It seems obvious that the best plan of action for me right now, vis-à-vis Chinon and its enormous hilltop château, would be to go back over there and take some "after" photos to compare to my "before" photos. Speaking of the latter, here's one from October 2005:
Click or tap on the image a couple of times to see it at a larger size.
The panorama above is a stitched-together composite of two separate photos that I took on 27 October 2005, when friends were visiting from California and we were out touring around the region. I was using a big Canon Powershot Pro90 IS camera that I bought in the year 2000. It's long gone now. I donated it to Emmaüs, which is a sort of Good Will charity organization here in France.
Speaking of cameras, I have now successfully dis- and re-assembled two of my Panasonic Lumix cameras this week. The goal was to clean the inside of the lens and the little glass "screen" of the camera sensor, which captures images transmitted through the lens.
The issue I wanted to resolve, and did resolve, was dust or lint or whatever that had accumulated on the back end of the lens or on the sensor screen. It needed to be removed, because it showed up in my photos as smudges or blotches that I had either to live with or to erase using photo editing software.
To open up the cameras and get access to the image sensor and lens, I had to buy a special screwdriver. The screws — six to ten of them depending on camera model, Lumix ZS1 or ZS8 — are really tiny. The dish in the photo above measures 3 x 2 inches (75 x 50 mm). Here's a link to a Youtube video showing how to do the job.
Above is a photo showing a smudge on an image that dust inside the camera was causing. It's right above the Cape Lookout lighthouse (N.C.) in this long zoom shot. By the way, I now have two Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 cameras as well as the older ZS1. I bought the first ZS8 in 2012, and the second (used) two months ago when I was in North Carolina. I think I now have cameras that will serve my purposes for the rest of my life!
Above is a photo showing a smudge on an image that dust inside the camera was causing. It's right above the Cape Lookout lighthouse (N.C.) in this long zoom shot. By the way, I now have two Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 cameras as well as the older ZS1. I bought the first ZS8 in 2012, and the second (used) two months ago when I was in North Carolina. I think I now have cameras that will serve my purposes for the rest of my life!
Wow! Congrats on cleaning the inside of your cameras. I think of myself as a bricoleur, but I don't think I would be bold enough to try the same thing!
ReplyDeleteDo the photos from your camera ever show smudges? Usually you don't see them unless there is a big patch of blue or even gray sky in the photo. I wonder if the smudging is particular to the ZS camera models.
DeleteNot that I have noticed, and I don't use my camera as much as you do yours.
DeleteI just googled old postcards of the ruins of the chateau at Chinon and couldn't find any as good as your photos; yours are a treasure and I can't wait to see your comparaisons.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that these photos are more than 12 years old, innit? I was using the old, heavy Canon camera back then, as well as a smaller Kodak model.
DeleteVery interesting that you can take a camera apart like that. Mine has a mark on the lens, which I now think may be inside the lens. I am going to have a look.......or maybe it is just time for a new one.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of camera is it? Panasonic?
DeleteOh, and as I said, I just bought another "new used" camera. Problem is, the "new new" cameras use a CMOS sensor, which doesn't produce images as sharp and clear as do cameras based on the older CCD sensor in the, for example, Panasonic ZS cameras. So buying a new camera is not always the best solution.
DeleteThat's amazing, that you were able to take apart the camera and clean it. It would never have occurred to me to be able to do that. And... there is a YouTube video out there for everything!
ReplyDeleteI hope yesterday's birthday meal was lovely!
Judy
Yesterday's birthday dinner was perfect. We bought half a kilo of filet de boeuf chez le boucher and it was tender and delicious (45 euros a kilo!). Cream, armagnac, cracked pepper... and french fries of course. Avec escargots en entrée.
DeleteThe chateau is huge...a compound really. I had no idea from yesterday's pictures how big it is.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on cleaning your camera. Not sure I'd be clever enough to do that.
I watched and re-watched the YouTube videos about cleaning the camera lens and capteur, ordered the special screwdriver months ago, and finally decided to give it a go last weekend. I immediately dropped and lost a tiny screw, and W. and I searched for it on hands and knees for 30 40 minutes before we miraculously found it. Tasha thought all that was a great game. And then all the rest went fairly smoothly. The second camera was easier to open up and clean.
DeleteVery brave to open up your camera to clean it! I try to have mine (DSLR) done once a year or so, and it's worth it, but not cheap. I don't think stain sensors are particular to any make/model, mine is a Pentax btw.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't know how to begin looking for a camera shop around here to have the camera cleaned professionally. Do you send yours out? Maybe you live in or near a city.
DeleteYour'e brave! Congrats on a good job.
ReplyDeleteHi chrissoup, see my reply to Diogenes above.
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