Good way to check for dirt?

[KyleProhaska]

Whats a good way to check for smudges and such that could be in your image? I have a marshall and even so its tough to see smudges or small spots until the cam is moving. I thought of doing something like putting a white board in front of the cam. Has anybody ever tried that?

What do you all do to make sure the thing is superclean during a shoot?

 

[Kip_Kubin]

First I treat my adapter like a film cam in that I set aside an hour to build and prep the camera the day before. What I mean is I don't find dust or dirt at a shoot. I'm in a camera room with proper lighting and working environment... you can't always do that but I try.

Bring a good work light that's just for you to build your rig if you have to do that on location.

For dirt / dust I hold my adapter up to a light source and simply look through it camera POV for any debris on the GG.

It's really easy to spot dust that way.

If there's any dust specks on the GG I use a Giottos Super Rocket-air Blower to blow it off the GG.

I've had my Letus EX for 7 months now with no dust specks on the GG yet

For smudges or dust on the lens elements I use the blower first (dust)... if needed I use lens tissue very carefully (smudges).

It's my opinion that it's easier to spot dust when the unit is not attached...

If it's attached turn unit off, stop the camera down and aim it at a light source (Kino with an egg crate and some 250 diffusion works best) you should see any large specks that are not part of the GG's grain. Also, a simple pan on a solid, lit, even colored surface will reveal a speck that need to be removed.

A grey card should work

I've never had dust make it's way to the GG during a shoot with the Letus EX... it's sealed up pretty tight.

Also, I have my case and it's foam built so that camera, rods and adapter can live set up and ready to shoot after the build.

After the build the only thing that I really worry about is an accidental fingerprint or more likely dust from a lens change on the glass behind the SLR lens.

I use a small flashlight to see if that's clean and ready to shoot between lens changes.