V1.02
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
Page 693
• Take a picture of an evenly lit surface
(like a wall or the
sky) at the lowest ISO value using the smallest available
aperture (e.g. f/22). Examine the resulting image carefully
on your computer at 100% size, looking for dark spots.
Some D300 users run the resulting image through
Photoshop’s
Auto Levels
command, which tremendously
exaggerates the dust pattern.
• Set the camera to Bulb
(or a 30 second exposure).
Remove the lens and trip the shutter so that the mirror
moves out of the way. Shine a light into the mirror box so
that you can see the surface of the filter that sits over the
sensor (tip: use an LED headlamp, like those sold at
camping stores). Significant dust can usually be seen using
this method, but most of the smaller stuff is beyond your
ability to see (to put size in perspective, several hundred
photosites would occupy the space on this - ). Even the
so-called “sensor scopes” won’t resolve the smallest dust
particles, though they are useful for checking for other
types of problems, such as streaking left behind after wet
cleaning.
If you use Capture NX, it is possible to use what Nikon calls a
“dust reference photo” to perform a software “dust removal.”
Here’s how it works:
1.
Before taking your photos for a session, make a dust
reference photo. Make sure the camera has a lens on
it that has a CPU (i.e. no manual focus or older non-
D-type autofocus lenses)
158
.
2.
Press the
MENU
button to see the menu system.
3.
Use the Direction pad to navigate to the SETUP menu
(yellow wrench icon) and the
>
key on the Direction
pad to enter the menu.
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While Nikon states this limitation, I and others have successfully managed to take
dust reference shots with older lenses.
