Canon USA has released a video explaining how to take care of your camera gear. In the video, hosted by Holly Groder of Canon's call center, Canon gives a series of recommendations for things to avoid, and things to get into the habit of doing, to keep your gear clean and fully functional.
If you mentally delete the word 'Canon' from every other sentence (and depending on which of our forums you frequent you may already be in the habit of doing this) this video contains plenty of sensible advice for caring for your gear - whatever the manufacturer. A note for those who can't get the hang of threading camera straps (Jeff Keller, I'm looking at you) - skip to 6 minutes 40 seconds - you won't regret it.
Canon Service & Support: How To Care For Your Camera
'If you mentally delete the word 'Canon' from every other sentence (and depending on which of our forums you frequent you may already be in the habit of doing this)'
This is a gross exaggeration. She only says the word Canon 4 times during the entire 7+ minute video. I realise it's over something trivial but aren't you supposed to be reporting without bias?
Exactly. I can see the badge. I can see the first line that says Canon released the video, But I didn't hear her say Canon every other sentence. Bit unfair to make something up like that isn't it?
Yes, that's exactly what I said before. Gross exaggeration, if you don't want to call it a lie. I honestly don't understand why this is necessary. Is there anything wrong when a camera maker spreads videos about how to clean equipment? Everything she said is also applicable to Nikon, sorry, I guess I should say Sony here, as well.
This video also illustrates how essential weather sealing can be if you live at, or travel to places with wet weather, high humidity and extreme temperatures. Thanks for the video Canon, now let's see your line of weather resistant DSLRs and lenses.
No i mean any dslr , mirrorless, look at this picture, here U can see the sensor assembly and there is a whole lot in front of the actual sensor http://mrc4.nl/meuk/groot/P1300563.JPG
probably because saying "never touch the infrared filter" (that is the 'piece of glass' in front of the sensor) would have not been readily understandable by everybody...
My guess is probably as good as yours, but I would have to say their average customer is intelligent, independent, wealthy in life experience and have an exquisite taste in technology.
The info about how to thread your camera strap is just plain WRONG!!! If you have ever used a rock/mountain climbing harness you know that you need to go through and then thread back (double back) the tail of the strap. That is the only way to fully secure the strap from sliding out. Here is a photo to illustrate the CORRECT way to securely thread any strap through a buckle!!! Hope it helps.
Nice, but has anyone's camera ever crashed to the ground because they failed to secure it like a climbing harness? Even the heaviest slrs don't weigh all that much (in spite of the claims of many these days).
Mine came loose, but a second camera strap on top held it long enough for me to grab it. I was shifting one camera to my side. Happened just last month in Iceland. Threaded just as the Canon video suggests. An old caver, I instinctively rethreaded all of my straps exactly as Orin B. has illustrated. Can't hurt.
By the way, the problem with the "standard" threading method is not about pulling on the strap, you can pull very hard and it won't slip. The problem is the buckle will slide with ease! Catch the buckle on something while holding the strap and off it will come.
I live in Japan and here it is essential to store camera equipment in an airtight box with a dessicant and fungicide. This is especially important in the summer and rainy season when there is high humidity.
I don't have to worry about the front element of the lens because I use a B+W protective filter. I also seldom replace lenses in the field. I've also leaned to never clean anything in the field. Better to put up with a little dust and clean it properly back at home or in the hotel room.
So instead you deal with cleaning the filter. No reason to put cheap glass in front of high quality good glass! Use a lens hood for protection instead!
FWIW: I'm not sure about the plastic bags thing because Panasonic suggests "...Do not leave in contact with rubber or plastic bags." noticed after I bought a Pana couple years ago.
BTW: I put my lenses in plastic bag for years, and they are seems ok so far. May be I should not.
Do you mean you store them in plastic bags ? It's the best way to keep dust away but it can make the lenses more prone to get fungus if they are not completely dry to start with or left in a place where high humidity is the norm. IMHO the plastic bag advice should only be used when getting the lens in from a cold environment to a hot or heated one. And this of course is only temporary. The equipment should not stay in the bag.
1. Many plastics, especially softened vinyls used in soft picnic coolers, outgas material that can redeposit on everything -- including all unsealed surfaces inside your lenses. Never use such plastic cases for long-term storage or when heat may accelerate the process.
2. The process the video recommends assumes that the air trapped in the bag has lower humidity than the ambient environment during the temperature change -- that's very often wrong. For example, entering an air-conditioned hotel room with your equipment sealed in a bag full of humid air from outside is not so good. It can still help in that it delays the temperature change a bit, but that's the real key: avoid hitting the dew point by any combination of reducing humidity and smoothing temperature changes.
Canon: I treated my G12 with extreme care and attention but it was YOUR OWN design that scratched the lens and ruined the camera. Clean up your own act first.
Some bad graphic design here in the vid, Why use the same v -shape for the good an bad things? Anyway, for beginners this is a nice video go get there gear in good shape.
