ALMS Practice Sessions at Lime Rock
 

I spent the day at lime rock park in upstate CT friday just hacking around and taking pics.

It's a laid back atmosphere the day before the race - lots of practicing and qualifying - you don't quite get the richness and pageantry of race day, but it's easier to move around and get pics, besides, I got good race-day shots last year, all I wanted to work on was my panning, I did better this year.

Some shots:

Zooming in and panning:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2594/...443f5e6b_b.jpg

Focusing on one spot - stopping down the light and setting a slow shutter speed:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2673/...b2a0d45d_b.jpg

The traditional pan (and today's eventual overall winner, I believe - these Acura cars were so much faster than everything else):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/...d59179fd_b.jpg

I like the first one.

(maybe too dead center on the front wheel, but still a very nice pan)

You REALLY need to clean your sensor.

I gave up on mine - all it does is move the dust around. Yes, I've tried Sensor Swabs, Pec-Pads, Eclipse fluid and all that. I picked up a Photoshop action that compares the image against an image of neutral gray and edits most of the spots out. If I care about an image, I'll do more hand clean-up.

I'm waiting for the EOS 5D II features (mostly video) to make it into the next 1D/1Ds generations (I have the original of both).

Although, the 5D II is pretty good as-is - shoots HD video, 21.something megapixels, 25600 ASA equivalent (you can take pictures in practically total darkness if you can figure where to point the camera), and automatic ultrasonic sensor cleaning.

The only thing that's keeping me from getting a 5D II is the additional autofocus points on the 1 series, and the better sensor cleaning on the 1.

Thanks - I like the zoom shot too, that's something I hope to get to have some more fun with. I like how the blur looks painterly.

The sensor issue: Are these the "spots" you're referring to? I don't know what they are - they're on every zoom shot, some regular shots, but not others and they're not on any of the non-polarizer shots. If it's a sensor issue, wouldn't the spots be there all the time? I'm asking because I really don't know :dunno:

I'm sure the sensor does need a good cleaning though, I've had this camera since May of 06 and have used it a lot - in many dirty places.

Ed

They could be on the sensor or they could be on any of the intermediate surfaces (such as on / in lenses, filters, etc.). A good way to find them is to take a picture of a cloudless sky. If you have a zoom lens, take 2 shots with the second having the zoom ring turned maybe 1/4 turn. If the spot moves, it's toward the front of the lens. If it is stationary, it is toward the back of the lens or on the sensor.

Because they're much closer than anything else in the image, they're usually out-of-focus. Taking pictures in bright sunlight will make them more distinct as a narrower aperture will give greater depth of field.

Here's an example:

http://www.tmk.com/transient/6F5S5879-spot.jpg

from this image:

http://www.tmk.com/transient/6F5S5879-spot2.jpg

[Yes, I know there are more dust spots on the full image :irate:]

I've found a combination of regular dry sensor cleaning with a bulb blower and an occasional wet cleaning with pec pads and eclipse work great on both my 1D and 5D.

Another key is how careful, quick and systematic I need to be when swapping lenses. As soon as I get sloppy I find shit constantly.

Ed, take a picture of a plain white background at smallest aperture possible, focused to infinity. All the dusties on your sensor will show up clearly.

And nice shots!

Alex

They're dust spots and they're on the sensor. They may not show up in every photo for a number of reasons such as image content and/or exposure mask its existence and until/unless it gets welded, it can move.

The best way that I've found to check for dust is to set the aperture pretty small (ƒ16 or smaller), infinity focus and shoot at a solid, featureless subject that is reasonably light in color (cloudless sky, wall, etc) at a shutter speed long enough to ensure a mid tone exposure. Open in Photoshop (or similar) and apply Auto Levels. All of the "bits" you see are pieces of dust on your sensor. Reset the level and start playing with manually setting levels, or contrast, or curves, etc to get an idea of how much/how bad. If you have to go to extremes to get anything to show up, it's probably not worth cleaning. If you can see it before making any adjustments...or if you can see it in your photos (like the ones above), it's not worth spending the time adjusting in PS since you know you have to clean.

To clean, first step should always be using a bulb blower. Hold the camera body so the lens/lens opening is facing straight down, remove the lens, do whatever it takes to open up or lock the shutter and mirror, use your bulb blower a bunch (making sure that you don't touch the sensor with the blower tip). Release the shutter, install lens, take pic as described above, and check in Photoshop. Repeat until all dust is gone...if possible.

You'll find that you move dust around with each pass. Sometimes a subsequent image will be dirtier than the one before it. You just keep going until it seems like you can't get it any better.

You may also find that there are some stubborn spots that just won't go away. Those may be welded dust. They are particles that have attached themselves to your sensor either while wet or became wet once there and have now essentially bonded themselves to your sensor. You need to do a wet cleaning to get rid of these...and they won't always necessarily work (unfortunately). There's a bunch of ways to do it (pec pads, eclipse, etc) and I'm not sure that there is a "right" way.

Another option is sending the camera into Nikon and having them do a thorough check, clean, and service. It's not too expensive, their turn around is pretty quick (and they're not far from you, so shipping won't add much time for you either) and their cleanings get you as close back to "like new" as possible. If you haven't cleaned it in 3 years and you've done any lens swapping (which I know you have), I can almost guarantee that you have a bunch of welded dust. If you insist on continuing to use the D70s as your primary, I'd strongly suggest sending it to Nikon (but I really think you ought to consider moving up to a D90, D300 or D700 fora variety of reasons).

Thanks guys, looks like a "wet cleaning" is in order.

Ed

do some research on it before attempting...

Oh no, I'm sending it out, thanks :)