How to care for your camera: 10 tips to avoid camera damage

[@cliffterpher]

Thanks Tom. Top tips. These weddings with flying cake and champagne sound great fun! 😀. Recently returned from Barcelona and was very conscious of pickpockets. Wrist strap screwed onto the camera body was a comfort along with a 10 year old Olympus prob worth far, far less than a typical modern, mobile phone. Only problem is whether the thieves know this 🙄. (Anyway, all's well that ends well and it was an amazing destination) .

[@tom_photo]

Hi Cliff! Thanks for writing. Yes, it's good to take precautions when traveling in areas with elevated risk.

[@robertyoung1777]

Great video of the woods! I keep my cameras loosely covered with cotton cloth so that they can breath in hopes of reducing humidity caused corrosion and mold. A climate controlled environment is ideal-like paintings in an art gallery.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Robert! Thank you. That sounds like a good way to protect cameras. Kind regards!

[@Abuzhumagulov]

Thank you ! Awesome video 🔥

[@tom_photo]

Hi Abu! Thanks so much. Kind regards!

[@janbroekema6102]

Thanks Tom usefull tips! Mr Maitani (olympus) once said " the lens is the soul of your camera" So it's need careful attention. I use a Zeiss cleanning kit wich is excellent, i also have a small pencil in my camera bag to clean off dust specs etcetera.. I don't like lensfilters..a lenshood is alwys on, togehter with a lensmate thumbrest and leather hafcase! That's all ..have a nice day and take care, Jan

[@tom_photo]

Thanks, Jan, for your feedback! I can only agree with what you said about the lens being the soul of the camera. Camera is the heart and lens is the sole, if I may continue along the same lines. For a long time I didn't use protective filters either; until I did some experiments that convinced me that they don't reduce image quality so that it could be detected. I'll have a video on that one day, too.

[@janbroekema6102]

There is a article on the Ming Thein website To filter or not...

[@tom_photo]

@@janbroekema6102 I'll check it out, thanks.

[@sclogse1]

Your UV filter comment and sensor was a new one for me. It opened questions, though, as you said it blocks "light", and you didn't elaborate. How many of us have had 5 megapixel pocket cameras whose sensors just stopped working right? Images getting muddy with odd saturation. Was it from too much sun?

[@tom_photo]

Hi. The sun damage happens mostly when attempting a prolonged exposure from the tripod. Usually this is quite impossible because with the sun shining at you the shutter speeds are very short. However, the lens focuses the sun precisely on the sensor and it doesn't take long to cause damage. Most of us have started fire as kids using only a magnifying glass on a sunny day so we know what the sun and a lens can do. The camera is most prone to this damage when doing time lapse against the sun, especially when using electronic shutter. You get the the same "bang" from the sun attacking the same pixels once every second for minutes in a row. This will do it.

[@af-mj3qr]

Hi I use my camera once a while can u tell me how should I store the cells in it . Shld i keep it inside the camera or in a different pouch?

[@tom_photo]

Hi af! Thanks for asking. If the battery is new and you use the camera often then just leave it in the camera. The best practice is to keep the batteries charged, not empty. For a longer therm storage it is best to have the batteries almost full (not 100%) but certainly not empty. The worst thing for Li-batteries is when they sit around empty. If you have several batteries the best is to rotate them so that they all see charging cycles on a regular basis. If the camera starts to develop a weird shape or is externally damaged then it is best to throw it away. You may want to take batteries out of the camera when the camera is exposed to extreme heat or cold conditions. It's also a good idea to never use or charge very cold or very hot batteries. I hope this helped you.

[@minaglumac3818]

hi, i accidentally took photos with lens cap on without realising it until 5 image. will it damage camera? At the same time camera lost a battery and wont work so i dont know is lens cap related to that.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Mina! Taking photos with lens cap on typically does not damage the camera at all. So it is highly unlikely that you did any harm to your camera. Please let me know what lens and camera you have, then I can give you a more specific answer. Kind regards!

[@minaglumac3818]

@@tom_photo hey i have nikon d90 with 16-85mm vr nikon lens, im currently chraging the battery so i will write about results. i bought a camera few days ago so i happen to make some mistakes accidentally 😅

[@tom_photo]

@@minaglumac3818Hi Mina! Don't worry about it. You did not damage your camera by leaving the lens cap on. Best of luck to you!

[@minaglumac3818]

@@tom_photo ohhh good! thank you so much for answer ❤️

[@lizzieA005]

At the start of the video what bag is that?

[@tom_photo]

Hi Lizete! Thank you for asking. This is small camera bag from Lowepro. It's my main bag when I go out with just one small camera. Kind regards!

[@ndy1211]

should i remove the battery everyday whenever i finished using it? because my camera keep asking me to setting the date everytime i put the battery on

[@tom_photo]

Hi ndy1211! If your battery is not old and damaged then you can leave it in until it needs to be charged. This is unusual that a camera wants to set set the date every time you put the battery in. This may be because your camera's internal clock battery is old and depleted. Before I can give you a better answer please let me know what camera you have and how old it is. Kind regards!

[@ndy1211]

@@tom_photo thank you, my camera is Fujifilm X-A3 i just bought it secondhand, so i'm not sure how old it is. also i can't revealed shutter count number of this camera on shutter count website

[@tom_photo]

@@ndy1211 One thing you may want to try is factory reset. The other thing is to update the software both for the body and the lens.

[@ndy1211]

@@tom_photo thank you, i will definitely try your suggestions

[@paulbarnett1461]

batteries. Sure, use several batteries and rotate their use. BUT.. stop using a battery if it is starting to bulge. 2 of your 3 fuji batteries look to be bulging in your video. If that is real and not just an illusion, throw them away (recycle them) now.

[@tom_photo]

Hi Paul! Thank you for your valid comment. It's indeed a good idea to refrain from using bad batteries. In my case the wide angle lens distorts the shape of the batteries and the batteries are OK. Kind regards!