Some good general tips here - considering how a lot of cameras belonging to casual photographers actually look, any kind of actual thinking about how you treat your gear willl help a lot.
I have seen camera bodies with a few thousand shutter actuations look like they have been in war zones for years,and even seen people shoving DSLRs with the external flash attached and no lens cap into handbags containing half-eaten sandwiches, sticky candy wrappers and shoes used on a sandy beach 5 minutes ago.
Some people simply don't care at all - but of course complain loudly if the camera for some reason does not work like it should due to their negilgence.
Yeah, a client said her pictures were not sharp. She was asking me about the settings & showed me her camera. I said ah... this should be a simple fix. I noticed the lens front element had a layer of grease on it! LOL
Like another member mentioned - do not use a cloth to clean the camera body and lens.
Most pros NEVER clean lenses with a reusable cloth anyway. Use a disposable lens tissue - you can buy boxes of Zeiss disposable cleaning tissues/wipes for very little money. That way you are not rubbing the same dirt you removed back onto the front lens element.
Not sure why Canon would show things like this in a corporate video unless it is a spoof or joke.
It's really aimed at amateurs/beginners. There's a lot of sound advice in here that first-time camera owners might not have been aware of. Pros do what works for them. (and I've seen plenty of them cleaning their lenses with anything that falls within arms' reach...)
"Comfort with equipment and realizing it isn't as delicate as all that is what makes them professionals"
You say because they don't care they are professionals? Maybe the don't care because they don't have to pay for their lenses and cameras. Everybody should be tought how to do it right and a dusty cloth just isn't.
I dislike the idea of using a thin lens tissue. If there is "dirt" on the lens, how would a paper thin tissue keep the dirt from being rubbed all over the lens? A micro-fiber cloth will however sort of absorb the dirt due to the lens pushing against the dirt - pushing the dirt into the cloth instead of on the surface (unless you press hard on the cloth, but the same is true of a lens tissue). If your argument is why would there be dirt, then I counter that the cloth would never get dirty in the first place (ie: filled with harmful stuff) if the lens never has dirt on it.
I'm a pro and I rub the front lens (L of course) with whatever I have to hand, tshirt, tissue, fleece, etc. I probably won't rub it with my jacket as that's a little coarse. But do you think I'm going to phaff around in my bag looking for the most gentle rag for a lens when I need to take a photo? Do me a favour. Missed photograph is a missed opportunity to sell the photograph.
And so what if the front lens gets scratched anyway, doesn't cost much to get it replaced, and it can be done when the lens is being serviced anyway. Stop being so precious.
Simple tips for beginners, nothing wrong there. It's also a commercial for some Canon stuff, nothing wrong there either.
And how many times have I read in DPR forums that an eraser can be used to clean lens contacts? Apparently the guys posting that suggestion are spreading misinformation, albeit innocently. Now I know to be more careful with lens contacts. Great!
Some useful reminders - particularly the one about keeping your gear in a sealed bag when moving between different temperatures and/or humidities, I always remember that one just after my lens has completely fogged up.
The whole lens caps thing will be lost on the 90% of owners who buy an SLR with a single megazoom lens.
BTW when using a lens cleaning solution, does anyone else get residual 'rainbow' smearing that then itself needs to be cleaned off?
As for lens cleaning solutions, after several tries, including a product offered by a major filter manufacturer, I have grown weary of using them. Can't shake the feeling that they indeed tend to create more problems than they solve (what you so aptly call 'rainbow' smearing certainly rings a bell).
Rarely end up with anything worse than a little dust, some raindrops, or the occasional fingerprint on lens surfaces anyway. And for that, given the quality of today's nano coatings, a clean (!) microfiber cloth and perhaps a little breath (or drop of tap water applied to the fabric) will do the trick for me most of the time. Lens brushes I find hard to keep 100 percent fat-free, and those which are not, will leave streaks on surfaces.
When dust starts to accumulate on my K-7/WR lens combo, I put Pentax's weather-sealing to the test and - dare I say it - simply rinse it with tap water. Then I carefully dry it with a microfiber cloth and have a squeaky-clean camera.
What cleaning solution do you use ? I don't use alcohol like mentioned in the video but I have been using 2 Filters Formula MC for years and it works great for me. If the micro fiber cloth is clean, it will never smear. I throw mine out on a regular basis and buy new ones. Once you put them in the washer, residue from the detergent and hard water can cause what you describe as rainbows. If it does that, use a lens pen after the liquid cleaning. It should come right off.
It always seemed like lens cleaning solutions always made my eyeglasses harder to clean (these days I just use dish washing soap once in a while), so I haven't even tried any for lenses. Dust blower and micro fiber cloth are all I've used so far, might reach for a drop of alcohol on the cloth if I get something smeared particularly bad on a lens... Obsessive cleaning probably does more harm than good anyway.
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