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This page is designed to help the countless new DSLR owners who discover that their new camera is afflicted with that dreaded scourge of the DSLR shooter:
Sensor Dust
Below we see a typical example of a DSLR image with dust spots.
The arrows point to the most blatant spots in the image. There are many smaller ones as well.
This photo was taken with my Canon 20D within a month of receiving the camera. I had only one lens and had not removed it from the body the whole time. So I was dismayed to see these spots appear in my images. I wondered if the camera was defective because I had not heard of "sensor dust".
By doing a bit of Internet research I found that these spots are quite common and are the result of tiny pieces of dust which have settled onto the camera sensor's filter.
Such dust casts shadows onto the sensor as you take your photos and thus shows up as darker spots, smudges, or squiggles depending on the size and shape of the dust particle.
Smaller lens aperture settings (higher f/numbers) exacerbate the problem because the smaller aperture appears as more of a point-source for the light entering the camera and thus causes the dust particles to cast more distinct shadows. Think of the way you cast a distinct shadow on a clear day versus the way you may cast no visible shadow at all on a cloudy day when the light comes from the entire sky instead of the "point source" of the sun.
Some people never notice that they have dust on their sensor filter because they shoot using large lens openings (small f/numbers). Some people go so far as to recommend that you avoid using small apertures in order to keep dust from being visible in your shots! Personally, I feel that you should be able to use any setting your camera has and the choice of f/stop setting should be based on other considerations.
Where is this darn dust, how do I get rid of it, and how do I prevent it from happening in the first place?
DSLR Dust Rules:
Dust that shows up in your photographs pretty much has to be on your sensor filter.
Dust that shows up in your viewfinder pretty much has to be on your focusing screen.
Focusing screen dust cannot show up on your photos.
Sensor filter dust cannot show up in the viewfinder.
What about dust on the mirror?
Dust on the mirror cannot show up in your photographs because the mirror flips up out of the way when you take a picture. And dust on the mirror will not be clearly visible even in the viewfinder because it will not be in focus. If you've got a major-league dust bunny or hairball on the mirror, you might notice an indistinct shadow through the viewfinder, but it would have to be a large piece for that to happen.
In general, dust on the mirror won't cause any problems at all. The mirror has a delicate surface that is easily damaged, and since the mirror is mounted in a delicate manner and its position is very critical to both autofocus (due to the relay mirror mounted to it) and manual focus (because its position affects the light path length to the focusing screen), I highly recommend that you treat the mirror with extreme care.
How about dust on the front or back of the lens?
As with dust on the mirror, dust on the lens will generally not be "in focus" at the sensor or the focusing screen. Dust on the lens surfaces will lower contrast by scattering light and can cause extra flare or a general lack of sharpness in an image. But again, it normally won't cast any distinct shadows and so can't show up in your photos.
Huge chunks of dirt or raindrops on the front element (or the front surface of a filter used on) a wide angle lens may show up in photos taken at small apertures. The depth of field for such an arrangement can be so great that large things on the lens can be visible.
But tiny pieces of dust won't show up as spots even with a wide angle lens.
Here is a shot where you can see raindrops on the front filter of a Canon 10-22mm lens used on a 20D. It's time to take the camera back inside, I guess.
Of course, raindrops are large and easy to see so you'd know you needed to clean the front of the lens in this situation.
It pays to keep your lenses clean, but generally, when you see spots in the viewfinder or on your photos, the problem will NOT be dust on your lens.
DSLR camera design:
A DSLR's construction is just like a "normal" film SLR in many ways.
Studying this drawing, you can see that when viewing through the DSLR, the light enters through the lens and strikes the primary mirror. This mirror is semi-silvered and reflects much of the light upward. That light then focuses and forms a visible image on the matte surface of the focusing screen.
The focusing screen behaves as a rear projection screen. This is similar to the screens used in LCD or DLP Projection type television sets. The image is projected onto the back side and we view through the clear plastic to see this image from the other side. In the case of the SLR camera, a pentaprism or pentamirror arrangement allows us to see the image from the convenient eyepiece on the back of the camera. This allows for the familiar and comfortable "eye level" camera SLR position when composing and shooting.
The eyepiece lens serves to make the projected image appear to be approximately 1 meter from the photographer's eye. That "apparent viewing distance" is chosen to make it easy for most people to see the focusing screen clearly with their normal eye correction (glasses, contacts, or unaided eye). Basically, this is a comfortable viewing distance for most people.
Troubleshooting Camera Dust:
From this drawing, you can see why dust on the mirror would not form a focused and distinct image on the focusing screen. So dust on the mirror is not likely to be visible through the viewfinder.
Thus the rule that dust on the mirror isn't likely to be visible in the viewfinder unless it's huge!
You can also see how dust on either the mirror or the focusing screen cannot affect the photos taken because the mirror flips up to the position shown at number 3 during the exposure. This configuration allows the light from the lens to pass through the "mirror box" unimpeded and focus directly onto the sensor.
Thus the rule that dust visible in your photos cannot be on the mirror or the focusing screen.
It should also be clear from this drawing that dust on the lens surfaces would not form clearly defined shadows either onto the focusing screen when viewing through the eyepiece or on the sensor when the exposure is actually being made. Dust on lens surfaces will generally not be in good focus at the focusing screen or sensor.
Thus the general guideline that if you see dust through the viewfinder or see dust shadows on your pictures, the lens is unlikely to be the cause.
But, we can also see from this drawing that dust on the focusing screen will show up very clearly when viewing through the camera's viewfinder. It can't affect our photos, of course, but it may be annoying.
Thus the rule that if you see dust through the viewfinder, the first thing to suspect is the focusing screen.
And we can also see that dust on the filter in front of the sensor can cast shadows onto the sensor during the exposure of an image, and thus show up in our photographs. Once again, dust on the sensor filter cannot show up in the viewfinder.
Thus the rule that if you see dust spots on your photographs, there must be dust on the sensor's filter.
So now we've established where the dust is. What now?
Mirror Dust:
Dust on the primary mirror will not be distinctly visible through the viewfinder and will also not show up in your photos.
The primary mirror is semi-silvered to allow some light to pass through it so that the autofocus system can get its "view" through the lens via the relay mirror. The position at which the primary mirror rests is critical to the functioning of the autofous system. Likewise, the position at which the attached relay mirror rests is also critical to the correct operation of the autofocus system. If you knock either mirror out of alignment somehow, your AF will be out of calibration.
The semi-silvered surface of the primary mirror is also delicate and could be scratched quite easily.
Since dust on the mirror won't be visible on your photos, and since only huge chunks of dust or lint would even be detectable when viewing through the eyepiece, there is little to gain and much to lose by attempting to clean the mirror.
Still, there could be times when you find it necessary. In that case, be very gentle so as not to disturb the mechanical alignment of the mirror(s). And be careful of the surface so as not to scratch it. I recommend that you simply use a bulb blower for this too. If it works, then you have not touched anything at all. You gain access to the mirror simply by removing the lens. DO NOT use the sensor clean mode! The sensor clean mode flips the mirror up so you would not be able to get to it's front!
The red arrow indicates the primary mirror. Simply removing the lens reveals the mirror.
A bit of exhaled breath into the mirror box can provide moisture to dissipate static that might be holding stubborn dust to the mirror. So you could give it a nice, easy breath and then blow it off with your bulb blower.
Now please understand this:
When I say to breathe into the camera's mirror box, I'm not asking you to blow into it! Blowing with your lungs and mouth is often something that comes to mind when we want to blow dust or lint off of something. But the problem is that if you blow hard enough to do any good, the velocity of the air coming out of your lungs and through your mouth will be high enough to pick up droplets of spittle. You don't want to blow droplets of spittle into your camera or onto a lens, etc., so don't blow! Yeah, you can clean it off later, but it's much better to just not have it happen to begin with.
So when I suggest breathing into the camera to deposit some moisture or humidity, I'm asking you to breathe out very slowly with your mouth wide open so that you do not generate any high-velocity air but instead just get a nice, slow, gentle flow of moist air from your lungs to go into the camera. In fact, by exhaling very slowly, you may actually increase the humidity of the air. We're just trying to get some moisture into the area in question.
Anyhow, the combination of high moisture followed by a good blast or two from the bulb blower will normally get anything that would be any problem. It's fortunate that only huge dust or lint on the mirror will be visible, and such large pieces are the easiest to blow off.
Again, if all else fails you may feel that using a brush or other implement touching the mirror is necessary. You do this at your own risk, of course. I'm not saying it can't be done. I've cleaned a "haze" of gunk (long story) off of mine with a cotton swab and solvent. But I am saying that it's potentially risky, and you know what the consequences might be when you undertake such a procedure. It is almost never necessary and must be done with extreme caution. This is something you might be better off having done by an authorized repair facility.
Using a bulb blower to blow out the camera.
Focusing screen dust:
If the dust is visible through the viewfinder and is sharp and distinct, it is almost certain to be on the focusing screen. Thus, you may not care to do anything about it. After all, it won't affect your photos.
