Tips, Tricks, and Tools

I have a question....

I was cleaning the outer lens on my camera and noticed that there are a few particles of dirt, dust. lint under the lens. I attempted several ideas to get at it the best I could w/o success. I tried to see if the outer lens unscrewed off of the body but was afraid of scratching or breaking the lens if I slipped using too much pressure. Then I attempted dissassembling the body casing. I managed to remove the back end but that only exposed the LCD screen and the rear of the circuitry. I did not want to attempt to go any further by unmounting the board and take the chance of ruining the camera. On the housing surrounding the lens there is a rubber ring that I suppose is used for a no slip grip or the like. I can take this off and there are a few places that look like I could get a nozzle into to use some compressed air... the canned type used to clean electronics and such.

My question is, will the use of the compressed air have any ill effects on the lens? I'm worried that there may be some type of product in the compressed air can that would create a film or haze on the lens making the issue worse. Thoughts? It's a Kodak Z650 and also about 10 years old. Doubt it's worth taking to a camera shop to have it done... assuming that it could be done.

Do you see the particles in your pictures? If not, leave it be as most particles on the outer lens will never be seen in the finished photo. As far as the compressed air, I would not use that since most of the cans now come with a bitterant added to discourage huffing. You don't notice it when just blowing out dust in your computer but you will definitely see a coating show up on your lens.

Thanks. I haven't seen any in the pics I've taken.

Quote from Kuntryboy816

Thanks. I haven't seen any in the pics I've taken.

And I wouldn't expect you would unless you can adjust your aperture to a very small setting of f/16 or even smaller. Most point/shoot cameras don't give you the ability to change aperture; if they do, it's normally not over a wide range.

Quote from quadna

And I wouldn't expect you would unless you can adjust your aperture to a very small setting of f/16 or even smaller. Most point/shoot cameras don't give you the ability to change aperture; if they do, it's normally not over a wide range.

My Kodak has a function that lets you manually adjust some of the camera functions. I really have no idea what they do and how to adjust them I haven't really played with it. That'll change the more I get into photography and I'll guess I'll have to get the instruction manual out.

Review from CNet:

http://reviews.cnet.com/digita…4505-6501_7-31675043.html

You'd expect Kodak to cut some corners with its budget-conscious superzoom, the EasyShare Z650, and you'd be right. Unlike the more expensive Kodak EasyShare Z612, which includes a 12X optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization, the EasyShare Z650 comes with a 10X optical, 38mm-to-380mm (35mm equivalent), f/2.8-to-f/3.7 lens without image stabilization. On the one hand, the fast maximum aperture of the EasyShare Z650's lens makes it useful for low-light shooting, but we expect to find image stabilization on a camera with such a long zoom lens.

One-handed shooting is definitely possible with the prominent, rubber-accented right-hand grip, though we found that our pinkie fingers were left dangling uncomfortably. A rubber ring on the lens barrel provides a perfect left-hand grip, which should help when shooting at longer focal lengths. Dedicated buttons for flash, macro/landscape mode, and drive mode sit atop the grip, along with the shutter button and on/off switch.
All other controls, including the mode dial, are on the camera's back. A small five-way joystick in the middle of the mode dial lets you navigate and select from the easy to navigate menu system. Depending on the mode you choose, the joystick also lets you change camera settings on the LCD, including shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, and ISO. Strangely, program, aperture- and shutter-priority, and manual modes all occupy one spot on the mode dial and can be selected using the LCD in the same manner as the aforementioned settings.
Metering options include multipattern, center weighted, and spot, and they can be tweaked with as much as plus or minus 2EV exposure compensation. Focus can be set to multizone, center-spot, or full auto, but manual focus is not available. As with most of the cameras in Kodak's Z series, sensitivity ranges from ISO 80 to ISO 400, with a boost mode that gives you ISO 800 at a reduced resolution of 1.7 megapixels.

That's pretty handy. Is it flexible enough that you could leave it in place when folding up the tripod for storage?