Making Sense of Sensor Cleaning – Part 2 (or the benefit of camera insurance)

Disclaimer: I am recounting only my experience and not endorsing any form of sensor cleaning through this posting. You take full responsibility for any actions you take as a result of reading my ramblings…

This is a continuation of my previous post on sensor cleaning from three weeks ago. I will start off by saying it didn’t go the way I expected, but in the end turned out as a pleasant surprise.
As mentioned in the previous post I had purchased a VisibleDust m4/3 sensor cleaning kit and used it to try and clean the blemish on the sensor of my GX8 which was causing all sorts of problems when the lens was stopped down. Although this kit appears to be adequate for general dust removal, the blemish I had seemed very stubborn. I used all the swabs and solution in the kit and had a beautifully clean sensor – apart from the bit I wanted to clean! So, I am now thinking it may be sensor damage, although it doesn’t look like a scratch under a magnifier. My last-ditch attempt was to think big and go the route of using Pec Pads and Eclipse solution, that someone on fineartamerica had suggested, so that I could try more than four attempts at sensor cleaning before running out of pads or solution again! The new products duly arrived from Amazon and I carefully removed a 4” x 4” Pec Pad, cut it into a strip and then folded it over the end of one of the plastic swabs from the earlier kit (having first removed the original pad, obviously) and fastened it with a piece of tape to the handle. I repeated the cleaning process with the new Eclipse liquid and it did a great job, but still couldn’t budge the mark! In desperation I tried this 5 or 6 more times and it seemed to be having no impact whatsoever. The mark didn’t get any smaller so I finally resigned myself to having to send the camera for repair.

As I was mumbling to myself about the likely cost of this and trying to figure out how the sensor got damaged I suddenly recalled that I took out Squaretrade accidental damage insurance when I bought the camera 6 months ago. Well done great pre-senile memory! Ironically, this is not something I would normally do, so perhaps it’s not surprising I had “forgotten”.

160314_Sensor — You cannot see the blemish, but the refraction is pretty!

Amazingly I found the details buried in my gmail, completed a claim form online and the same day I received confirmation that the claim is good and a return label. Over the weekend I found a suitable box and packed up my beloved camera with charger and battery and sent it off. I didn’t expect to hear anything for several weeks and then thought I’d be in for a fight. So, imagine my surprise when I returned from work last night, only 5 days after shipping it back, to find a brand new GX8 sent to me straight from B&H Cameras!

Now I am a very happy photog again 🙂

So, what are the lessons I have learned from this rambling episode?

Sensor cleaning is nothing to be scared of, as long as you are methodical, careful, and clean.
Pec Pads and Eclipse solution work as well or better than a cleaning kit and will do a great job for general cleaning a sensor of minor dust at a lower cost. (They can also be used on lenses too)
SquareTrade insurance is a great value product for your camera, especially if you buy it in conjunction with your camera purchase through Amazon (which makes it about half the cost of their own website).

~Richard

March 15, 2016 0

52-week Challenge: week 11

WEEK 11: Landscape: Reflection – Find a way to show your landscape/natural beauty in reflection. The mirror world revealed.

I had contemplated this assignment ahead of time and even went to the dollar store to get a mirror for inspiration. Nah, I thought that would be too cheesy. Then I considered perhaps a reflection of the countryside in a pair of sunglasses, but that would require a willing model! My next brainwave came when one of my daughters decided she needed a ride to the shopping mall – use the car window to get a reflection of an urban landscape – brilliant!

Of course, things never work out quite that way, do they? Rather than dropping off my daughter and her friend I was told I could pick them up instead. This is always the worst of the two standard unpaid “Uber” roles for a parent as there’s no definitive meeting time or place. Ho hum, thinks I, I can still do this as I’ll get there a little early and take time to position the car for its job as photographic canvas.

I hadn’t anticipated how full the parking lot would be, nor the rain.

As I was driving around searching for a place I thought to reverse park in one space at the edge of the lot. This way I would be able to use my driving mirrors to get a shot across the road and modify my original idea.

As I did so, I saw the reflection of a this guy across the street begging money from cars at the stop signal. The light was fading fast and he was there only for a few minutes, presumably after a long day. The irony of the red and blue umbrella and the stars and stripes hanging limply nearby was not lost on me – a reflection of humanity in the world’s richest nation, perhaps?

~Richard

March 14, 2016 0

Spring forward or jet lag for non flyers

Today is a day when those of us in the USA can experience the phenomenon known as jet lag, without all the inconvenience of leaving home. For it is ordained that we must spring forward, like eager little bunnies and lambs and so enjoy the lighter evenings that the season affords.

For those of us who are early birds that get up at the crack of dawn this is a right royal pain in the derriere as we have to go back to darker mornings, but I guess that’s besides the point.

So, why do we think it’s a good thing to interfere with our biological clocks, interrupting our established circadian rhythm and generally upsetting the status quo?

Well, we have to look no further than one of the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, to take some of the blame for it was he who, back in 1784, penned the idea in an essay entitled, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” in The Journal of Paris, along with other more Draconian ideas such as taxing window shutters, rationing candles, enforcing a curfew to reduce noise at night and conversely ringing bells and firing cannons and daybreak to awaken Parisians!

His rationale for this? Purely to save money, or the cost of candle wax, to be more specific!