On the other hand, it might be irritating to look at and could possibly (not likely) cause metering errors since the Canon DSLRs meter by looking at the top of the focusing screen just the way we look at it through the viewfinder. You would need to have an awful lot of dust or huge chunks for this to be any concern.
But let's say that this visible dust bothers you enough to want to get rid of it. How do we proceed?
The dust is most likely to be on the underside of the focusing screen because that side is exposed to the interior of the mirror box. You
have dust on the top of the focusing screen, but it's far less likely.
The focusing screen is shown in this view through the lens opening looking upward. The screen forms the "ceiling" of the mirror box.
The focusing screen is made of plastic in most of these cameras and it is quite easy to scratch or mar. So touching it with anything is very risky. The good thing is that if you do scratch it, it's just the focusing screen and it won't directly affect your photos - just like the dust on it doesn't!
Still, I advise that you don't touch the screen with anything and instead use a bulb blower to blast the underside of it to try to dislodge any dust. The bottom of the focusing screen is visible and accessible by simply removing the camera's lens. You DO NOT want to use the camera's sensor clean mode for this because the mirror will flip up and cover the screen!
So just take off the lens and then blow the underside of the screen with your bulb blower and see if that doesn't get the dust off. Sometimes static electricity will hold the dust to the plastic screen and in those cases, simply breathing (again, gently as described above) into the open camera may provide enough humidity to dissipate the static charge and allow the next blast from your bulb blower to get the job done.
You could use a soft brush to try to knock stubborn dust off of the focusing screen, but I've never found that necessary and you risk damaging things this way. And rubbing most brush bristles across the plastic can impart an even greater static charge to the screen which then attracts and holds dust even better!
Remember that dust on the focusing screen won't show in your shots anyhow. Why get too worried about it? It's purely cosmetic.
Sensor Dust:
Finally, we get to the main point of this all! Dust on the filter
(number 8 in our drawing)
ahead of the sensor can cast shadows onto the sensor when we take a picture. This is really the only place that dust can normally be to cause visible dust marks on our photos.
The dust is held slightly away from the actual sensor by this filter so if we use a larger lens opening (small f/number), the dust may not be visible in the photos at all. You can see how light from a larger area can find many paths to reach any given location on the sensor. Many of these paths can "get around" the dust speck. But when we stop the lens down to a small aperture (high f/number), the light must pass through that small aperture. And as this aperture becomes smaller, it reduces the size of the "light source" and thus the shadows become ever more distinct.
Dust testing:
To test for dust on the sensor filter, take a photograph of a bland background (I like a white wall or piece of paper, but you can also use a clear-blue sky). Take the photo with the lens adjusted so that the wall, paper, or sky is out of focus (we don't want to see dirt on the wall, marks on the paper, or birds in the sky). And use the smallest aperture (highest f/number) for the lens. This will make sensor dust show up easily.
Many people process their test shots in a photo editing program and turn up the contrast or do an "auto levels" adjustment to make the dust more distinct. You can do that if you want to, but you may not like what you see :)
For me, I'm just interested in detecting dust that will be likely to affect "real" photos that I'll be taking. So I just take the test shot and then view it on the rear LCD of the camera while zoomed in and "panning around" to cover the whole frame. Anything that shows up when doing this is something that I want to get rid of because it is likely to show up in real photos.
Here's what some typical sensor dust of mine looks like zoomed in while reviewing one of my dust test shots:
My camera's "Multi Controller" gets a workout as I scan the zoomed area around to inspect the entire frame at high magnification. The alternative is to unload the photo to your computer and view it on screen. I find this method to be faster because you can switch between cleaning and testing in seconds.
Oh, Darn! I've got dust! What shall I do?
Once you've established that you have dust on your sensor filter that will affect your photos, you're faced with the question of what to do about it.
First, read the manual that came with your camera. The manufacturer will detail their approved method for cleaning dust from the sensor filter. Read these directions carefully and do what they recommend.
For the Canon 20D, the first recommendation is to install a freshly charged battery or use the AC power adapter. I recommend using the battery because I don't like the idea of what would happen if I had a sudden power failure (mains failure) while cleaning my sensor filter. I also don't like the idea of using the battery grip since there have been reports of intermittent power contact when using the grip. So for me, I put a "known good" and freshly charged battery directly into the camera and then proceed.
Next, the 20D manual says to remove the lens from the body. That makes sense. I don't know how you'd do any cleaning with it in place!
Then you are to put the camera into the sensor clean mode. When you do that, the mirror pops up and the shutter flies open and they both stay that way.
You can now look into the body and see the sensor through the stack of filters. It's an amazing sight. That's a huge integrated circuit. No wonder the darn things are so expensive! Check it out. It's worth a look even if you don't need to clean it.
With the camera in the Sensor Clean mode, the mirror flips up and the shutter opens. Thus, the sensor is visible through it's stack of filters.
On the 20D, if the battery is too discharged for safe sensor cleaning, the camera will not go into the clean mode. If the battery gets low while the camera is in the cleaning mode, the camera will beep to warn you that the power may fail.
What's the big deal with running out of power while in the sensor clean mode?
The camera requires power to hold the shutter open and to hold the mirror up. If you were to lose power while cleaning the camera, and if you had something inserted into the body of the camera, the shutter might try to slam closed on that tool and the mirror might also flop down onto it. Thus, the shutter and/or the mirror could be damaged.
The manual for the 20D tells you NOT to insert the nose of your blower beyond the lens mount, so you'd be safe even if you did lose power. But the fact is that some cleaning methods require you to insert a tool into the body so that you can wipe the sensor directly. In that case, a power loss could be very dangerous.
With the camera in the sensor clean mode, hold the body so that the lens mount is aimed down and blow upwards into the camera to dislodge as much dust as possible. This is the Canon recommended cleaning technique.
This is the exact same method used to clean the mirror and focusing screen. That's why this photo looks so familiar. Blow the sensor vigorously and repeatedly with the blower. You want to blow the dust off of the sensor and completely out of the camera. Give it a bunch of fast, hard pumps and then switch the camera off. That will take it out of the sensor clean mode and you can then install the lens again. I often blow off the back of the lens right about now and then put it onto the camera quickly to prevent more dust from getting into the body.
A bulb type blower aimed upwards into the camera.
Now, you should perform another dust test shot. Check that shot and if all is well, then you're done! According to Canon, this is all that you will ever need to do to get your sensor clean. Often this is true.
Oh oh. There's still dust on my sensor filter!
OK, don't panic. A lot of times, just blowing the camera does not get all of the dust off of the sensor filter. This is because the dust is stuck there. Why is it stuck there? Good question!
If you exposed the camera to something wet, like changing lenses while at the beach with some nice salt spray on the breeze, then there may be residue from that on the sensor filter. This isn't very likely, though, because even when you're changing lenses, the shutter is closed so anything that gets into the body won't get directly onto the sensor filter. Instead, that salt spray should just get on other things in the camera and dry there. So at the worst, you've contaminated the body with salt residue which can break free later and act as any other dust. Not too bad.
But there do seem to be things that will stick to the sensor filter and for whatever reason, they need to be washed off.
But we'll start with the most likely reason that your dust didn't just blow off of the filter. Think about what this filter is made of. It's glass of some sort. And it most likely has some anti reflective coatings applied to it. Since Canon and the other manufacturers don't tell us what these coatings are, we are left to speculate. But it's possible that they are materials that tend to be prone to holding a static electric charge. Bare glass is pretty good at that all by itself and the coatings may be worse.
So it's reasonable to think that the sensor filter may have a static charge on it. And if you combine that with dust made of materials that also tend to accumulate a surface charge, you've got a recipe for "stuck dust". Pollen is often regarded as being a problem because it's tiny and very static-prone. All the blowing in the world may not knock things like that free from a highly charged filter.
So one thing you can try that is very safe and easy is to simply breathe into the camera while it's in the sensor clean mode to raise the humidity in there. Once again, let me repeat that I don't suggest "blowing" into the camera. Blowing implies making the air come out of your lips at a high velocity. High velocity air can easily pick up droplets of spittle and then they'll fly in and land on your sensor filter. That's not what we want.
Instead, breathe out gently and slowly with your mouth open fairly wide so that your warm, high-humidity breath just slowly enters the camera. The moisture from your breath is what we want. Not any kind of blowing action.
The humidity from your breath will often allow the static charges on the dust and the sensor filter to equalize and dissipate. Then, a good standard blowing with the hand blower may well get the job done. Give this a try.
Again, don't spit, wheeze, cough, or blow into the camera and onto the sensor. Just breathe slowly into the camera to get some moist air in there.
Now you need to test again for dust. You might have success and it's pretty easy to try it. If that got things cleaned out to your satisfaction, you're done!
The Canon 1DMkIII, 40D, and 400D are reputed to now have a Tin Oxide coating (actually, I suspect that it's more likely to be a tin-doped indium oxide coating) on their sensor filters to eliminate static. This sounds like a good idea to me and should help with dust. Thus, it may not do any good to breathe into these bodies to try to dissipate the static charge on the filter. But it might still help to discharge the dust itself. It's hard to know. I don't think breathing into those cameras will do any harm, however, so it's probably still worth a try. The 5D also has a different front surface on its sensor filter. But it's not the same as that on these newer cameras. We don't know much about that one.
