Episode Summary 
DTown TV is a weekly show brought to you by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski with KelbyTraining.com.
Episode Summary
-Scott kicks the show off with a tip on reflections for product photography
-Matt shows how he clean his camera's sensor using Visible Dust products
-Scott Bourne stops by to talk about the new Canon 1D MkIV
-Matt and Scott show how to get the most out of your on-camera flash
-Larry has a creative tip on using sports equipment bags as photo gear bags
-This week's photographer is automotive photographer Tim Wallace
In the sensor cleaning segment, you did not mention the Zeeion blower. After you use the sensor loop to locate dust, the blower will often dislodge dust from the sensor without having to use the brush.
Not having to touch the sensor is always the best option.
Great Tips, Scott, Matt & Larry.
Nice show, love all the cheap tips this week (unfortunately living in Australia, there’s no baseball season for cheap bags… maybe cricket bags?), keep them coming.
Would love to see a car photography tips/tutorials having seen the awesome Ambient Life site.
I use the bag that came with one of my foldout camping chairs (the chair was broken and was going to throw the bag away). It is the right length with a full length zipper. Works great.
Hey Sam – Tim did a guest blog over on ScottKelby.com a while back that you may find helpful. Here’s the link – http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/2804
Brad
DTown TV Tech Editor
Awesome episode! I’ve always been afraid of sensor cleaning, but maybe now that I’ve seen how it’s done I’ll be able to get over it. Thanks, Matt!
I also wanted to say that I really love how you guys are incorporating Nikon and Canon equipment into your show now. I’ve always been a Nikon shooter, but I just ordered a 7D and it’s good to be able to see how at least some of the Canon workflow is.
Thanks for another great show, guys!
Love your shows! I recently found them and have watched them all. I have had a DSLR for several years, but have just recently really started learning to do more with it than point-n-shoot. Thanks for all the great advise. BTW, I have all 3 of Scott’s Digital Photography books and I love them!
Great show, well done !!
I like the new format and guest apperances. Great tips. I have used the napkin/white paper trick before on a SB600 in wireless mode and it worked great.
How about an outdoor on-location tip/tutorial on the use of filters? CPL-ND-GND ? and show the effect each has on an image.
Jeff
Great tips and very nice shirt Matt!
When cleaning the sensor is it wise to, after using the brush, to turn the camera upside down and blow it out with a bulb blower or compressed air.?
You should use a bulb blower BEFORE using any brush. It should dislodge large particles on its own but it also kicks up any dust lying around inside the camera which could settle back on the sensor. The brush then takes care of those.
Also, NEVER use a standard can of compressed air. There’s a good chance that some of the propellant could get sprayed onto the sensor.
Great to see some Canon gear guys! Just a tip for Matt, you can adjust the flash compensation a lot easier on the Canon by simply pushing the flash compensation button on the top then turning the rear dial. No need to go into the menu…
very good tips
I am really enjoying these D-town t.v. shows. I wonder if these can be loaded to an ipod and watched as a podcast?
Russ, In response to your query about downloading to an ipod: I have successfully downloaded all of the wonderful DTownTV episodes to my i-phone. It works like a charm.
Give it a try you will love being able to have the various episodes in your pocket.
Jim
Hey Russ – Here’s the link to DTown TV on the iTunes Store – http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=306494824&uo=6
Brad Moore
DTown TV Tech Editor
Great show! I’ll be getting some sensor cleaning kit soon.
But I notice your videographer might need his lens or sensor cleaned out too. When Matt was presenting, and to the left of Matt on the gray backdrop you can see some flint . You’ll notice more in full screen mode.
Really good cleaning tips. I have a question. If you have oil spots and use Smear Away solution, do you necessarily have to use the milder VDust solution too or will Smear Away take care of oil and dust? Thanks.
I love all your tips, the quick and cheap ones are quite cool, here’s one if you haven’t used it before, for a quick but fairly accurate grey card if you don’t have one with or or an expo disc. In most Lowepro bags, the stuff that you form your compartments with, and end up tossing a lot of it because there is usually too much, keep at least one piece, in most cases, even when windy, you can attach a 3 by 3 square of it with velcro to an open part, use it as an ‘on location’ gray card, and set your white balance fairly accurately. If you notice, in the Lowepro, it’s about 18% grey or so, certainly close enough in a pinch.
The idea is great, but I don’t think that there is so many D700 & D3x user how should learn all Nikon feature from this website.
)
Anyway don’t give up! Keep working bud don’t forget the users of other cameras.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the kind words about my work, I appreciate that. I enjoyed the episode, good tips and information as always. Interesting about the reflection and how its good to get it in camera rather than add it later, totally agree and a big supporter of phots getting back into the frame of mind of trying to achieve as much as possible in camera before moving into CS as part of the digital darkroom workflow, great advice!
Cheers guys and thanks again
Tim
[...] View online now [...]
