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Care and Maintenance of your RED

sbroock

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During the test shoots in Central Park, we noticed tiny grey blurry dots in several shots -- signs that there was dust on the sensor. To be more accurate, dust on the glass plate that covers the RED sensor.

The RED is such a marvel of 4K goodness, that the more mundane aspects of care and maintenace haven't been really discussed. This is likely something you are going to have to deal with soon after you get your camera.

Here, the solution once again can be attributed to my friends at Off Hollywood.

I dropped by their office and we tested out two extremely valuable pieces of equipment:

The Visibledust LED Magnifying Loupe
http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=600

The Visibledust Arctic Butterfly Sensor Cleaner (Model 724 I believe)
http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=701

[ED: On the above linked product page there is a video demonstration button that will show you the entire process]

First off, the Loupe is just great. It works extremely well with the RED, fully lighting the barrel. The resulting magnification and visibility of the glass covering the sensor is exceptional. Plain as could be, I could easily see the offending culprits. Stupid dust.

The Arctic Butterfly is a dry approach to dust removal. A battery powered motor spins the brush head at a high speed, flattening it out and creating an electrostatic charge (also flinging off debris). After a couple of on and off spins, you gently pass it accross the sensor covering glass.

After two passes, we pulled out the Loupe to examine the result -- dust was gone. And I mean GONE. The electrostatic charge picks up the dust like a magnet.

I admit this process made me nervous at first, but as this is going to become a routine matter, I feel comfortable that it will serve well in the field.

I'd love it if other owners (and soon to be owners -- hello 50-100) could add to this thread with their tips and techniques.

-Scott
 
Scott,

Great tip. Sounds like this will be a good solution.

Steve
 
I have the VisibleDust led loup...it is pretty cool. I use it to clean my Canon DSLRs and it is indispensable, a wonderful tool.

Great tips.

Thanks, Greg
 
The loupe is one of those things that makes you say..."wow, why didnt I think of that." I spent years trying to find enough light to view my contact sheets, this would have made my day.
 
Brilliant! I wonder what swab size we should use..?

The Red sensor is very close to most of the Nikon and Canon DSLR camera models (which are 1.5x or 1.6x crop factor relative to 35mm still "full frame" cameras, ignoring the few full-frame DSLRs). So a brush that works on a Nikon D200 or a Canon 20D, etc. should work just as well on a Red, or maybe better, since from what I have seen there is more free space around the Red sensor for maneuvering the brush around.
 
I have one of this cleaners, working great for my DSLRs, just one point: NEVER ever touch the front of the butterfly with your hands, because then you can throw it away. I think, they have now a liquid for cleaning, didn't try it out yet.
 
Thanks for the tips on keeping a clean sensor thus a clean gate! Any one know of a wet option for the glass or a do or don't when cleaning?

thanks
 
I spoke with Ted Schilowitz this week at InterBEE Japan about this exact issue.

He carried two items with him to clean the sensor:

- Delkin SensorScope to see if it needs cleaning
- Eclipse (old version, NOT E2) and PecPad/SensorSwipe combination to clean the OPLF sensor filter

For a lot more info on how the SensorSwipe/PecPad thing works, read this page:

http://www.copperhillimages.com/index.php?pr=Tutorials4

HTH

Paul
 
treatment of batteries

treatment of batteries

how to treat your batteries:

Q:i have a few spare red batteries i won't need for another few months. should i cycle them now a few times to test them or just store them until i need them. i don't believe there should be memory issues but is it bad to de-virginize new batteries and then let them sit around waiting until i really need them?

A:for Li-Ion Batteries:

Store the battery in a cool place at about a 40% state-of-charge. Some reserve charge is needed to keep the battery and its protection circuit operational during prolonged storage. Avoid keeping the battery at full charge and high temperature. To prevent failure, never store the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use.


this is from another thread, but it belongs to this one in my opinion
 
What I don't understand is that we've all wanted a Film like HD camera....now we have one, but we think it's crazy to have to maintain it like a film camera? You still have to check the gate after every setup, and AD's will still be able to call that out.

Getting dust on the sensor isn't an world ending event. It's the same as getting a hair in the gate, or a film chip as well.

Keep the inside of your camera clean, and it should be fine. You can find artifacts on your sensors glass by pointing the camera at something evenly white, and bright. Slowly stop down and see if you notice anything. If you do, clean it.

Shoot well.
 
Sensor cleaning

Sensor cleaning

more good info on sensor (OLPF) cleaning here

Question for Red.
Is Eclipse 2 cleaning fluid okay for Red cleaning?

Dave
 
thanks
 
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