Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/04/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Wonderful story, wonderful images and a reminder that the sensor is not as delicate as some would have you believe, BUT it is as expensive to replace as they threaten, so wipe with care ;-) Cheers Alastair > Everyone who goes to Namibia goes to Sossusvlei. It has some of the > largest and most impressive sand dunes anywhere in the world. I > normally avoid places like this like the plague, but we went along > anyway. > > The dunes were really magnificent: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Africa+2009/Namibia/img368a.jpg.html > > Anything that dies just petrifies; it doesn't rot. There is > insufficient moisture 99% of the time for fungal growth or for the > sorts of insects that break down flesh or wood in other environments: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Africa+2009/Namibia/img646a.jpg.html > > The wind blows the sand into amazing shapes: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Africa+2009/Namibia/img731a.jpg.html > > and the sky reciprocates with amazing cloudscapes: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Africa+2009/Namibia/img952a.jpg.html > > But if you think we were really alone in a wilderness: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Africa+2009/Namibia/img641a.jpg.html > we were not. To save the dunes, you're only allowed to clim (= wreck, > really) one dune. It was fairly uninteresting, being in a majestic > place before dawn with several hundred other yabbering foreigners > admiring the "majesty" of it all. I could have stayed in Cape Town > and felt that crowded. > > The sand here was very fine. I took my M8 out once and afterwards the > sensor looked like it was ice cream with sprinkles on it. I hadn't > changed the lens. The Arctic Butterfly does not do that great a job of > removing fine particles of silica; they just don't charge up that > well. I carefully cleaned the sensor - somehow I managed to remove > the vast majority of the very fine sand without scratching the sensor. > I cleaned the sensor frequently and with less overall concern after > that. > > Comments etc welcome as always. > > More soon, > > Marty > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >