Do you baby your gear?

[TDFTW]

Do you panic when you see a scuff, or a scratch somewhere?

http://canonfieldreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/OJL-3b.jpg

[shutterbug_art8]

Not really. If I am at a job, I put my gear down where it's convenience as sometimes you need to adjust your subjects, props, etc. and you need both hands to do so. Some subject don't sit still very long and you just want that picture. So if I am hiking and I see a bird, I put my body down on the grass or gravel, open my bag, get my other lens as fast as I could so I can capture that photo. For me, it's more a tool than a toy.
I am more careful with new gear until the novelty wears off...:D

[mboldt]

^^Well said. It's a tool, not a showpiece. My bottom of my battery grip is all scraped up, but my cameras and lenses never really get worn out... You have to be pretty hard on stuff to get it really banged up or wear the paint off the lenses... I have seen a ridiculously beat up 70-200mm 2.8VR that a reporter used before, but the glass was mint and it worked flawlessly, so what's the big deal, right?

[CookieMonster]

wtf.. is that a seal biting the tripod leg?

[Barking_Spidre]

When I first saw the pic, I thought he was referring to the camera getting snow on it, then I scrolled down a little and saw the seal. :rofl: :rofl:

[Go4Long]

my camera has been laid down in the grass at race city numerous times to help people lift their bikes and what not.

It's just a camera.

[Unknown303]

That seal's angry.

I'll set mine down in grass but not dirt or snow for sure... And I would definitely try to save it from a metal eating seal. Crazy bastard.

[KKY]

I don't baby my gear. I shoot in snow, rain, change lens in the beach, load film under the sun.

But I do take good care of them. I clean my gear regularly. I try not to bang them against stuff. And I try not to rub them against hard surface. Maintaining their resell value is important to me.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Some of the stuff you guys do makes me cringe LOL.

I am probably the most anal person in the world when it comes to taking care of my high-value items.

Some examples...

- I never use my camera gear without washing my hands first.
- I don't put sunscreen on my face or hands if I'm going to be using my camera (luckily I don't burn too easily lol)
- Never use bug spray if I'm going to be using my camera (Deet can remove the labeling on your camera body)
- Never use the gear in rain/snow, etc.
- Never change lenses in dusty environments (usually try to do this partially in my camera bag or similar).
- Everything always stored in a padded camera bag with a ton of silica gel
- I don't let anyone else use/touch my gear
- I put on NC filters before I even fully remove the lens from the plastic it came in. If I need to remove the filter later, I am sure to remove all dust with a rocket blower and reinstall the filter in a plastic bag.
- Gear is regularly dusted via rocket blower
- Never set my gear down on anything other than a perfectly clean surface (just set it on my bag if nothing else is available).
- Generally just extremely cautious/gentle with controls & operation of things

Anyways I'm sure I'm the extreme case but that is some of the stuff I do. Every time I go to sell something it is indistinguishable from new in every way, and I can always get a good price for it. If I were to get a scratch or something on my gear it would bother me non-stop haha.

I treat my car and other things of high value in a similar way.

[89coupe]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Some of the stuff you guys do makes me cringe LOL.

I am probably the most anal person in the world when it comes to taking care of my high-value items.

Some examples...

- I never use my camera gear without washing my hands first.
- I don't put sunscreen on my face or hands if I'm going to be using my camera (luckily I don't burn too easily lol)
- Never use bug spray if I'm going to be using my camera (Deet can remove the labeling on your camera body)
- Never use the gear in rain/snow, etc.
- Never change lenses in dusty environments (usually try to do this partially in my camera bag or similar).
- Everything always stored in a padded camera bag with a ton of silica gel
- I don't let anyone else use/touch my gear
- I put on NC filters before I even fully remove the lens from the plastic it came in. If I need to remove the filter later, I am sure to remove all dust with a rocket blower and reinstall the filter in a plastic bag.
- Gear is regularly dusted via rocket blower
- Never set my gear down on anything other than a perfectly clean surface (just set it on my bag if nothing else is available).
- Generally just extremely cautious/gentle with controls & operation of things

Anyways I'm sure I'm the extreme case but that is some of the stuff I do. Every time I go to sell something it is indistinguishable from new in every way, and I can always get a good price for it. If I were to get a scratch or something on my gear it would bother me non-stop haha.