Oh darn! There's
dust on my sensor filter!
Alright. It's OK. You're now where most of us have been at times. You've done what the manual recommends and it didn't get it all. Next, you've tried a bit of humidity to help out, and maybe that didn't get the job done either.
Now you've got to ask yourself a question or two:
Do I dare do something that could damage my camera's sensor filter in order to get the dust off? Or do I need to send/take the camera to Canon to have it done?
That is a tough question because you are only authorized by Canon do use the blower. If that didn't get the job done, and you don't want to potentially affect your warranty coverage, you are done. You'll just have to live with the dust you have or send/take the camera to Canon to have them clean it.
I can't tell you what decision to make at this point. I know what I do and I also know that if I wasn't willing to go further on my own, the camera would be nearly useless to me. I get dust on my sensor filter frequently. Where I live it's dry and dusty. I have six cats and I clean the box. That stuff is dusty! And to top it all off, I shoot a lot of macro photos and that requires the use of very small apertures at times. So I see any little bit of dust in many of my photos.
As a result of all of those factors, I have arrived at a fairly fast, easy, and cheap way to get my sensor filter clean. I do it frequently. Probably an average of once or twice a week, but timing means nothing. It all depends on what I've exposed the camera to and what I'll be shooting. If I'm about to shoot macro, I test and clean as necessary because I'd rather spend five minutes cleaning my camera now than spend five minutes per photo "cloning out" the dust spots later. It's just simple time management.
And I live in the middle of Wyoming. We don't have an authorized Canon repair station nearby. The nearest one is in California, I believe. Imagine me sending my camera in for cleaning twice a week. Does that sound practical? How many bodies would I need to own in order to keep a constant flow of bodies in transit between me and Canon?
So I clean it myself. I take full responsibility for damaging my sensor filter. I know it'll cost a bunch to have it replaced if it is damaged. I accept that and proceed with care and attention to detail, but in a fast, cheap, expedient way.
The rest of this article describes what I do. I can't authorize you to do it this way. In fact, I'll tell you again right now that
this is not authorized by Canon and any damage you do to your camera is your responsibility
You've been warned!
Read the additional warnings at the end of this page too!
f you have one of the newer cameras with anti-dust features or if you have a 5D, REALLY read those warnings carefully!
Many fine tools are available to clean your DSLR's sensor filter. Most of these involve the use of a swab of some sort which has a flat profile. The swab is moistened with a small amount of Methanol and is then drawn across the sensor carefully in one pass to wipe the dust off and collect it. These systems work very well from all of the reports I've read.
Another common method is to use a brush of some sort to brush the dust away. The brushes are often pre-charged with static electricity to make them more attractive to the dust than the sensor filter so that the brush will collect the dust rather than simply push it around. Again, from reports I've read, these brush methods work fine too.
But I wanted something easier to use and less expensive so I did the unthinkable and tried plain old generic cotton swabs. How horrifying!
Those can't work. They aren't high tech. They don't cost enough. It's just too darn easy!
Well, I'm sure these other methods have advantages. And they're well tested and loved by many. So I'm sure they're just great.
But the actual thing touching the sensor filter with any of these other methods is, in every case, something at least as "hard" as cotton.
In the case of the various swabs, the material is usually cellulose. They are a highly refined paper. Cotton is another form of cellulose, and is often regarded as being softer than paper products. Hmmm, that seems OK.
So where is the danger with any of these methods?
That's what you need to beware of. If you use any of these "touching the sensor" methods, and you happen to have a particle of hard grit (sand or dirt) on the sensor, you run the risk of forcing that grit against the filter and dragging it across it. That would surely scratch the filter. It wouldn't matter what your swab was made of, or even if you were using a brush. If you drag a particle of hard, sharp grit across the sensor filter, you may scratch it.
So regardless of what you use as a swab, your enemy is grit. This is why it's very good practice to pre-clean your sensor carefully with the blower before using any "touching the sensor" method. Always try the blower first. Only move on to any of these swabbing or brushing methods if you've already blown the sensor filter off well and tested to be sure the swabbing/brushing is required.
I buy generic cotton swabs at the local drug store and I keep them in sealed zip-top plastic bags containing about 20 swabs each. That way, I can keep them clean and if I think a bag of them may have gotten contaminated, I just throw the whole bag away. These things are cheap. There is no sense risking the use of a contaminated swab when they cost a half a cent apiece!
And on the subject of contamination of the swabs: When you grab a swab out of the bag, decide which end you'll be using to do the swabbing, and which end will be in your hand. You don't want to touch the end that you'll be using for the swabbing because your skin's oils and dead cells, etc., will contaminate the swab and end up smearing your sensor filter.
Keep it clean.
One more thing about the swabs:
I have found that these generic swabs from the local drug store work better than the "brand name" swabs or the special "high-quality" swabs often sold for delicate cleaning operations. The reason is that the generic swabs' heads are wound looser. The fancy swabs often have their heads wound very tight. This may reduce fiber shedding, but it also means that the tip of the swab is small and tight. The looser-wound generic swabs cover more area in a pass than the tight, hard ones do. This makes it easier to cover the area quickly in less passes and it allows the end of the swab to mash down with very little force applied. The loose swabs get into corners better too.
So while it might be tempting to use the very high quality individually packaged swabs because they should be cleaner, etc., it has been my experience that they don't work as well because they are not as compliant. So the best swabs I've found are the generic ones from the drug store. I suspect that there can be a lot of variation from brand to brand. Try a few different brands and find one that works for you. You want a swab tip that is soft and fluffy not hard and tight. You'll be mopping the sensor filter. Imagine mopping a floor with the end of a stick - wouldn't work very well, would it? You want the mop head to cover some surface area without needing to apply a lot of force :)
It is possible to wrap a Pec Pad around a cotton swab to make a handy swabbing tool too. So if you'd rather have a Pec Pad in contact with your sensor filter, that's an option. But I've had good luck with the raw swabs so take that all for what it's worth.
OK, OK. We're ready to swab, already.
First, I assume that your camera is at normal room temperature of around 20 degrees C (68 degrees F).
It's nice to have a good, bright lamp to work under. I like those swing-arm lamps because you can position them for good viewing. But this isn't completely necessary.
Take the lens off of your camera. Set it aside.
Take out a swab or two and set them down on a clean surface remembering which ends are the "clean" ends.
Now, I'm right-handed so I'll describe this as if you were too. If you're a leftie, just use the other hands. No problem.
Put the camera into the sensor clean mode and turn it up so that you can see the sensor. Of course, you're actually looking through the clear filter, and that filter is what you'll be cleaning, but you get the idea.
Hold the camera in your left hand so that the opening is facing up and you can see into it nice and easy.
If you get the camera and the light just right, you can see the whole surface of the filter, and you can rock the camera around to get the glare from the light to reflect off of that surface. That makes it easy to look for dust, smudges, and other stuff.
You won't be able to see the dust, usually. If it's a whopper, or a piece of lint, you might, but generally, by the time you've blown the camera out a few times, you've gotten rid of anything large enough for you to see. But check it out anyhow! If you see anything that looks like it could be a piece of hard grit on there, you need to think about how to get it knocked and blown off of there before you do the swabbing.
You can poke at it gently with a clean swab and see if it'll move and then blow it off. (Pitch the swab and get a clean one now).
OK, everything looks good? You're ready to swab.
Pick up one of the swabs in your right hand being careful not to touch the "business end" of it.
Hold the camera up and gently breathe (once again, do not blow, sneeze, cough, or wheeze - just breathe out slowly with your mouth fairly wide open) into the body. You will see a fog of condensed moisture form on the sensor filter.
That fog is actually condensed water. By definition, it is distilled water. And further, it's been fractionally distilled because the temperature of the inside of your lungs is only a few tens of degrees warmer than the surface onto which the water condensed.
Thus, this is extremely pure water. A friend of mine who is a chemist pointed out to me that there will also be other gas components of your breath which will end up dissolved into that water too. One main component of note is carbon dioxide. That CO2 will form carbonic acid in this water.
Those acid ions will make the distilled water (a good insulator) into a reasonable conductor. Thus, this slightly acidified water will work well to equalize and dissipate the surface charge of the filter with respect to any dust that is on it. This will make it easier for the swab to remove the dust from the filter.
Canon 20D camera sensor with its filter "fogged" over with condensed breath.
With the filter fogged as shown, you're ready to swab. You've got just the right amount of water to do the job. It won't be so much that you are in any danger of having it run in anywhere yet there is enough there to let you "mop up" the dust.
This photo doesn't show the ideal pattern for swabbing the sensor because I had to take these shots with an uncooperative P&S camera in one hand and the swab in the other while holding the shutter button at half-press after trying to lock the focus..... Well, you get the idea.
So this photo just shows how the condensation is picked up by the swab as you rub it gently over the surface of the filter.
In actual practice, I use a "raster" pattern to scan over the whole surface and then I run the swab around the edges a few "laps" to get the dust that likes to hide in the corners and along the edges.
I don't use much pressure, and I don't need to because unlike with the paper covered spatula technique, I can get the whole surface in due time and I can see where I've been because of the moisture that is being smeared around as I do this.
