cigarette smoke and cameras

So, I loaned my 5dII to a friend for a couple of days, and when I got it back, it smells like a Marlboro ad. I'm not complaining about my friend (I know he smokes, I just hadn't thought about it making my gear smell terrible) but I did wonder if there are any real concerns as far as crap getting on my lens/sensor/what have you from casual use.

Sure, I wouldn't want the camera to live with him for a month, but I figure a day or two in his house isn't going to hurt anything. Sound reasonable? Next time he borrows it should I stick it in a ziploc baggie? Is this all paranoia?

your experiences appreciated...

--
---
http://www.bradfarwell.com

The stinky smell would seriously pee me off. Simple solution: Don't lend it to your friend again.

--
André Lombaard

cruel to be kind

AndreRSA said:

The stinky smell would seriously pee me off. Simple solution: Don't lend it to your friend again.

--
André Lombaard

Click to expand...

SERIOUS...I used to smoke heavily until 18 months ago and i am sure it can and does get onto the camera sensor eventually leaving a dull film that needs wet cleaning to remove.

After all tobacco smoke is very fine and oily and can penetrate even fine gap tolerances.

Since i stopped exposing my camera to smoke i have not needed to clean the sensor?

The odor is one thing, but film on the sensor is a minor concern IMO. When I lived in China, the air pollution was roughly equivalent to smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, certainly not nice for one's health, but no issues with cameras. Consider the many photogs that routinely shoot in similar conditions, at fire scenes, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Best regards,
Doug
--
http://pbase.com/dougj

bfarwell said:

So, I loaned my 5dII to a friend for a couple of days, and when I got it back, it smells like a Marlboro ad. I'm not complaining about my friend (I know he smokes, I just hadn't thought about it making my gear smell terrible) but I did wonder if there are any real concerns as far as crap getting on my lens/sensor/what have you from casual use.

Sure, I wouldn't want the camera to live with him for a month, but I figure a day or two in his house isn't going to hurt anything. Sound reasonable? Next time he borrows it should I stick it in a ziploc baggie? Is this all paranoia?

your experiences appreciated...

Click to expand...

Before 20 or 30 years ago almost every photographer that worked indoors shot in a constant smoke filled environment. I recall when I was working in such places routinely halfing the flash guide number (ie. exposing an extra stop) or so just to compensate for the smoke. Even then, the background in large halls was never quite black, just a dirty dark grey. Over a year or two constant use in that sort of place and you would get a film building up on the outside of the camera - usually the lens and eyepiece were routinely cleaned anyway - but I never saw any problems inside a camera.

Glad that smoking indoors is banned in most public places now. I always considered it a disgusting habit of disgusting people - even if they were paying my wages, which stunk of tobacco smoke too!
--
Its RKM