What's your camera phobia?

manso · Jul 19, 2020

Do you have a fear when dealing with cameras, maybe about dropping your camera or touching its sensor by mistake? For me, I panic every time I deal with tripod mount! I never know when enough tightening is enough! I fear of pulling the mount off or penetrating the camera. I also fear of damaging the thread. And because of this I tend to avoid mounting my cameras as much as possible!

rochester21 · Jul 19, 2020

Dunno about others, but i suffer from price-o-phobia. Whenever i see store prices i experience a mild fainting sensation and i can feel my heart racing.

I am happy to report that i haven't paid MSRP price for any camera since 2009 and now i feel better than ever. I am a survivor!

Starflash127 · Jul 19, 2020

Internally on interchangeable lenses. On sensor in fixed lens cameras.

FRGorga · Jul 19, 2020

Hmmm... Cameras are just tools. Use them and if they break fix them or replace them.

As for your specific phobia, in fifty years of photography, I have never damaged a tripod mount nor have I heard of anyone else doing so.

Additionally, there is a simple solution to your "problem" ... get a tripod head with a quick release clamp, attach the quick release plate to your camera, a one time operation, and be done with it. I reccomend Arca Swiss compatible systems.

Once you've experienced the convenience of a quick release system, you'll never go back.

Regards,

Janoch · Jul 19, 2020

manso said:
Do you have a fear when dealing with cameras, maybe about dropping your camera or touching its sensor by mistake?

Nah... dropped it a couple of times. Once on concrete (broke the shade) and once in mud...

Sensors can be cleaned, so no. No phobies here :-D

manso said:
For me, I panic every time I deal with tripod mount!

Get yourself a dedicated L-bracket instead.

digitallollygag · Jul 19, 2020

My fear is forgetting to put the lens cap back on when storing the camera in the camera bag and having something like a camera strap buckle scratch the front lens element. (I don’t use lens filters, only lens hoods).

mo_shaw · Jul 19, 2020

My fear is that I become so concerned with preserving the condition of cameras such that I reach a point of developing a phobia of using them.

They are tools and tools are meant to be used.

jrtrent · Jul 19, 2020

Starflash127 said:
Internally on interchangeable lenses. On sensor in fixed lens cameras.

Dust is my biggest fear, but I've been fortunate enough not to have experienced dust internally in a lens or on the sensor of a fixed-lens camera. I did throw a Sigma SD14 and 30mm f/1.4 lens into the dumpster when it continued to plague me with dust after multiple trips to the importer for cleanings. People in the Sigma forum were of the opinion that it was debris being shed by the shutter rather than dust, but it still resulted in ruined pictures. I did buy software to clone out those spots, but hated having to do it; I felt much better after the camera was gone.

I've never had dust issues with an Olympus DSLR or with a Samsung DSLR, despite the latter's lack of a sensor-cleaning vibration feature (then again, I've never had the kit zoom off the camera since I bought it 13 years ago).

lost alaskan · Jul 19, 2020

Dust. Changing lenses is a fire drill for me. It's planned and executed quickly. I learned how to clean the sensor so it's not such a huge deal for me but I really am careful. On the other hand I am too lazy to put lens caps on over and over. I never use them and I have scratched lenses but that's just the way it goes. A little scratch here and there doesn't affect them all that much. I use and abuse things.

richiebee · Jul 19, 2020

Getting asked to do an "event" gig, turning up, and it being a wedding.

mujana · Jul 19, 2020

image stabilization system in my Sony A7RIV when I put my camera bag with photo stuff inside my bike panniers (either Ortlieb Backroller or Ortlieb Office bag).

Doug Haag · Jul 19, 2020

manso said:
Do you have a fear when dealing with cameras, maybe about dropping your camera or touching its sensor by mistake? For me, I panic every time I deal with tripod mount! I never know when enough tightening is enough! I fear of pulling the mount off or penetrating the camera. I also fear of damaging the thread. And because of this I tend to avoid mounting my cameras as much as possible!

My phobia is about not trusting that the camera's "helpful" functions (aperture or shutter priority, auto-focus, auto-iso) actually "know" what the conditions of the scene are really like or what I want the image to look like. So they may get it WRONG. As a result of this fear, I take care to mentally and manually "manage" these aspects of the camera's operation as much as I am able.

Howard V · Jul 19, 2020

I pretty much ruined two compacts in the early 2000s with drops onto concrete. Since then I always use wrist straps on them, and my bridge cameras go on their neck straps. No drops in a decade. It’s not a phobia. Just caution. The slippery iPhone is another matter. Have dropped it lately. Luckily it has a really good protective case with thick edges. It’s the clumsiest thing I have ever taken photos with, by far.

Autonerd · Jul 19, 2020

Dust on the back of the lens. When I change lenses, pulling the cap off one and removing the other, I always have a little panic attack. What should I do first -- get the one lens on the camera or cover the other one? (I'm usually shooting film so sensor dirt isn't usually a problem.) I've been rushing through lens changes for 30 years, even though I've never had an issue.

Inukim · Jul 19, 2020

rochester21 said:
Dunno about others, but i suffer from price-o-phobia. Whenever i see store prices i experience a mild fainting sensation and i can feel my heart racing.

Same here except I start to sweat profusely before the fainting sensation. I get the same feeling when being dragged into the jewelry store.

rurikw · Jul 19, 2020

Nice to see I'm not the only neurotic camera owner. If I don't find my stuff where I expect it to be, I start sweating, my vision blurs and my pulse goes through the roof. So far always found it somewhere...

KCook · Jul 19, 2020

Take your pick

Dead battery
Forgot the memory card

Kelly

Barry Twycross · Jul 19, 2020

Papa48 said:
I pretty much ruined two compacts in the early 2000s with drops onto concrete. Since then I always use wrist straps on them, and my bridge cameras go on their neck straps. No drops in a decade. It’s not a phobia. Just caution. The slippery iPhone is another matter. Have dropped it lately. Luckily it has a really good protective case with thick edges. It’s the clumsiest thing I have ever taken photos with, by far.

Me as well, it's not a phobia, but I don't go without a wrist strap. If I didn't have a wrist strap, my GX850 and 100-300 would be at the bottom of the North Atlantic, and I'd be very annoyed.

When I was using the iPhone regularly as it did better wide angle than my compact, I got a wrist strap for that, or I didn't want to dangle it over the side of a boat to get the shot.

KCK14 · Jul 19, 2020

Not really a phobia, but I can't bring myself to trust the Weather Sealed spec. Have an Lens that is supposed to be sealed and an Oly EM-1 I bought specifically for an Alaskan Cruise and still kept it sheltered.

Dhcofc · Jul 19, 2020

I insure my camera with USAA insurance, under $50 per year for $2500 worth of camera replacement for damage or theft. This eases my mind and let’s me use it however and wherever I want. If it sits in the front seat of my car I don’t care. This has been quite freeing for me.

What's your camera phobia?

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