Caring for your Camera

This is going to be a slightly different Tips and Tricks from my normal ones. We will not really be dealing with capturing an image, storing an image, or even printing an image. In fact, we will not be discussing images this month. However, what we will be discussing plays a large role in not only the quality of the images that you capture, but how long your camera will be able to reliably take pictures. Lets spend a little time discussing how to take care of your camera and all the associated gear.

What has prompted this installment is the time of year...beach season. Time to get the family together and spend lazy days on the beach feeling the sand beneath your toes, and smelling the salt air. Of course, you will have your trusty camera with you so you can remember what little Joey looked like when he went in the water for the first time, or what Aunt Susie looked like buried in the sand. Or, maybe you are like me and just want to spend some quiet time on the beach with your camera looking for that next great shot. Whatever your reason for having your camera, the end result will always be the same...potentially massive wear and tear on your camera.

I've used the beach as an example, mainly because it is one of the worst places for a camera. In that environment, the camera not only gets fine sand and salt in all the moving parts, the air itself is very corrosive to the metal parts, and the circuit boards within the camera. The humidity is also a cause for concern when moving from the air conditioned inside to outside. What we are getting ready to discuss applies not only to the beach but to any outside environment where your camera might spend time.

In the Field

Sand and dust are major concerns with cameras especially those with a lot of moving parts (ie: zoom lens). The grit will get into those gears and other tight areas, and wear away the mechanicals of your pricey camera. You have heard me talk about shooting close to a gravel road before and having to use my el cheapo shower cap between shots to minimize the effects of the the dust. Same goes with my trips to the beach. Any time I have the camera set up on a tripod where it might fall victim to airborne grit, I will cover it with a shower cap to keep the grit away. I will uncover it long enough to shoot and then back in the cap it goes. This technique does wonders to keep the camera as clean as possible.

Another concern that can be addressed by the shower cap is rain. There are times that you will find it necessary to shoot with a light rain coming down, possibly the mist from a waterfall, or maybe a passing shower is blowing over. This is another good time to use the shower cap to keep the camera dry. Water will get into very tight spaces that you can't see, and it will rust metal parts over time, as well as wreak havoc on the electronics inside. Unless, you have an environmentally sealed camera body, you need to do everything that you can to minimize the exposure to water.

What about the most important part of any camera...the lens? What can we do to protect that? There are several different schools of thought on lens protection. I will cover what I do, and then will share the other most popular idea. What I have found that works the best is to keep the lens cap on whenever not shooting. This will protect the glass from dust, branches, and the errant fingerprint. If I am moving around in the woods with branches that the lens might come in contact with, I will also fit my lens hood in addition to the lens cap. The lens hood is designed to reduce lens flare, but the petals provide a shield of sorts to the lens. With both of these pieces used, your lens is very well protected, and easy to uncover when it is time to shoot.

The other method is the use of a UV filter, and sometime a skylight filter. Obviously, this will only work for those of you that have a threaded lens housing. The idea is quite simple, fit a cheap filter (good quality ones are about $25-$35) in front of your expensive lens. If it gets scratched, toss it and get a new one. In theory, this works just fine, but I have some problems with it. The biggest problem, is you are adding another piece of glass in front of the lens that really has no effect on the image quality with the exception of possibly adding lens flare. Also, since I use other filters often in my shooting, I would end up stacking more filters than I needed and thereby reducing my ability to shoot wide angle shots without vignetting. The last concern that I have read about using the UV filter for protection is, if you happened upon a hard enough object that could break the UV filter, the broken glass would then scratch the lens itself. The lens cap would not be as easy to break, so I see it as the better option.

The last major concern while in the field is moving into a humid environment after the camera has been in a dry cool climate, such as leaving your hotel room for an early morning on the summer beach. You will quickly notice that your camera will fog up, and condensation will form. This is very bad for a number of reasons. First off, the lens will fog which will make getting a sharp image nearly impossible (although I have used this effect accidentally to get pretty good results). The other, more detrimental effect is that all the electronics inside will start to get wet and corrosion will eventually start, leading to premature failure.

