s, ISO1600


Myrtle Edwards Park, waterfront
f/3.5, 1/160s, ISO1250