Giottos Rocket

Benjamin Franklin wrote to one of his friends that "our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

True enough, but he forgot something: dust. Of course, there wasn't any photography in 1789, so we can probably forgive Ben for his oversight, since dust wasn't quite such a problem then. And he did give us a lot of useful stuff, like fire departments, libraries, printing franchises, and some principles of electricity. Where would we be without all of that?

So back to where we were. Dust is everywhere: on your lens, negatives, slides, sensor, grinding your hard drive to bits, freaking out your memory cards—is that enough melodrama?

You need to be able to deal with dust. A lot of different ideas have come and gone over the years, but one that has stuck around is the blower. Point it at the offending dust, squeeze the bulb, and it sends a burst of air. It's a simple idea, but there are blowers and then there are blowers.

You can buy a blower for $5, small enough to fit in a pocket, and then buy another one shortly after that because the one you bought doesn't put out any air to speak of. You can also spend a little more and get one with a brush on the end, so that you'll have either little hairs all over or spend more time cleaning up the junk that the open brush picks up. And if you avoid all of that, you can buy another one shortly thereafter because the thing didn't hold up. A blower with cracks in it won't work.

Or you can spend $12 on the Giottos Rocket. One of the premises of this series is that it's worth while to spend a little more if the product works better in the long run. This is one of those times; here is a well-designed blower. It's well past time that someone put some thought into one.

I haven't had the Rocket for too long, but its functional aspects are well ahead of those cheap blowers. It's the proper size for most people's hands. It stands on a flat surface—no more rollaways! You can even carry it around your neck—there are strap holes on each of the "fins." With the tip out of the way, you don't have to worry about it getting some sort of crud on it, or getting it caught somewhere. It also seems to be designed robustly enough to hold up for a very long time. And with that good-sized bulb, it puts out enough air to shake the dust loose. Highly recommended—you may even see me at the store getting another one!

23 November 2008
photo: Tim Vermande