I treat my car and other things of high value in a similar way.

I'm the same. Like its the most precious thing on Earth.

[soupey]

i cover parts of my camera with tape that i feel get more rubbage than other parts...other than that im pretty carefree,

i regularly blow off dust and clean my sensor on my own...as well as my lenses.

i dont use UV filters except for my walkaround lens. and i don't use a strap 90% of the time, i keep a small shoulder bag (mexx bag) that i can drop it into whenever im not using it.

storage wise it sits in a kata camera/laptop bag. otherwise it sits on my desk so i can get distracted when i should be doing more important things haha

[95EG6P]

Originally posted by KKY
I don't baby my gear. I shoot in snow, rain, change lens in the beach, load film under the sun.

But I do take good care of them. I clean my gear regularly. I try not to bang them against stuff. And I try not to rub them against hard surface. Maintaining their resell value is important to me.

I'm the same but I'm like that with everything I own. :D

[blitz]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Some of the stuff you guys do makes me cringe LOL.

I am probably the most anal person in the world when it comes to taking care of my high-value items.

Some examples...

- I never use my camera gear without washing my hands first.
- Never use the gear in rain/snow, etc.
- Never change lenses in dusty environments (usually try to do this partially in my camera bag or similar).
- Never set my gear down on anything other than a perfectly clean surface (just set it on my bag if nothing else is available).


You need one of those giant human sized hamster balls to shoot in :)

[AccentAE86]

baby gear? Not a chance. I don't actively ABUSE gear but I surely don't baby it. Shooting for work is often go go go and you don't have the luxury of the time to baby your gear.

What's a lenscap? ;)

[D'z Nutz]

Yes and no.

For the most part, I'm very careful with my equipment. With the exception of a couple pieces, most of what I own I consider expendable and I could sell at any time. If it's equipment I know I'll possibly or eventually sell down the line, I'm very careful with it since I know condition will be important to many people and can dictate resale value. When I get new DSLRs, I won't even take them out to a shoot until I get screen protectors on them. I won't put my gear on rough, really wet, or dirty surfaces. Hell, my cameras even get a thorough wipe down after a shoot where my hands have gotten too sweaty or the air was too funky (ie: cigarette smoke in the air). I'm such a neat freak, some of my gear even comes out the bag and straight back onto the same spot on the shelf from where it came! Haha yeah a little OCD, I know, but I'm a believer if you don't take care of your gear, it'll fail on you when it'll count the most.

However, on the other hand while I'm at the shoot I may not have the luxury of cradling my stuff like a baby. Sometimes everything is so fast paced, you lose precious opportunities if you're busy stroking and polishing your gear. My gear has been in the ocean, pools, sand and beaches, dirt, caves, grass, snow, rain, etc.... so yeah I know it can handle the abuse.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by AccentAE86
What's a lenscap? ;)


Haha no kidding. All lenscaps and endcaps come off all lenses at the start of the shoot and don't come back on until it's time to go home... sometimes 16-18 hours after I've started.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by blitz


You need one of those giant human sized hamster balls to shoot in :)

LOL I know....people have joked about getting me a haz-mat suit for my camera as well. Sad thing is that I'd probably use it :D .

Anyone use lenscoats? I was looking into those as well, they seem to be fairly highly regarded across the various other forums but I've never seen one live.

[ex1z7]

I don't try to hurt my gear, or throw it across the room or something - but I shoot off road trucks in sand, mud, snow.. everything.. I have filters on my lenses for a reason - that's why I bought them.. I'll throw my stuff in a bag and throw it on the floor of my truck and cruise down a powerline with my bag rolling around and hopping.. Again, that's what the bag is for..

