The Lumix Sucks (dust, that is)

Yes, that's right - it turns out that the Lumix, during lens retraction, sometimes sucks dust into the camera and onto the sensor. I knew about this going in so was not completely surprised to see a dust spot turn up, starting with last week's moon shot, but was disappointed that it happened so soon (three months, maybe?) It may have been there earlier but that was when I noticed it for the first time.

The good news is that you can find the cure to anything on the Internet. I was a bit skeptical about this, but enough people said it worked for them that I was willing to give it a go. Luckily, I just happened to have one small plastic water bottle on the premises (I rarely-to-never buy bottled water).

It was pretty easy and involved:
1. Cutting the ends off the bottle.
2. Taping the business end of the bottle back on after realizing the bottle would not fit around my particular vacuum hose, but the funnel-shape would fit perfectly inside the hose (the story of my life: two steps forward, one step back all day long)
3. Taping the bottle onto the vacuum hose for secure and tight fit.
4. Inserting lens barrel into the big end of the bottle (perfect fit!)
5. Turning on the vacuum (lowest setting), while simultaneously
6. Turning the camera on and off to make the lens extend and protract repeatedly, maybe five times in all.

And - ta da! - it worked! The dust is gone and that bottle is now safely stored in my tool kit because I'm pretty sure I will need again.