Dust storm wrecked 12 rolls at White Sands last month

I shot 12 rolls of Portra at White Sands and the wind drove fine gypsum dust into every single camera I had, my Pentax K1000 and even the old Yashica Mat. Half the frames look like a fog filter got glued to the lens. Anyone else deal with gritty sand or dust ruining gear on location, and what's your fix for cleaning shutters without a full CLA?

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emma_dixon7021d ago

Did you see that article in Shutterbug a few months back about the Dust Bowl era photographers? They had the same problem but with way worse dirt, and their fix was basically a bellows brush and a prayer. For the shutter, the best I've found without a full CLA is to take the lens off and use a rocket blower with the shutter set to bulb, then hit it with a dry q-tip very gently. But honestly, that gypsum is like powder so it gets into the grease on the shutter blades. A trick I read from a repair guy online is to put a tiny drop of lighter fluid on a q-tip and just barely touch the blade edges, let it evaporate, that breaks up the grit without leaving residue. The film side is the scary part though, so I'd check the pressure plate and the film rails with a flashlight before you load another roll. Half your shots with fog is probably the haze on the lens element itself, which you can clean with a microfiber and some breath, but the inside of the camera body might need a few blasts to get all the dust out. That place is brutal for gear, I heard someone there lost a whole digital sensor to the stuff.Did you catch that recent YouTube video from that camera repair guy in New Mexico? He talked about gypsum dust being worse than regular sand because it's so fine it gets into places you don't even think about. He said the fix is to put the camera in a ziplock bag with some silica gel packets for a week before you even try to clean it, because the dust absorbs moisture and clumps up into this paste that scratches things. For the shutter, I had good luck using a clean makeup brush (the soft kind, not a q-tip) with the camera on bulb mode and just sweeping the blades real gentle. You gotta be careful not to bend anything, but it gets the grit out without having to send it off. The foggy frames are probably from the mirror or the back of the lens, not the shutter, so clean that first with a lens pen and see if that clears up. Also, keep the camera in a plastic bag between shots next time, that's the only real way to keep that powder out.