By looking at the filter as you swab it, you can see where you've been and you can see when the water has been polished off of the surface. When the water is gone, you're done.
Swab removing the water as it cleans the surface.
This shot shows the swab against a dry filter. When it's this dry, you don't need or want to continue with the swabbing.
Yeah, the swab has mysteriously moved to my left hand. I'm sorry, just a continuity error there. Again, I'm shooting the other camera one-handed so that's the way it goes. Let's say this one is for the left-handed folks out there.
The filter is dry, so you're done swabbing.
I run the swab back and forth over the sensor in a pattern like this to get the whole surface clean.
I can see where I've been by the patterns left in the water on the surface.
The final step for me is to run the swab around the outside perimeter of the sensor, up against the edges of the "well" that it sits in. I often make a few laps around the perimeter like this since that's where a lot of the dust seems to end up.
One possible swab wiping pattern.
The main thing is to get the whole surface wiped while there is some moisture there to help out. As the moisture is spread around and evaporates, you can see where you've been and see if the surface looks clean. Once the water is gone, and the surface is shiny and free of streaks, you're done.
The whole process takes about ten seconds.
Throw the swab away. If you decide to swab again, you should use a clean swab. Hey, they're ridiculously inexpensive!
The final blow:
Now that you've swabbed the whole sensor, you have one final thing to do. Get the bulb blower and again hold the camera so that the lens mount is aimed down. Do another good, vigorous blowing to get any loose fibers that may have shed from the swab and also any crud that may have fallen into the camera while it was aimed upwards. Blast it good!
Now, turn the camera off to take it out of sensor clean mode, and put your lens back on.
You may now test for dust once again.
It may not be perfect at this point, but I'll bet it's pretty darn close. And if it's not, you know just how easy it is to simply do the same thing again. Sometimes it takes a couple of swabbings. That's fine. It's cheap and fast.
As you do this a few times, you'll get very good at it and become more comfortable with the whole process. You don't need to press hard at all because the swab conforms to the corners and the surface. And you can get into all of the edges and corners with ease.
There is one protrusion on the left side of the "sensor well" that is kind of in the way as you swab (on a 20D), but you soon get a feel for where it is and it's no trouble to angle the swab to avoid it so that it doesn't interrupt the smooth motion of the swab.
A nice, gentle, smooth wipe seems to work the best. Bring the swab into contact with the filter just once and keep it in contact for the whole wipe if possible. That seems to get the dust the best.
You'll get a feel for it after a few tries. Don't expect perfection the very first time. But also don't expect this to be difficult or hard to learn.
Other solvents:
(Read the warning below concerning new cameras with special anti-dust coatings).
I have gotten oil on my 20D sensor filter before when using a brush to clean it. I must have touched something in the camera that had some lubricant on it and then transferred that lube to the sensor. That sounds nasty, but really it wasn't much of a problem at all. I simply used some alcohol and a swab to remove the oil. Various alcohols are available for this use. The most common one used in the commercial sensor cleaning preparations is methanol. That works fine on the 20D. See below for other bodies.
However, another good, clean source for a cleaning alcohol is to purchase a new bottle of "Everclear" at the liquor store. Everclear is 95% pure grain alcohol (ethanol). It seems to be very pure and free of impurities that would leave a reside. I've used it a number of times when I wanted a less polar solvent than water. For greases and oils, it is reasonably effective.
Again, use it at your risk, and only use clean Everclear from a fresh bottle. You may wish to keep a bottle just for that purpose so that it does not become contaminated.
Use only a very small amount on the tip of the swab.
You DO NOT want the swab to have so much that it could drip or run anywhere!
That could be a very bad thing indeed! Use the same method as you'd use with the condensed breath. You can see the alcohol left behind by the swab as you move it over the surface. For nasty oil or other residue, you may need to do this several times. Use a fresh swab for each attempt. It's all very cheap.
The bit of residue left behind after the Everclear swabbing can be removed with a followup swabbing with the condensed breath as the final polish.
It has been said on another website about DSLR sensor cleaning that Canon uses a mixture of alcohol and glass cleaner to clean these sensors. I cannot verify that. But this brings up the idea of using various things to clean the sensor filter. My warning about that would be that if you use the wrong solvent, you may damage or remove the special coatings that are on the sensor filter.
Pure water and methanol have been shown to be safe on the 20D, and I have seen no problems using the ethanol from Everclear. That's all I can say about that.
An additional warning!
Anti-Static sensor filters and such....
As mentioned above, some newer cameras with anti-dust features are reputed to have a tin oxide (or more likely tin-doped indium oxide) coating on the front surface of the sensor filter. The manufacturers of some sensor cleaning solvents have come out with newer solvents made especially for these cameras. I do not know what the new solvents are exactly, but reports I've read say that the MSDS for one such new "Tin Oxide Compatible" solvent is mostly ethanol denatured with some methanol to make it undrinkable.
The fact that they've come out with a new product suggests that they have found some problem with using their other solvent (pure methanol) on these newer cameras. They were recommending the new non-methanol solvent for the Canon 400D, 5D, 1DMkIII, and 40D. Now I see that they've gone back to recommending the methanol solvent on the 5D. I've read of problems with cleaning the 5D. Reports have been seen of the coating on the sensor filter of the 5D flaking off! Speculation was that the 5D simply used it's "hot filter" coating as the front surface. That coating may be extremely fragile.
If I had a 5D, I'd be VERY careful using anything to clean its sensor. They may well be far more delicate than any of the other Canons. We just don't know for sure.
It appears that
the new non-methanol solvents are indicated for
NEW model Canon cameras with the "anti-dust" features. So be careful when choosing a solvent to try on one of these newer cameras. There must be some reason why people are avoiding methanol.
As for the scratch resistance of these coatings:
I do not know
. It may be more delicate than what we formerly faced on these filters. I recently got a 40D but have NOT done extensive testing. I've cleaned it twice with the condensed breath and swab method, and it seems to have worked just fine with no ill effects.
But I DO NOT have the extensive experience with it that I do have with the 20D
. So take that for what it's worth!
Since the manufacturers of several cleaning systems are
telling people to avoid using their methods on these new bodies, I have to believe that
feel that the new sensor filter coating is not overly delicate. Also, a bit of reading about tin-doped indium oxide coatings indicates that these coatings are sometimes used to increase the wear resistance of glass. Thus, one would hope that the coating is harder than glass which would make it less likely to scratch.
But we do not know exactly what this coating actually is, how it is applied, or whether it might be beneath some other coatings which might still be very delicate or which, perhaps, do not stick to it as well as they do to glass. So the whole assembly might be more delecate or more susceptible to damage from solvents and rubbing. I simply do not know!
You really are doing any of this entirely at your own risk, including using the commercially available swabs and solvents!!
One last disclaimer:
This method is not authorized by Canon. According to Canon, you are only allowed to blow your sensor off. Be sure to try that first every time. And if you decide to attempt my method, don't blame me if you damage your camera. I take no responsibility for anything you might do with this information. It works for me, and I've done it hundreds of times on the 20D with no problem. But I have no idea how competent anyone else is and I cannot test it on other cameras so I can't assume any responsibility for your results. This is probably why Canon only authorizes us to use a blower. They cannot know if we'll end up damaging our cameras with some other method so they just leave us with only the blower.
I have read a couple of horror stories of people scratching their camera's sensor filter using the "normal" sensor wiping methods. These reports are infrequent but not unheard of. And I've read about bad experiences with the 5D's coating being totally removed! Any sensor cleaning that involves touching the sensor with anything carries some risk.
Happy shooting everyone! A clean sensor is a happy sensor :)


text:
Main :: Line 6 Lounge
Signal Breaking Up
by dshuddy on 2009-12-15 19:46:16
by dshuddy on 2009-12-15 19:46:16
I'm having trouble with my POD 2.0 signal breaking up/sputtering after I play for about 30 minutes. The unit seems to work well for a period each session and then it's as if Porky Pig took over and it starts sputtering and there are gaps in the signal to the amp. Any thoughts on what could be causing this problem?
Re: Signal Breaking Up
by clarkejust1 on 2013-02-21 16:58:17
by clarkejust1 on 2013-02-21 16:58:17
I have the same problem... did you work it out?
The information above may not be current, and you should direct questions to the current forum or review the manual.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The 2009 Jeep Patriot, Liberty, and Grand Cherokee may already be "Trail Rated," but ticking the box for the new Rocky Mountain Edition package won't make it any more so.
Instead, look at the new Rocky Mountain Edition models as being a preferred equipment package, albeit on a shoestring budget. Chrysler claims the package adds approximately $2300 worth of options, but costs the consumer only $1595.
Starting at $19,765, the Patriot Rocky Mountain Edition is built upon the Patriot Sport. Opting for the Rocky Mountain model adds features like Chrysler's U-connect Tunes infotainment system, a Boston Acoustics sound system, Sirius satellite radio, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Exterior touches include body-colored door handles and 17-inch aluminum wheels. Buyers have their choice of either two-wheel- or four-wheel-drive models, but each is equipped with a 2.4-liter I-4 mated to either a five-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission.
