Cleaning a very dusty AF100

[Video on the Road]

I have a relatively new AF100 and have been shooting for a week now in Cairo, Egypt. Cairo is a very dusty, dirty city and cameras and Cairo I can't imagine mix well. The place I am shooting in is a minimum 400 year old market and I spend most days there. The dust is so thick you can see it through the lense floating about you. My camera bag after a day is thick with a coat of dust.

So having never really been in such an environment with such a camera does anyone have a relatively extensive method for cleaning their AF100. I try not to change lenses too much and give it a general clean each night but I am thinking this is going to need a weekly or fortnightly clean out.

Any thoughts or suggestions, links or ideas will be much appreciated.

Cheers.

[David W. Jones]

I keep a nice paint brush for brushing off gear.

[taylormade]

I also use a soft brush to get most of the dust and dirt off, then I go at it with the small compressor that I used to power my airbrush before I went digital. Nothing works better than compressed air to get the last of the crud off. Just make sure you control the direction of the airstream so you blow the debris off, not into the camera. Compressed air also works great for cleaning out my editing desktop computer - something that should be done regularly.

[James Bridges]

Camel hair brush then dust-off about 2ft away, camel hair brush if needed.

[David W. Jones]

If you do use a compressor, a water trap is always nice.

[wbrock001]

Another option to consider is getting a waterproof housing or bag for it...that would make it a bit more bulky and less convenient to change lenses but will protect it.

[dwiener]

For portability you might look into the Giottos Rocket blower, pretty much a rubber bulb, but with a pretty high pressure output due to the smaller than normal nozzle opening. In a pinch for some quick dusting you could probably find a rubber bulb at a pharmacy.

[groveChuck]

I also use a Rocket blower on lenses and the body.

But I might think camel hair brushes would be available in Egypt? Or maybe not...