I got into photography to take pictures, not to keep my gear flawless looking (however the only damage you can see on my gear is on the lens hood of 2 of my lenses.. for some reason 30 seconds after owning both lenses, the hoods look scuffed..?)

However, I also have business insurance.. If my truck rolls over in a river and my gear gets fried, I'm covered.. My truck isn't - but my camera is lol.

[Melinda]

Meh, I'm not overly careful with my gear. I take (and leave) lenscaps off all the time when I'm shooting and leave the end caps off too if I know I'll be switching a lot. I shoot in everything from wind to sun to rain and don't bat an eye. Yet all of my gear is in great shape and no scratches at all. They're a lot more durable than most people think. Granted I usually only buy gear that I know I'll be keeping for a while so resale value isn't too high on my priority list. Two of my primary lenses were bought 5 years ago and I see no reason to sell them, ever. A camera is like a car. It's meant to be driven, not parked (or I guess in this case, babied and bubble wrapped).

[flipstah]

Originally posted by KKY
I don't baby my gear. I shoot in snow, rain, change lens in the beach, load film under the sun.

But I do take good care of them. I clean my gear regularly. I try not to bang them against stuff. And I try not to rub them against hard surface. Maintaining their resell value is important to me.

Mine doesn't have any resale value, and place it where it's convenient.

I mean, I still take care of it and treat it nicely, but it already has body scratches because all my gear is used.

At the end of the day, it's the shot that matters.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by AccentAE86
What's a lenscap? ;)

The thing you lose and not care about since a UV filter does a better job anyways.

[Gibson]

I try, but in my line of work it's just impossible. Today, for example, I had dog slobber, muddy grass, and I was wandering around on packed trains and buses and I had a few good unintentional hits. There's nothing I can do about it.

Mitsu, I can't believe you never use your gear without first washing your hands. That's like a whole new level of OCD haha.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Gibson
I try, but in my line of work it's just impossible. Today, for example, I had dog slobber, muddy grass, and I was wandering around on packed trains and buses and I had a few good unintentional hits. There's nothing I can do about it.

Mitsu, I can't believe you never use your gear without first washing your hands. That's like a whole new level of OCD haha.

Haha, its not so much OCD, rather it just bugs me to no end if there is a permanent mark on my stuff, so I avoid that. If I have anything like cooking oil, sunscreen, excess skin oil, bug spray, grease, etc. on my hands (or face), it can leave a permanent mark on the camera body/lens so I'd prefer to avoid that, even if its unlikely. If I know my hands are clean, I don't go out of my way to wash them again or anything if I need to use my camera, but I am very careful about it. That's also the reason I don't like other people using my gear.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Some of the stuff you guys do makes me cringe LOL.

I am probably the most anal person in the world when it comes to taking care of my high-value items.

Some examples...

- I never use my camera gear without washing my hands first.


You possibly can't do that every time, can you? What if you're on the field with no water source?

Do you Purell it up or something?

[blitz]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/CrazyDiamond/blog/Picture3.png

"Don't touch my camera gear"

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by flipstah


You possibly can't do that every time, can you? What if you're on the field with no water source?

Do you Purell it up or something?


Lol no...like I said, I just go out of my way to make sure my hands are clean, I don't go wash them if I put my camera down and need to pick it up again 5 min later. Lets say I'm going to the zoo for the day, I'll just make sure my hands/face are clean before getting started with my camera gear. If I'm out in the field all day, I'm just more careful not to touch anything really dirty and then my camera - stuff like that. If I eat a burger or something, I'd for sure go wash my hands before using my gear again though. Basically I just make sure my hands/face are clean before each use, and take care to keep them that way. This way my gear always remains spotless.

And for Purell.....I'd be more nervous what the different alcohols and such in that stuff can do to the labels on the camera. Also it doesn't really wash anything, it just kills germs. :)