There is a simple way to deal with this as long as you plan ahead. Keep your camera stored in a plastic bag with the majority of the air removed from inside the plastic bag. The idea is when the camera is moved from one environment to the other, the condensation will form on the bag, and not the camera. The bag will keep the moisture out of the inner working as well. Once the camera achieves an equal temperature to the outside, you just remove the bag and get to shooting. If you didn't plan ahead, and the condensation is limited to just the lens, you can take your microfiber lens cloth and wipe the lens clean. You will have to do this several times until the temperatures equal out, but it will work in a pinch.

Once you are done with your trek

OK, you have followed all the pointers from above while out in the field so you have nothing to worry about....right?...wrong. Especially if you have been shooting at the beach, you still have several things that you should be doing. Remember, most of those things I have discussed are to protect your camera when it is not actually taking a picture. Hopefully, you will have gotten lots of great pictures so you can remember your time there, but that means that the camera was exposed, at least for a little while. No problem, by minimizing the exposure to the elements, you have reduced the chance that the contaminants have reached the inside of the camera. However, the outside still has the sand, salt, and other grit that is just waiting to find its way into the zoom lens, flash housing, battery compartment, and numerous other nooks and crannies.

The first step when getting back from your outside trek to the beach is to get a clean lint free washcloth, and a lint free towel. You will wet the washcloth with room temperature water and ring it out, leaving only a heavy dampness. Go to the most exposed and vital areas first, such as the zoom lens. You will want to extend that lens as far as you can. Wipe the wet cloth over all the surfaces, but don't force anything. After you have cleaned the zoom housing, use your dry towel to dry the area completely. Repeat this procedure for the rest of the camera going to any moving parts first, such as the pop up flash. Dry as you go to keep the contaminants from drying back to the surfaces. When you are done, the entire exterior of the camera should have been covered as well as the battery/memory card doors, inside and out.

The next step is the lens. Remove the lens cap, and use a puff brush to remove any loose contaminants and then use a microfiber lens cloth to wipe any salt mist residue from the lens. Only use a specially designed lens cloth for this. Don't use your shirt, or the washcloth. You can also use the lens cloth for the LCD screens to remove any fingerprints. You may use a Q-tip for hard to reach areas like around the viewfinder.

The camera is now all cleaned up, but don't forget any other equipment you might have used. Filters get the same treatment as the lens with the puff brush and lens cloth. If you have used an accessory flash, clean it as you did the camera body, and don't forget about the tripod if you used one. A simple wipe down with the damp washclothwill suffice. If you were using a camera bag, it might be a good idea when you leave the beach to vacuum it out real good before you put your equipment back inside.

SLR/DSLR owners

Those of you who shoot with an SLR camera, have some other issues that will need attention. Most of this goes without saying, but is worth mentioning here. When changing lenses outside where there are lots of contaminants floating around, try to use a cover of some sort. A poncho will work just fine, as long as it is proving a shelter for your change. Keep the camera body pointed down so that anything that is flying around will be less likely to land on the mirror or sensor. Do you best to reduce the number of times you switch lenses in these high risk situations. Periodically, you will need to either clean the sensor/mirror area, or have it cleaned by a professional. This is normally not needed all that often, but should be considered after being in an environment such as the beach.

I know that all of this sounds like a lot to do, but don't let it get in the way of your fun, as it takes less than ten minutes to do. In fact all of this is designed to increase the joy you will receive from your camera. There is nothing that will kill the fun like having to replace your expensive camera long before you should have to. The cost involved to keep your camera clean and functioning properly is very little. In fact, everything I have mentioned here you can buy for less than $10.00. Personally, I would rather spend $10.00 than $500-$1,000 on another camera.

Obviously, the beach example I have used is extreme, and is not the normal case. Generally, unless you have found yourself in a particularly dusty or moist environment, a good cleaning every 4-6 months should suffice for the average user. I usually give the camera a good going over about every other month or so. At the beach, I will do this routine at least once a day, if not twice depending on how often I go out with it.

I hope that everyone will find this helpful, and that it will add years of useful life to their cameras.

Written by Greg A. Kiser