October 2007

Hello!

Welcome to the first e-newsletter of Raw Digital Image Editing! I'm very excited to share with you tips and tricks on how-to's in digital cameras and editing softwares. I hope you find the information useful and be sure to let me know if you want me to cover anything specific in future topics. 

Exciting news this month:
We’ve dropped the price of our Raw Editing service, but not our quality.
Please check our web site at http://rawdigitalimageediting.com/services/index.php
for the new prices. The ease of use, quality and fast turn-around times are the same.

DO I HAVE DUST ON MY CAMERA'S SENSOR?
This is October’s topic, and the possibilities can terrify some of us! Yet the fact is we will all get dust in our cameras, regardless of how carefully we treat our equipment. In this article you will learn how to resolve this common problem.

MY CAMERA HAS DUST REDUCTION FUNCTION - SHOULD I STILL WORRY ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF DUST?
At this point none of the dust reduction systems are 100% efficient. You will find dust on your images sooner or later. The information in this article will guide you through some simple steps to check for and to remove dust. 

OKAY - HOW DO I FIND OUT IF I HAVE DUST ON MY CAMERA'S SENSOR?
*Select the Aperture priority and choose a higher value for your aperture, such as f16 or f22.
*Set the camera to manual focusing and focus to infinity.
*Take a picture of a bright subject, such as a blue sky (if you are lucky to find blue sky in your area!) or a piece of white paper will also work.
*Open the image in your computer using an image view program and select “actual size” for viewing.
*Scan your entire photo to see if you find any dark spot or spots on your image.
*If you find some, don't panic – next we’re going to cover some simple steps for removing it.

THANKS ALOT TED! NOW I KNOW THAT I HAVE DUST ON MY CAMERA'S SENSOR. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Set your camera to any program except AUTO. Be sure to charge your camera's battery, since you will need a fully charged battery for this process. While the battery is being charged, read your camera’s manual for instructions on how to lock the mirror and open the shutter blade. Each manufacturer uses a different term for this function. Usually it will be under “set up menu” and is called mirror lock up or sensor cleaning.
If you have a problem finding this function, you can email us at:  support@rawdigitalimageediting.com  with the make and model of your camera and we’ll try to find the answer for you.


1-You will need a good size blower like the one in this picture.



2- If it’s the first time you’ve used the blower, squeeze it several times to be sure that there’s no dust inside the blower.

3- Remove the lens and turn the camera on.  Go to the menu of your camera to select the function that will raise the mirror and lock open the shutter curtain. 

4- You will now see the low pass filter (also called a sensor!). See example photos below.

This is the mirror.

This is the Low Pass Filter.



5- Blow air from the center of the low pass filter to the corners and the chamber of the camera.     Repeat this process several times.

6- Turn off the camera so the shutter closes and the mirror drops down.  Replace the lens or body cap.


That’s it – you’re done! While there are many sensor cleaning kits on the market, I prefer these steps because they will take care of dust in 90% of cases. If there are any smudges or sticky dust on the low pass filter it is strongly recommended that you send the camera for professional cleaning.

That is all for this month. Next month I will show you how to add a very nice and easy border to your photos using Photoshop.

Happy Raw and dust free shooting!

  www.rawdigitalimageediting.com