The Liberty Rocky Mountain Edition, which starts at $25,355, adds similar equipment, albeit it does without the fanciful Boston Acoustics system and satellite radio. Built off the Liberty Sport, the Rocky Mountain model is available in either 4×2 or 4×4 forms and is equipped with Chrysler's 210-hp, 3.7-liter V-6.
At the top of the Rocky Mountain Edition line sits the Jeep Grand Cherokee, albeit it's built from a base Grand Cherokee Laredo with the 3.7-liter V-6. The special edition package adds the U-connect Tunes system, power sunroof, heated seats, chromed body-side molding, and unique 17-inch wheels. 4×2 models start at $32,825, but Chrysler hasn't released pricing for the 4×4 version.
Dealers are currently accepting orders for the Rocky Mountain models, which should arrive in showrooms later this month.


text:
Local Candidates
Who can we vote for Nov 4?
Please vote for the following Democratic candidates for office on Nov. 4. Then ask five (of your friends) to ask five (of their friends) to vote for Democrats too. Mid-term elections are generally low turnout. Getting our voters to the polls gives Democratic candidates an edge.
1 Justin Atkinson County Commissioner #1
What are my federal and state Senate and House districts? http://www.capitolconnect.com/oklahoma/default.aspx
Questions? Or need printed info? Email email@example.com.
2014 HD 43 candidate Sarah Baker building a better FUTURE
A win for Sarah is a win for all of us because she is "Building a Better FUTURE for All Oklahomans.
Sarah believes: All students should have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams and contribute to a strong economy.
Sarah believes: A strong economy is built not only from the top down, but form a growing middle class with ladders of opportunity for those who work hard to increase their income.
Sarah believes: All Oklahomans should have equal rights and access to services, including programs for veterans and military families, job and work training programs, increased financial support for police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
Building a Better FUTURE for All Oklahomans
Elect Sarah Baker House District 43
Kendra Menz-Kimble for House District 60
I am the 4th generation of my family to be born and raised in Canadian county. I love this area and the people who look out for their neighbors. This is the place I have chosen to raise my children and it is my hope that someday they choose to raise my grandchildren here too.
I have worked in the finance industry for over 12 years. I have a degree in liberal arts from the University of Central Oklahoma.
My husband, Shane and I have owned K2 Veterinary Services for almost 9 years. I have managed this successful practice during some of the most recent economic challenges in Oklahoma history.
With this experience and my deep Oklahoma roots, I believe I would represent District 60 with common sense for the common good.
Visit Kendra's website at http://kendramenz-kimble.com/Home_Page.html or contact her at (405( 556.1959 or firstname.lastname@example.com .
Leon Pivinski, Candidate for State House District 47
All too often, our current representative votes against our best interests from our pocketbooks to our civil liberties.
Leon Pivinski will change that trend, starting with taking state sales tax off groceries. He has been getting a great reception in the district for this idea, which lets local towns and counties keep their portion of the sales tax for police, fire and critical needs.
Leon says, "I feel we can work together to get the right things done, and I would appreciate your support to see that it happens.
A retired letter carrier, Leon has been married to Pam for 35 years. They have two adult children who both graduated from Mustang High School..
Visit Leon's website at http://leonpivinski.com/home or call (405) 745-2389.
Torralba Campaigns for House District 56
Maya Torralba is the Democratic candidate for House of Representatives in District 56.
A Kiowa tribal member and resident of Anadarko, Torralba founded and secured grant funding for the Anadarko Community Esteem Project to empower teenage girls and increase youth involvement with both Native culture and community awareness. She is a member of the Protecting Native Youth Coalition for all youth in the Caddo County area and the Native Youth Leadership Alliance, a national program that provides support to tribal college students. Maya is also a member of the Caddo County Suicide Prevention Task force.
She co-hosts of the KACO-FM Saturday morning program "Indians for Indians" and has also worked with the Kiowa Culture Preservation Authority as a Kiowa language grant coordinator.
Torralba is deeply committed to family. She is married to Brian Daffron, a professor at Comanche Nation College and has three children: son Chado, age seven, and a twin daughter and son, Kateri and Matthias, age five. She enjoys dancing with her relatives and honors veterans at the annual Kiowa Black Leggings Ceremonial at Indian City in October.
To volunteer, donate or get more information, contact Maya Torralba at:
Maya Torralba (HD 56)
1400 S. Mission
Anadarko, OK 73005
P. O. Box 162
Anadarko, OK 73005
(405) 247-2288
(405) 933-2140
Hemminger is Running for House District 43
J. P. Hemminger of Yukon is running for House District 43 against Republican Rep. Colby Schwartz. Hemminger is a university insructor and active member of the Canadian County Democrats. To volunteer, donate or get more information, contact J. P. Hemminger at:
J. P. Hemminger (HD43)
P. O. Box 852122
Yukon, OK 73085
(405) 494-1198
Democrat John Morris of Calumet has announced his candidacy for County Commissioner for the third district of Canadian County. Former commissioner, Grant Hedrick, died in an automobile accident in November. Governor Brad Henry set the dates for special election as follows. The Primary will be March 2nd and the General election will be on April 6th. There are 5 republicans seeking this office also.
On the 18th of February, the El Reno Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Candidates Forum at Redlands Community College starting at 7:00 PM.Please come and show your support for our Democratic Party candidate for this important office.
For more information about John Morris, go to his website; email@example.com
House District 55 Special Election
Democratic candidate Larry Peck got twice as many votes as his Repub challenger in the House District 55 primary election on September 8! Now he needs your help to get another 1,000 voters out again on Oct. 13.
There will be a number of opportunities to help get out the vote. Check with Jody Harlan at jodyharlan AT gmail DOT com.
Check out Larry's campaign website at http://www.pickpeck.com/.
HD 55 Special Election - Democratic Primary
A special election is being held to replace Democrat Ryan McMillan, who leaves as State Representative of House District 55 due to an appointment by President Obama earlier this year to a job with the Department of Agriculture.
The Democratic primary is on Sept. 8. We have two great candidates, Larry Peck and Alex Damon. Whoever wins has pledged to work like mad for the other so that the Democrats keep this seat. Contact one of the campaigns and see how you can help!
The general election is October 13.
Alex Damon122 N. Glenn English Street,Cordell, OK 73532
Home 580-832-2981; Cell 580-660-1131
Alex owns a photography studio and has been mayor of Cordell since 2004, where he has helped revitalize the local economy. He was Oklahoma Mayor of the Year in 2008
Larry PeckP. O. Box 339, Sentinel, OK 73664-0339
Home 580-393-4472; Cell (580) 393-4471
Larry Peck has been a businessman, community leader, farmer/rancher and educator in Western Oklahoma. He is the editor of AgYouth Magazine.


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Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will host an executive committee meeting of the National Lieutenant Governors Association over three days next week.
The meetings begin Monday, with sessions at the Des Moines Marriott in downtown Des Moines and at DuPont Pioneer in Johnston. Panels will address a number of topics, including economic development, energy, education, health care and agriculture.
The association is made up of elected officials who are first in line of succession to the governors.


text:
Field of 20 means category expands to five finalists
With 20 films competing, the category expands to five noms. These are the animated features chasing those slots.
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL (Fox)
The Story: Three CG chipmunks meet their match in the Chipettes while wreaking live-action havoc.
Voice Talent: Justin Long, Anna Faris
Why it would get nominated: Hit end-of-year toons are often rewarded with a nom (think "Happy Feet" or "Bolt").
Why not: Even if the Academy deems it "animated enough," the branch may not.
ASTRO BOY (Summit/Imagi)
The Story: After his son dies in a weapons-testing accident, a scientist builds an android superhero in the child's image.
Voice Talent: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage
Why: Updates the look of Tezuka Osamu's seminal 1952 manga for the modern CG age.
Why not: Critical consensus seems to be that the result is merely mediocre.
BATTLE FOR TERRA (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)
The Story: Humans are the bad guys in this sci-fi parable about a female alien who helps a shipwrecked pilot, even those his people want to exploit her planet.
Voice Talent: Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Wilson
Why: Clever fans have pointed out striking similarities to James Cameron's "Avatar."
Why not: Low-budget CG animation leaves much to be desired.
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (Sony Pictures Animation)
The Story: The weather gets weird after a failed inventor creates a device that can turn water into food.
Voice Talent: Bill Hader, Anna Faris
Why: Like Sony's Oscar-nominated "Surf's Up," this CG toon advances the technology in service of a genuinely entertaining script.
Why not: A bit of an underdog against bigger hits from Pixar, DreamWorks and Blue Sky.
CORALINE (Focus/Laika)
The Story: Bored with her life, a girl crawls through a corridor to a rich parallel world run by her sinister "Other Mother" in this adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel.
Voice Talent: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher
Why: Directed by stop-motion maestro Henry Selick ("The Nightmare Before Christmas"), pic was a critical and box office hit.
Why not: It opened way back in February. Voters may need some reminding.
DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Disney/ImageMovers)
The Story: Charles Dickens' holiday classic gets a state-of-the-art upgrade, showing how far performance capture has evolved since "The Polar Express."
