Taking care of your Cameras

[Mchilly]

Hi everyone, I just got a new digital camera it was given by some special ;). I'd like to know if how would you take good care of your digicam, coz I already have digicam before and it was damaged I don't know what happen! And I don't want that to happened again ever! coz I'm a photo freak...;)

[mattdm]

Well, treat it generally like you would any expensive electronics. But in particular, watch the lens -- not only for the obvious like scratches, but make sure nothing jams against it when the telephoto mechanism is expanding.

[mjsneddon]

I agree with the advice of the previous person posting. Taking care of lenses is certainly important - which leads to the following question.....Does anyone carry their lenses in their camera bag WITHOUT the lens cap attached? I certainly don't but find it curious that in all (or nearly all) of the camera bags shown in catalog advertisements and on-line ads show the lenses in the bag with the glass exposed to view. What's with that?

[SpecialK]

the camera bags shown in catalog advertisements and on-line ads show the lenses in the bag with the glass exposed to view. What's with that?

Marketing. It looks better and makes the lens easily recognizable.

[mjsneddon]

SpecialK: I am sure your assessment is exactly right. However, whenever I see a bag full of lenses sans caps, the thought occurs to me: If these people don't know how to properly care for lenses, do they even know how to make bag that will protect my stuff?

Oh well.

[SG Liu]

Store your camera and accessories in a dry cabinet. :) It can prevent white particles from disturbing your lens.

[bascom]

Don't drop it. Always use the wrist strap or neck strap.

[kopoloff]

here's a tip that comes from many years of experience. For underwater photography, try using a housing. It will preserve the camera's external finish

[LR Max]

I am hard on my equipment. Straight up, I'll admit it. Mud all over the place, dust, water, etc. But the modern DSLR is a fairly sturdy piece of equipment and so with regular care after beating the hell out of the camera, I have had no problems. Here is what I've done:

Lense hood: yeah, I don't think it does much but if that part of the camera gets hit then the lense hood shatters, saving the lense. I had a rock get kicked up from a tire and it took out the lense hood, saved my 18-200VR lense (not a cheap piece of equipment).

UV filter: same rock put a scratch on my $15 UV filter. Like the lense hood, thats its job. Take one for the team. Due to the UV filter and hood, after the initial shock of getting money shot in the face, I was able to remove the damaged parts and continue working.

Try to keep dirt and mud out of the zoom of the lense and command wheels. Buttons don't seem to be too affected. Afterwards wipe down with a wet cloth.

Go get a good camera bag. Example: my point n' shoot lives in its little Lowepro camera baggie. 3 years and the camera doesn't look too torn up. In contrast my photo editor just got a new point n' shoot and she carries it around in her purse. Even though its only ~4 months old it has more scratches, worn areas, etc than my camera even though mine goes to hell and back every other weekend. Same deal with DSLRs. Get a good bag to protect it. It makes a huge difference. Pad each piece of equipment seperately. I run Lowepro equipment but there are other, equally qualified products on the market. Just make sure it is padded. This right here will preserve your camera more than anything else.

ALWAYS have your DSLR neck strap on. Too many times the grips have gotten wet/muddy and the camera literally slipped out of my hands. Instead of falling to its doom the neck strap kept it teathered to me. And if you aren't wearing the camera, then put it back in its case. I've heard of too many cameras just falling for the stupidest reasons. If its in a good bag, then its a negligible inconvienence. Without a padded bag, well, that lense is probably not gonna like you. Drops and impacts are the biggest killers of cameras (or at least thats what I think).

I clean my CCD screen myself every few weeks. Invest in one of those $35 CCD cleaning kits. Saves money, its convienent, and can be done at your leisure. Also you can sell your cleaning services to others. The kit has already paid for itself for me, cleaning other peoples cameras. Makes a difference. You WILL have dust. Go ahead and prepare to deal with it.

Warranty: once my roommate broke the zoom lense on my point n' shoot. I bought the camera from best buy. I just took it to them with the "wtf!!??" look on my face and two weeks later the camera was fixed and good to go. Earlier this year the battery finally gave up the ghost. Same deal, took it to them and procured a new battery. If you take a lot of pictures, the DSLRs under ~1000 bucks have about a 4,000~6,000 shutter life (the shutter will click that many times before it dies). I take a lot of pictures and so when the shutter dies, I'll just pack the camera up and send it off for warranty work. Also I know the D70 units tend to have a few buttons break. So if I ever have a problem, I just ship it off to the warranty company and let them handle it.

Keep the lense cap on. Helps prolong the life of the filter.

If you are moving from point A to point B through adverse weather conditions, just throw the camera inside your coat. Cameras can take a little bit of water, but not too much. Afterwards I've used a hair dryer on low heat to dry out cameras and lenses. Works good.

After 6 months of going crazy with my Nikon, it still looks like it is in good condition and performs flawlessly. The lowepro bag is torn up a little, but thats its job. I don't think too many people are hard on equipment like I am. But if these techniques work for me, then it should be good for people do don't end up having mud thrown their cameras.

[zmikers]

If you take a lot of pictures, the DSLRs under ~1000 bucks have about a 4,000~6,000 shutter life (the shutter will click that many times before it dies).

Is this really true. I've only had the canon 400d xti for about 4 months and I'm at over 2,000 shots already. Are you trying to tell me that this camera won't last for more than a year. Can anyone confirm this because it doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Max, I'm not trying to disagree with you in any way, just trying to figure this out. Cheers!

[SpecialK]

Is this really true. I've only had the canon 400d xti for about 4 months and I'm at over 2,000 shots already. Are you trying to tell me that this camera won't last for more than a year. Can anyone confirm this because it doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Max, I'm not trying to disagree with you in any way, just trying to figure this out. Cheers!


No, it's more like 50,000+. The "best" ones are rated at about 100,000 clicks.

[zmikers]

No, it's more like 50,000+. The "best" ones are rated at about 100,000 clicks.

That sounds a bit more like it. I couldn't see having a dslr that the shutter is going to crap out on you in less than a year. Thanks for that SpecialK!:D

[LR Max]

Yeah. Whoops, forgot the extra zero. 40,000~60,000 shutter life. I apologize for the typo.

[zmikers]

Yeah. Whoops, forgot the extra zero. 40,000~60,000 shutter life. I apologize for the typo.

LOL, no worries mate, I was 99% sure I knew what you meant!:p