I have to thank Larry Becker for episode 29’s tip. I have been looking for a bag to carry light stands, backdrop stands , umbrella, etc. and this was the perfect solution. I found a bat bag on clearance for $20 that fit the bill perfectly and, as Laryy pointed out, because it’s made my Under Armour, the quality is great.
Best of all, I avoid the premium photographers pay when the word is slapped onto an already-existing product. Thanks for the tip!
Regards,
Ramon Carcases
Ramon-
Glad to help! This kind of stuff is fun for me and knowing that I’m helping you save a little money makes my day. I’ll keep looking for more deals and DIY stuff.
Affordably,
-Larry Becker
I have a d90 and i had an idea where i set up my cam to take a photo like every min for a whole day. any one know how to startt i cant think.
If you purchase a Nikon MC-36 remote, that can easily be accomplished…just make sure your camera battery is fully charged, and you turn off the replay option to also save the battery.
We can not access the videos anymore- about two weeks ago we started getting this message. Computer is a mac and completely updated so is my quicktime and other viewers. I watched for weeks without a problem. Is anyone else getting this error?
Matt Visible Dust website says to always swipe sensor in the SAME DIRECTION. Your vid shows the second swipe the opposite direction.
Also, the price of the Arctic Butterfly is four time that of the wet kit. Would it be just as well to use the wet kit after air blowing off the sensor than spending so much on the Arctic Butterfly and Loupe?
I hope someone here can help!
I just started getting an error message: ‘video not found or access denied’ over the last two weeks I have tried everything I can think of including cleaning out the registry, and disabling my firewall and nothing seems to help. I have no problem with video on other sites. I hope someone knows what to do-I really would like to watch the shows.
-Thanks
I was getting the exact same error. OpenDNS blocks their video hosting site. If you use OpenDNS, and have an account, login and whitelist a-mirror.video2.blip.tv
If you see a gun show in your local area, go and look at the shooters bags. They come in many sizes, all types of pockets, with large interior spaces that you can partition anyway you like. The best feature is that they are usually very reasonably priced.
I have a tip Re cleaning the sensor – if you don’t have a loupe a way I’ve found to check for dust before/after cleaning is to:
-Set the camera on Highish apperture f11 ish+
-Mount flash on top of camera
-Set flash to over expose
-Take picture of a white/light wall
That way the dust is in decent focus (f11+) and is visible in the picture (either LCD or downloaded) on top of the white wall.
Hello, I’ve just watched the latest episode, well done again.
What struck me about Matt’s sensor cleaning segment, is that he did not mention to start any cleaning with a fully charged battery. Also, try to keep the camera pointed down when the camera body is open, and to try to be as quick as possible when cleaning so as to limit the time the sensor is uncovered.
Hi, Does anyone try NRD FireFly?
Appreciate all the hard work you guys are putting into these episodes.
I know you guys have some close relationships with Adobe, and thats great, but will you guys be covering Aperture 3? Would love to see an episode showing off the great brushes and printing options available in the new Aperture.
Thanks again.
All the talk about the 1D4 for video… here is a video of the D3s @ ISO 6400…
http://www.vimeo.com/9690575
Hi guys,
Thanks for the sensor cleaning tips but I have a question – how do you clean the viewfinder chamber. Cause I have a very dusty one and it makes me crazy. I know it doesn’t affect my photos but boy it’s bugging me big time…
When the flash output is lowered it makes an excellent wireless trigger for stand lights without adding much light to the scene. Also, please check out http://www.johnbarclay.com for your photographer of the week He is on the back cover of the new Photoshop User Magazine and is really excellent.
All of this effort,and supply purchase, to clean a sensor? Too much, and I have a similar set of equipment to clean mine. THEN, I found out that Nikon service will clean a sensor for $25. That’s very reasonable, and done by a professional, for a company that can fix what they break.
Seems like a no brainer.
[...] af det produkt jeg har anvendt på Photographic Solutions (se videoen om Sensor Swab). I afsnit 29 af D-Town TV kan du også se Matt Kloskowski bruge et andet, men meget lignende produkt, til at rense sin [...]
[...] den Arctic Butterfly gekommen bin ich in Folge 29 von DTownTV, wo das Teil vorgestellt wurde. Ihr könnt Euch die Folge ja mal anschauen, falls Ihr Euch für das [...]
I have used the Visible Dust system for several years on several different Nikon DSLRs with success. I agree with one of the previous comments. Swipe the brush in only one direction before taking it out, spinning it, and wiping back in the opposite direction. Otherwise, you are just dragging dust around on the sensor.
Second, after doing a wet swipe, I find that I’ve now left debris from the swab on the sensor. These are easily removed by another Arctic Butterfly brush swipe operation (usually several).
I really enjoyed the plexiglass tip. What other tips can you give us that are low maintenance and cheap?
[...] been successful at creating a business out of his photography. He’s also been on a couple of D-Town TV episodes, and is getting more into DSLR [...]