Voice Talent: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman
Why: More than any other toon helmer, Robert Zemeckis seems determined to push the medium to new heights.
Why not: Many in the branch don't think of motion capture as animation (though "Monster House" made the cut in 2007).
THE DOLPHIN: STORY OF A DREAMER (Fox/Dolphin)
The Story: A CG dolphin breaks from his pod in search of undersea adventure — imagine "Finding Nemo" if Nemo weren't missing.
Voice Talent: Robbie Daymond, Robert Howard
Why: Who doesn't love dolphins (except the fisherman exposed by "The Cove" perhaps)? And it's based on a beloved book to boot.
Why not: The movie opened in Latin America last month. Otherwise, no one has seen it.
FANTASTIC MR. FOX (Fox Searchlight)
The Story: A dapper fox jeopardizes his family by stealing from three bellicose farmers in this stop-motion tale from live-action wiz Wes Anderson.
Voice Talent: George Clooney, Meryl Streep
Why: More adult-friendly than the competition (despite its clear kidpic pedigree), this offbeat adaptation expands the world of Roald Dahl's novel to reflect Anderson's own sensibility.
Why not: The director's quirky style isn't everyone's cup of tea.
ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (Fox/Blue Sky)
The Story: Three-toed sloth Sid adopts three dinosaur eggs, hatching trouble that leads the gang to a primeval world beneath the surface.
Voice Talent: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo
Why: It's the top-grossing toon of all time — and the first "Ice Age" pic released in stereoscopic 3D.
Why not: Only one sequel ("Shrek 2") has ever been nominated.
MARY AND MAX(IFC/Sundance Selects)
The Story: An Australian girl and a New Yorker with Asperger's strike up an unlikely pen-pal relationship.
Voice Talent: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Why: This is the first feature from stop-motion director Adam Elliot, who won an Oscar for his 2003 short "Harvie Krumpet."
Why not: After its short qualifying run, the toon went directly to VOD.
THE MISSING LYNX (Kandor Moon)
The Story: The title puns on evolution, though the plot centers on species extinction as an endangered feline helps other critters escape a big-game hunter.
Voice Talent: Stephen Hughes, Jose Luis Martinez
Why: This CG talking-animal romp is the most eco-friendly toon since "Happy Feet."
Why not: Judging by past nominees, it takes a far artier indie to impress the Acad.
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS (DreamWorks Animation)
The Story: When aliens attack Earth, the government unleashes a secret team of 1950s monster-movie types.
Voice Talent: Seth Rogen, Reese Witherspoon
Why: DreamWorks has a pretty good track record with the Academy. Plus, it's hard to argue with nearly $200 million at the box office.
Why not: Silly sells, but it doesn't necessarily win Oscars.
9 (Focus/Starz Animation)
The Story: A postapocalyptic epic starring nine sack creatures, who represent all that remains of humanity's soul after an evil robot destroys all life on the planet.
Voice Talent: Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer
Why: Director Shane Acker already earned one Oscar nom for the short-film version he made in 2005.
Why not: At feature length, the story feels thin and the animation cheap.
PLANET 51 (TriStar/Ilion Animation)
The Story: : Flipping the alien-invasion hysteria of 1950s pics on its head, this sci-fi comedy reveals an alien race's terror when a human astronaut steps foot on their planet.
Voice Talent: Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long
Why: Though produced in Spain, the sense of humor and CG style are readymade for American auds (albeit young ones).
Why not: The concept is stronger than the execution. Even Sony would probably rather see "Cloudy" nominated.
PONYO (Disney/Studio Ghibli)
The Story: A boy discovers a magic goldfish, who transforms herself into a human, in this surreal love story from Oscar winner Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away").
Voice Talent: Liam Neeson, Tina Fey
Why: Miyazaki's late-career masterpiece is also his biggest domestic hit to date.
Why not: Though more accessible than his last ("Howl's Moving Castle"), many of "Ponyo's" charms are lost in translation.
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Disney)
The Story: The old fairy tale (transposed to New Orleans) backfires when a magic kiss transforms a princess into a frog.
Voice Talent: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos
Why: With "The Little Mermaid" co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker at the helm, toon heralds a triumphant return to Disney's 2-D roots.
Why not: It's also risky on many levels, from the film's African American characterizations to its old-fashioned style.
THE SECRET OF KELLS (GKIDS/Cartoon Saloon)
The Story: A 9th-century Irish boy disobeys his guardian and learns the art of manuscript illumination, helping to create a famous 9th century text.
Voice Talent: Brendan Gleeson, Evan McGuire
Why: A terrific pic for kids, this inspirational, handdrawn entry already snagged one of three noms in the European Film Awards' toon category.
Why not: Some dismiss 2-D animation as TV fodder, since it is so seldom seen on the bigscreen.
TINKER BELL AND THE LOST TREASURE (Disney)
The Story: This polished CG prequel explores the origins of the popular "Peter Pan" fairy.
Voice Talent: Mae Whitman, Anjelica Huston
Why: A long shot, since Disney submitted only to help boost the number of noms in the category.
Why not: If not for its one-week qualifying run at the El Capitan, this sequel would've gone straight to DVD.
A TOWN CALLED PANIC (Zeitgeist/Pic Pic Andre)
The Story: Plastic-toy Cowboy and Indian celebrate their friend Horse's birthday in this crude (in style, not humor) Belgian stop-motion comedy.
Voice Talent:
Why: The ultimate counter-programming choice, pic is funny enough to trump its polished American competition.
Why not: In a year of four stop-motion entries, this is the least polished of the lot.
UP (Disney/Pixar)
The Story: Rather than move to a retirement facility, a crotchety old widower uses helium balloons to sail his house to South America for one last adventure.
Voice Talent: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai
Why: Every Pixar feature released since the category was created has been nominated.
Why not: The real question is whether "Up" can also score a best picture nom.


text:
SOUTH RANGE 90, EAST PALESTINE 69: SALEM - Brandon Pluchinsky scored 31 points, much of it coming on his eight 3-pointers as the Raiders beat the Bulldogs in a Division III sectional final. Dan Good also had a big night with 28 points, but half of those came at the foul line, where Good made good on 14 of 17 attempts. Buster Reiser (25 points) and Jake DiCello (16) led East Palestine.
SPRINGFIELD 55, WATERLOO 35: SALEM - Nick Russell scored 20 points and the Tigers set the tone early by outscoring the Vikings 16-4 in the first quarter on their way to a Division III sectional semifinal victory at Salem High School. Ronnie Rogers added 13 points for Springfield. Zach Morgan did most of the damager for Waterloo with 20 points, including all four of the Vikings' 3-pointers.
WESTERN RESERVE 50, CRESTVIEW 49: CANFIELD - Colleen Kennehanscored 14 points to lead the Blue Devis (20-2) to a win in a Division IV district semifinal game on Wednesday at South Range High School. She was helped by 12 points from Hannah Mowery, who also hit three 3-pointers, and Sissy Stubbs, who scored 11 points.Ashley Harrison led all scores with 19 points for the Rebels (16-6).
LOWELLVILLE 55, LISBON 19: CANFIELD - Kaya Solak scored 15 points for the Rockets (20-2), who also got 11 points from Taylor Visdac. Pam Pierce led the Blue Devils with nine points.


text:
Update 2012: This offer may no longer be available. Check with Chase.com to see if they are currently running any promotions or visit BankVibe.com's rundown of the top checking account promo's in 2012.
Chase typically runs these promotions every quarter to drum up new business. The bonus amount fluctuates between $50 and $200 depending on the type of checking account you sign up for. Lately, however, Chase has been only offering these bonuses in isolated regions throughout the country via email (or snail mail) marketing campaigns.
If you decide to open a Chase checking account you're going to want to keep your eye on the fees associated with it (especially if you plan on keeping a low balance).
2012 Chase Bank Fees:
Chase Student Checking – No fee while enrolled in a college or university. $6 monthly fee after graduation unless a direct deposit is set up.
Chase Total Checking – This is their most basic checking account. To avoid a $10 monthly fee you will need to have either a $1,500 average daily balance, a direct deposit set up of $500 or more, or over $5,000 in additional Chase bank accounts.
Chase Premier Plus Checking – Avoid a $25 monthly fee unless you have at least $15,000 in additional accounts with Chase.
Chase Premier Platinum Checking – Avoid a $25 monthly fee unless you have at least $75,000 in additional accounts.
- Offer from Archive -
Chase Bank is offering new customers a $100 sign up bonus when you set up a direct deposit OR make five debit card purchases.
Thanks to BankVibe reader Matt for bringing this deal to our attention. Look familiar? It should, because WaMu is offering an almost identical offer with their "WaMu Free Checking Account."
As you may already know, WaMu is undergoing the integration process with Chase and will soon be synonymous with Chase Bank, so I suppose it's fitting that Chase throws out a lucrative checking account offer of their own.
How to collect your $100 from your new Chase Checking Account:
(as seen on their promo page)
- Follow this promo link and type in your email address
- Chase Bank will then email you a promotion code
- Print out the email you receive (with the promo code) and bring it in to your nearest Chase Bank
- Open your new Chase Checking Account and make either 5 debit card transactions or 1 direct deposit
- Enjoy being $100 wealthier!