As far as I can tell, his idea went unheeded until World War I when Germany implemented the system of putting the clocks back in order to increase diurnal productivity during a time of conflict. Britain and other nations soon followed and (much like the pub licensing hours in the UK within the Defence of the Realm Act from a similar time – but I digress…) the idea stuck and never went away.

On April 13, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into effect the Uniform Time Act to “promote the adoption and observance of uniform time within the standard time zones” to stop states from changing their clocks on different dates, standardizing it at the last Sunday in April. Eh, but it’s only March, so what’s going on?> Well, it seems that the powers that be were still not happy with this so the law was amended again in 1986 to move the date to first Sunday in April from 1987 and then again in 2005 to the second Sunday in March (i.e., today!).

If that wasn’t bad enough, other countries change their clocks at different times and even some US states and territories don’t observe this practice (namely Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands).

So, what is a person to do?

Well, as there’s very little I can do about it I will be forced to embrace the extra hour of light in the evening and sit outside on the deck with an alcoholic beverage, fortifying myself for the return of the dark morning on the morrow…

~Richard

March 13, 2016 1

Haiku: Reflection on Debate

~ Reflection on Debate ~

to expose our souls

he proffers a looking-glass

happy, Narcissus?

743px-Narcissus-Caravaggio_(1594-96)_edited

~Richard

March 12, 2016 1

Friday Fun – Rolling Bone Magazine

Rolling Bone Magazine was an underground publication that championed the musical underdog for many years. Readership was strong throughout the 70’s and 80’s but tailed off after a scandal in the early 90’s before finally being buried by the arrival of online content.

Rolling Bone was unusual in that the issues were not dated, allowing for a sporadic output and also ensuring that copies always appeared to be current. This is a cover believed to be from late ’75 to early ’76 featuring Eddie “Howlin’ Jack” Russell shortly before his surprise first retirement from the music business at the height of his career.

~Richard

March 11, 2016 0

6 sentence story – Playing to the crowd

As with every morning the old man picked his way along the freshly hosed down cobbled streets to the same spot and arranged his sign and his jar before sitting on the chilly doorstep.

The sun came up over the ruined castle and warmed his face and hands as he unbuckled the bellows of his accordion.He cocked his head and scanned up and down the street, hearing the increasing footfall echoing between the buildings from the old stairway.

The first cruise ship had arrived, so he started his playing.

“That’s beautiful,” said a young woman’s voice as she dropped some coins in his jar.

Looking up whilst playing he smiled graciously at her through sightless eyes.

~ Richard

March 10, 2016 2

Haiku: the smallest room

~ the smallest room ~

porcelain throne room

a makeshift sanctuary

from outside madness

160309_Toilet

March 9, 2016 0

52 week Challenge: week 10

Week 10: Portrait: Environmental – Show a subject in their natural habitat. Their place of work or hobby is a great start. Tell their story with the environment.

I found this to be the toughest assignment so far. I wanted to push my comfort zone in getting out with camera; perhaps creating some street photography. The difficulty for me came with the concept of taking this as a true portrait. I sort of misread the brief a little but I still feel that this shot does meet it as it shows this young lady in the middle of her job writing down a food order for the cook in the food truck. Our only communication was through the little Plexiglas window, which seemed like an obvious frame for the shot.

160308_FastFood

~Richard

March 8, 2016 0

Office Poetry – Truly

For some reason I am finding Mondays the best day for this type of creativity. Here’s my second office poem of the season…

Truly

Searching the room for a face.

To catch the eye

of one who understands

the true purpose of the meeting.

~Richard

March 7, 2016 0

Happy Mother’s Day (UK)

Today is Mothering Sunday in the UK. Although we Brits also refer to it as “Mother’s Day” it has a different origin to its namesake celebrated in the US.

Mothering Sunday has origins from a historical religious holiday associated with encouraging people (as in servants, largely) to go back to their “mother churches” on the 4th Sunday in Lent. The fact they also visited their mother’s was probably just taking advantage of having a rare day off from their toils and also because their parents were most likely to live near the original church since, years ago, people didn’t generally travel so far. Over the years, as Britain has become more secular, the original meaning seems to have been largely lost.

Mother’s Day in the US, on the other hand, was first celebrated in 1908 by a lady called Anne Jarvis who held a memorial to her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis, if Wikipedia is to believed, and occurs on the second Sunday of May. It appears to have no particular religious connotations.

Anyhow, being of British origin, my children helped to celebrate today by accompanying my wife and I to a nice brunch and walk through the local horticultural gardens. I had my small camera with me and so was able to get a few nice uplifting floral shots to share.

160306_SpringFlowers

160306_Tulips

160306_WhiteOrchids

So, to all you mums out there, in the UK and elsewhere – Happy Mothering Sunday!

~Richard

March 6, 2016 1

Author: ReevePhotos

Making Sense of Sensor Cleaning – Part 2 (or the benefit of camera insurance)

Spring forward or jet lag for non flyers

Haiku: Reflection on Debate

~ Reflection on Debate ~

Friday Fun – Rolling Bone Magazine

6 sentence story – Playing to the crowd

Haiku: the smallest room

~ the smallest room ~

52 week Challenge: week 10

Office Poetry – Truly

Truly

Happy Mother’s Day (UK)

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~ Reflection on Debate ~

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~ the smallest room ~

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Truly

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