text:
SAGINAW — Six weeks after the end of the last season and more than three months before the start of the next one, it's still a busy weekend for the Saginaw Spirit:
Rookie Camp
Fans who want to get a look at some future Spirit players can attend this weekend's annual rookie camp, where draft picks, free agents and a few veterans will be battling it out in a practice and scrimmage.
The Spirit picked 15 players during the OHL priority selection two weeks ago. Up to four of them can immediately join the 2010-11 team. Rookie camp is the first step of an evaluation process in which coaches decide which players will suit up for Saginaw next season.
The team will hold a practice Saturday from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. The annual Blue-White game is scheduled for Sunday, 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. Both are at Saginaw Bay Ice Arena, and are free and open to the public.
Season ticket holders are invited to the team's annual awards banquet Saturday night, 7 p.m. at Heritage High School's auditorium. There, the team's veterans will be on hand to receive various team awards.
Spirit sign Young
The Spirit announced Wednesday that they had signed defenseman Dalton Young, a Marysville, Mich. native who spent last year with the Belle Tire Major Midget team.
Young, a 1993-born player, tallied 39 points in 77 games the last two seasons, including six goals and 15 assists last year. He will be introduced at a news conference Friday.
"Dalton is a very skilled, smart player," Spirit Scouting Director Jim Paliafito said in a statement. "He is an excellent skater who reminds me of the Red Wings' Nick Lidstrom with the way he plays the game."
Murovich signs
Tyler Murovich, a three-year Spirit forward and captain on the 2009-10 team, has signed a contract with the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League, the team announced earlier this week.
Murovich made his professional debut with the Syracuse Crunch following the Spirit season, and tallied six points on two goals and four assists in five games. Murovich has aged out of the Ontario Hockey League.
Murovich spent the 2009-10 preseason in Columbus Blue Jackets training camp, and later in the training camp of the Crunch, then Columbus' AHL affiliate. The Crunch ended their affiliation with Columbus in March, and Springfield became the Blue Jackets' new AHL affiliate.
Pyatt in Conference Finals
Spirit alum Tom Pyatt, now a rookie forward with the Montreal Canadiens, will be playing in the NHL's Eastern Conference finals, after his team beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in Wednesday's game seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Pyatt became the first Spirit-drafted player to make the NHL earlier this season, and is one of two Spirit players to appear in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.


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The Fable Of The Keys
"The Fable of the Keys" by S.J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis
A historic comparison of QWERTY and
You might hear comments from time to time about studies showing Dvorak is "no better than QWERTY," or words to that effect. All such comments that I've heard seem to echo an article, "The Fable of the Keys," by S. J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis, published in the Journal of Law & Economics, vol. XXXIII (April 1990).
Note the word "economics." Liebowitz and Margolis are economists opposed to an "excessive inertia" theory, for which QWERTY is often cited as an example. Rather than try to prove their point with a generally valid argument, they simply attack Dvorak as a dubious replacement for QWERTY. As the article's last footnote explains, there are a number of other possible reasons for Dvorak's failure to replace QWERTY, besides a perceived lack of value. The article ignores those reasons, however, and perpetrates that false perception in a nicely self-fulfilling way.
The argument involves perception in more ways than one. If you read the article carefully, you will find that it seems to claim more than it actually does claim, especially after its implications get paraphrased a few times in conversation. Because their effect is just as powerful, I will address its implications as if they were clearly stated claims:
Many economists believe that in a free market, the best product will prevail. In doing so, they forget about the compatibility factor. This is why VHS, Microsoft Windows and QWERTY succeeded - it's a hassle to be nonstandard. In a "compatibility"-situation, patents and certain forms of copyrights are extremely harmful to the economic system. It would be very interesting to see economists study this factor and its implication in the world of today, rather than tell fairy tales that are meant to convince us that VHS, QWERTY and Windows are good.
Is it true all speed records were set on non-QWERTY keyboards? Or is this just an urban legend? Then again, for stiff competition, 1 or 2 percent improvement may be enough to justify switching, but not for regular Joe Cubicle.
It may be possible that Dvorak's alternate layout was marginally better -- however, Dvorak's own tests (benchmarks, if you will), were highly suspect, casting doubt on the veracity of the conclusions.
-Care to enlighten us as to what was wrong with Dvorak's tests? Why can the Dvorak keyboard only be 'marginally' better? Because you say so?
Incidentally, VHS beat Beta for one reason: Beta tapes couldn't hold an entire movie. In terms of quality, they were virtually identical (not surprising, given that used the same technology of rotating heads on a magnetic tape)
Nope; capacity was merely an early and short-lived issue, and quality and technology were not identical, either, despite naturally having
things in common. See series of short pages at
to see more of the factors of what happened with VHS versus Beta.
Somewhere around here, if I remember correctly, a rough concensus was reached that alternative keyboards are roughly about 5% better. This is enough to make a difference in contests, but not for typical "cubicle" work.
5% ? Really? What if I told you that around here, a rough concensus was reached that the earth is flat?
If you have evidence that supersedes consensus anecdotes (higher on the
), I'd like to see it.
I'm going to guess that these rumoured tests that prove one keyboard over another don't take into account the material being written on them. I'm going to guess, for example, that my day-to-day work involves far higher proportions of "(", ")", "<", ">", "^", "/", "\" "_", and "|" than the test passages used.
speed records
claims that few people knew about the Dvorak keyboard "prior to the publication of the Barbara Blackburn's achievement of 212 wpm using a Dvorak keyboard in the Guinness Book of Records in 1985."
mentions that "As of 2005, Barbara Blackburn is the fastest typist in the world, according to The Guinness Book of World Records. Using the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, she has maintained 150 wpm for 50 minutes ..."
Is that a typo, or has the same person maintained the world speed record from 1985 to 2005 ?
People never use QWERTY keyboards or Dvorak keyboards to type the text you see when your television has "closed captioning" turned on. They use a stenotype keyboard.
Are the court reporter stenotype keyboards the same as the closed-captioning stenotype keyboards?
Don't those require special training? Plus, court steno machines are mostly phonetic if I am not mistaking. The purpose is to record spoken language, where visual spelling is a matter of interpretion and not something that needs to be recorded for that domain. Its a
that takes advantage of the fact that written spelling is irrelevant to the domain. Some similar machines (non-court) also use customized dictionaries for domain-specific shorthand. It may be comparable to the
register menu: put an icon of each product so that the cashier can simply press an icon button. I imagine that something like Microsoft Intellisense on a big touch-screen may also be viable. One hand could select the starting letter(s) and the other hand select the top-frequency-sorted matches from a list(s).
Court reporters tend to use chording keyboards. Instead of a roughly 1:1 mapping between characters and keystrokes, different combinations of keys produce different outputs. They are very fast but they do require special training. The other advantage for some people is that 5 keys are enough, so you can use them with one hand and you never have to move the fingers off the keys. Divers, for eg, find that rather helpful. (See [
]) Cheers,
{Perhaps this is diverging, or at least a branch topic. What most are interested in is "dedicated letter" keyboard comparisons. Does
favor Dvorak over QWERTY?}
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BiographyHey all! I hope to see you around the forums of Neoseeker. Send me a PM if you ever just want to talk or have a question, whether that be of intellectual debate or the awesomeness of video gaming.
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Tech startups are thriving in Newcastle, and the community needs a venue dedicated to innovation, education and events.
164 backers pledged £18,160 to help bring this project to life.
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The Silence of the Lambs' costars Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster met at the L.A. premiere of Shadowlands, starring Hopkins as British author C.S. Lewis. Is a Silence sequel in the works? Well, writer Thomas Harris is working on a novel, perhaps over fava beans and a nice Chianti.
Sisterly love: At a Tel Aviv news conference, LaToya Jackson suggested that brother Michael had been molesting children for years. "I'm not asking you to dislike Michael," she insisted. "I just think he needs help." Family members denied her charges.
That's not all, folks! Tom Arnold (from left), Tim Allen, Roseanne Arnold and Hulk Hogan gathered for an auction and dessert-eating contest—won by Tom's team, natch—at the Santa Ana, Calif., Planet Hollywood. About $150,000 was raised for the Arnolds' foundation to fight child abuse.
Aaaaaaah! Yes, that's Home Alone's Macaulay Culkin in long hair and leather! Mac, who stars in the new movie The Nutcracker, clowned around with Al Calienes at the Big Apple Circus in Manhattan.
Normally a fistful of dollars makes Clint Eastwood's day, but at the L.A. premiere of HBO's comedy Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, he was happy with a handful of popcorn. Eastwood's new drama, A Perfect World, is No. 2 at the box office.
Star Tracks
updated 12/20/1993 AT 01:00 AM EST
•originally published 12/20/1993 AT 01:00 AM EST


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Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins join the cast of "Disney Junior —Live on Stage!" at California AdventureKristen Howerton
This spring, Disney's California Adventure brings two of their newest shows to "Disney Junior —Live on Stage!" Joining the current story segments on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Never Land Pirates are two of Disney Juniors' top-rated shows: Sofia the First and "Doc McStuffins."
My kids have always loved seeing the "Disney Junior —Live" show when we visit California Adventure, and over spring break we had a chance to see the show with the new additions. My girls were thrilled, because Sofia and Doc are their favorite characters. In the live show, we visit the kingdom of Sofia the First as she's learning to perform a magic spell for her dad's royal ball. The show also features a song-filled visit with Doc McStuffins and her stuffed animal friends, learning how important it is to encourage each other. The new show continues the fun aspect of a live audience, and the four mini-episodes of playful Disney storytelling get kids singing and dancing along, with vibrant colors, fun live hosts, and surprises like bubbles and confetti. It really is a wonderland for the younger set.
"Disney Junior Live on Stage!" is scheduled to run several times a day at Disney California Adventure Park.


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- 1/2.3 inch 28.1mm2
- 16.2 megapixels
- 24.00mm - 1200.00mm (35mm eq.)
- 1/2.3 inch 28.1mm2
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- Succeeded by the Fujifilm S9900W
- Compare S9400W vs S9900W
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Cameras with longer battery life can take more photos before exhausting their batteries.
Special note: The measurement standard for battery life stipulates that if a camera has an internal flash, it must be used for 50% of photos taken. For this reason, comparisons of one camera with an internal flash to another without will not be comparable


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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Tony Stewart won't spend a lot of time worrying about whether the sensors that operate the electronic fuel injection system in his car will work Saturday night in the Coke Zero 400.
He can do just as much about it this week as he could last week, when a camshaft sensor malfunctioned and shut down his car during the race at Kentucky Speedway.
Stewart finished 32nd, 36 laps down. They were able to redo wiring to bypass the camshaft sensor for the rest of the race, said crew chief Steve Addington.
"It's a sensor that went bad," Stewart said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. "It's not something that was installed wrong. Anytime electronics are involved, sometimes they fail."
The sensors come from vendors as part of the wiring harness system teams buy to go along with the electronic fuel injection system, which was implemented by NASCAR this year.
There are no NASCAR requirements of the exact placement of the sensors, so teams and manufacturers do have some flexibility as far as where they're mounted.
"With all the electronics that are on these things, everybody is on edge," Addington said. "Everybody checks their stuff and it didn't show up."


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Al Franken's victory officially gives them a "super majority" to overcome any filibuster by the GOP.
But in Washington, politics numbers don't necessarily mean the same as votes.
Minnesotans finally have a second Senator to represent them in Washington -- 238 days after Election Day.
"I'm so excited to finally get to work for the people of Minnesota," Senator-Elect Al Franken said.
Click play for comments from conservative commentator Matt Lewis, following John Jessup's report.
Franken's victory makes him the Senate's first professional comedian, but the political saga of the last seven months has been no laughing matter.
Out of nearly 3 million people who voted, the final verdict came down to 312 votes, ending a bitter marathon court challenge.
"The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken, and I respect its decision and will abide by the results," former Sen. Norm Coleman said.
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty says it's time for Minnesotans to have proper representation in the Senate.
"They've addressed the issues that it's time for Minnesota to have two senators. It's past time," he said.
Franken's victory over Republican Norm Coleman also gives Democrats a 60 seat super majority -- the number needed to defeat a Republican filibuster -- a tool used to block legislation or debate.
With control of the Oval Office, the House and Senate, conservatives fear Democrats will be able to ram their agenda through Congress, virtually unstoppable.
But 60 in number doesn't necessarily mean Democrats have a solid lock on 60 votes.
The caucus is diverse and split on some issues from energy to health care.
Franken declared his first priority will be to Minnesota.
"The way I see it, I'm not going to Washington to be the sixtieth Democratic Senator, I'm going to Washington to be the second Senator from the state of Minnesota and that's how I'm going to do this job," Franken said.
Franken has taken some steps to make his transition a quick one, appointing a staff-in-waiting including a chief of staff, a state director and communications staffers.
Discussing the Impact of Franken Senate Victory
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Any insider news as to why Fumie and Miki were about a minute late for their two minute warm-up before their sp?
Any insider news as to why Fumie and Miki were about a minute late for their two minute warm-up before their sp?
Maybe they were waiting on Yu - Na to walk by and missed her.
I think they wanted to make sure that Yuna was already out before they came out. Don't want the Korean media to start accusing them of trying to hurt her or make it difficult for her to practice. I can't stand watching the Korean media when they talk about Yuna because it stinks of bias and accusation of other skaters trying to bring Yuna down. Even my mom thinks it has gone tooo far.
Something isn't right here. I smell sabotage.
I think Miki was in time, just Fumie was not. I started to count how many skaters I see on the ice, just getting confused, and thought I saw five, and then Eurosport took a commercial break just the moment Fumie came to the rink. For a moment I was afraid it was an injury retirement. Eurosport commentators didn't say anything about it, so I'm not sure what was it about.
I suppose it was just roses when the Japanese media went right after Yuna with their pathetic, shameless and baseless slandering. Anyone that saw the interview knows that Yuna never mentioned Japanese skaters nor Japan, it was SBS and Brian Orser that went after the Japanese skaters. Yuna had nothing to do with it. But what does the Japanese media do? They maliciously slander Yuna's reputation in the papers. Why Yuna? What's especially interesting was Japan's Hochi Daily who decided to make an entire headline that read "Japan-Bashing". An entire headline accusing Yuna of Japan bashing, seriously... what the heck. Talk about complete exaggeration. I can only imagine what the headline would've read had Yuna mentioned Japan in her interview - probably somewhere along the lines of "Yuna hates all Japanese people!"
It's really sad and pathetic when you see the literally hundreds of Anti-Yuna videos from Japanese anti-fans that has been inundating Youtube since this exaggerated report came out. Talk about just growing desperate. The Japanese media has done more harm to Yuna than the Korean media, so if you want to throw stones at anyone, you can direct them at Japan.
let's keep the fan wars from youtube out of this, okay.
Neither Miki or Fumie were on time for the warm up. They both came walking out quite a bit after everyone else was on. I don't know what happened but Fumie had a very confused look on her face when she came quickly walking out towards the ice.
I'm neither a fan of Mao or Yuna, if you couldn't tell I was joking. Being Korean myself, I will tell you that the Korean media is just as nasty to the japanese skaters as the others are. Honestly speaking I do think that Yuna implies that they were the japanese skaters that get in her way and that is only my opinion. I'm sure you are a fan of hers and don't want to hear anything bad about her but you have to be prepared when others talk bad about her becuase it will happen. Don't be offended because you don't like what you hear.
Last edited by OrangeLaces; 03-30-2009 at 07:03 AM.
oh dear.. I thought we were talking about Miki and Fumie... not Yuna..
Um, nobody's saying anything bad about Yu-Na; piano4112000 was just stating his opinion, which he very clearly said was just an opinion (as opposed to an accusation).
Anyways, to go back to the topic, I read somewhere that Miki and Fumie didn't hear the announcement for the warmup or something.
From Ice Skating International : Online
She said, "I was a little more nervous than usual today." She confirmed Miki Andos story about a misunderstanding on the timing of their warm-up. "I dont know. They just started. We were behind waiting, and I heard my name called and I thought, Oh, this is just the presenting. But they had already started."
Miki said so in interview.(↓sorry in japanese!)
even so, I think Japan Skating Federation lack consideration.:frown2:


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Report: Bob Hurley Following Bro to URI
March 20th, 2012| by Lost Lettermen
Dan Hurley will be the new coach at Rhode Island after guiding Wagner to 38 wins in two seasons at the school in the New York City borough of Staten Island, according to multiple reports.
His brother, Bobby, a college basketball legend from Duke who served under Dan, will follow his brother and be an assistant on the URI staff.
The less-famous Hurley, the son of Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary New Jersey high school coach Bob Hurley Sr., guided the Seahawks to a 25-6 mark in the 2010-11 season.
Zags Blog reported that Hurley's deal at Rhode Island is for six years and worth between $600,000 and $700,000 per year. The Rams fired coach Jim Baron after posting a 7-24 record this past season. [Bobby Hurley profile]


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Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel came from behind to finish first in Tuesday's primary race for state governor.
Handel, who was running behind two of her challengers, beat three other candidates after former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's endorsement on July 12.
Former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal received 25 percent of the vote. Former state Sen. Eric Johnson had 19 percent of the vote, and state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine garnered 18 percent of the vote.
"Well, I think if you look at the fact that I'm not a career politician, I'm also a next-generation leader, and I believe Georgia is ready to move forward in a bold way in this 21st century and that we are going to go forward. We're not going to go back," Handel said during the final hours of Tuesday's heated contest.
"These are tough times," Deal said Tuesday. "And tough times require leaders who have a background of experience that can make the hard decisions."
Handel will face Deal in a runoff in three weeks.
Along with her endorsement of Handel, Palin has one of the best track records for any Republican leader. Deal was endorsed by former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The winner of the GOP runoff will face former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes, who won his party's nomination for the governor's office on Tuesday.
New Palid Ad Shows 'Mama Grizzlies' on the RiseConservative Women Triumph in Primary Races
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