Etiquette when changing lenses, different opinions??

[Steve U]

I have searched the site for protocols to observe when changing lenses and haven't found any posts relating to this subject. So far I have only ever had one pice of fluff on my sensor and that blew off very easily, don't know where it went, but it's gone.


So I am wondering if you guys with the good glass and all the experience have routines that you observe when chaging lenses in the field?


Do you install the body cap in between getting lenses sorted?


Do you have spare lens caps?


Do you place the body face down on your bag?


Do you stand or lay the lenses down?


A friend of mine just learnt the very costly lesson to always double check that your back pack zips are done up. (16-35mm in about 100 pieces)[:'(]


I would appreciate any opinions or routines.


Thanks,


Steve

[Trondster]

I usually do the following:


-Remove the new lens from the lens bag, and locate a flat, stable surface.


-Place the new lens on a flat, stable surface with the rear end up.


-Unscrew, but do not remove, the lens cap on the new lens.


-Hold the old lens with camera attached on a flat, stable surface, with the rear end up.


-Loosen the old lens from the camera, holding the camera with the exposed opening facing down, leaving the old lens standing in a stable condition.


-Quickly move the lens cap from the new lens to the old, without fastening it.


-Quickly move the camera over to the new lens (with the exposed opening facing down at all times), and fasten the new lens to the camera.


-Fasten the lens cap to the old lens.


-Put the old lens safely in the bag.


Other environments give other ad hoc routines - if there is a lot of dust and/or salty water in the air, I try not to change lenses, and try to shelter the camera and the lenses as much as possible - half inside my coat or similar.

[lculpin]

I generally follow Trondster

[bob williams]

Steve, No real process here, But I did learn the hard way not to lay a lens on its side while switching out. I had my 24-105L roll off of the counter top and onto a a ceramic tile floor---The floor won and it cost me (my insurance) 180 bucks to repair.


My wife often goes shooting with me, so if we are somewhere with out a stable platform, I'll use hear hands to hold one of the lens. If she isn't with me, I'll sit things on the ground rather than risk another drop. I can usually deal with a little dust.


Bob

[neuroanatomist]

Hi Steve,


I follow pretty much the same steps as Trondster when changing lenses in a controlled (or semi-controlled) environment. The only thing I'd add to that is that I always power off the camera before changing lenses. I'm not sure if it's true, but I've read that a powered sensor has a static charge that can attract dust - it's easy enough just to turn it off first.


In less controlled situations, e.g. in the field, I get as close as I can to the above. In those cases, there's usually not a flat, stable surface - and many times the ground is wet/muddy/etc. I have a Lowepro Flipside 400AW backpack, which can spin around on the hip belt and form a stable platform for holding lenses while changing them. If I'm carrying less gear (e.g. 7D + 100-400mm and 17-55mm), it's in a Lowepro Toploader Pro case with a Lens Case on the side, and that remains over my shoulder and open to hold the lens that's not in my hand. It's become pretty routine to change lenses on-the-fly with no flat surface handy.


--John

[Trondster]

Well - the sensor is covered*) by both shutter curtains when changing lenses, so I doubt any possible static charge on the sensor would have that much to do with dust. But - if you always power the camera off first you will never accidentally attempt to remove the lens while the mirror is up - using liveview, bulb exposure or similar.


*) Well - depends on the camera model - on a micro Four Thirds the sensor is always exposed, and on a pellicle camera like the Sony A33/55 the sensor is possibly never exposed.

[neuroanatomist]

Well - the sensor is covered*) by both shutter curtains when changing lenses,


Well, that should be true. But, what if you accidentally depress the shutter button? It also ensures your lens' IS elements (if present) are parked, etc., so seems like a reasonable precaution regardless.


I've left the power on during a lens change, and I don't freak out or anything. [;)]


The other habit I forgot to mention is that for the lens to be mounted, I orient it such that the alignment mark (red dot or white square) is in the correct orientation relative to where I'm going to grab it, before I loosen the rear cap and detach the mounted lens. That way, there's no hunting around for the right positioning of the lens I'm mounting relative to the body.

[HDNitehawk]

I thought Canon

[TakahiroW4047]

Do you have spare lens caps?





I typically have 1 spare. It doesn't take up too much room in your bag, and it's nice for emergencies.


I was in thigh high water once with a tripod shooting upstream and I dropped my lens cap into the water during lens change (Scariest moment of my life) I had to resist with all my might not to lunge for it with two substantial size lenses in my hands.


Luckily it floated to the surface and the flow wasn't strong so I was able to recover it, but if I hadn't I would have been severely paranoid about putting the other lens back into the bag with all the water that was splashing around.


It's a cheap and reassuring investment to make [;)]

[Daniel Browning]

routines that you observe when chaging lenses in the field?



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Here's what I do:

Put lens cap on current lens.
Take rear lens cap off next lens.
Put current lens in bag.
Put next lens on camera.
Put rear lens cap on last lens



If the lenses are light enough to hold two in one hand (e.g. 17-50 f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.4), then I switch lenses in one step, like this:



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<h3 dir="ltr"]Technique to quicklychangeDigital SLR Cameralenses ("http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiWctOW5p6A)</h3>






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(Of course, the guy on the video is a huge windbag like me, so he makes an hour video out of something that should take only a few seconds.)







<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
Do you have spare lens caps?





I don't have any spare front lens caps, but I do have several spare rear lens caps. That way I can keep an extra inside the lowepro bag for each lens.



I'm not sure if it's true, but I've read that a powered sensor has a static charge that can attract dust - it's easy enough just to turn it off first.


It's definitely not true. The voltage of the bare sensor itself while its running is so low that it never builds up an electric field with enough intensity to attract a dust particle (purpose-built electrostatic dust filters use tens of thousands of volts.)But even if it did, it wouldn't be able to reach through a half dozen layers of filters (protective cover glass, three optical low pass filters, and a infrared filter). Camera engineers have reported measuring the charge of a sensor while it's running with a field mill and got nothing.



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But, what if you accidentally depress the shutter button? It also ensures your lens' IS elements (if present) are parked, etc., so seems like a reasonable precaution regardless.


I don't think I've ever hit the shutter button during a lens change, but now that you've warned me about it, I will probably do just that. [:D]It's probably a good precaution, but I never turn off the camera.
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[peety3]

I keep the camera in its normal orientation (tripod socket down, hotshoe up). My lens rear caps are never on so tight that I can

[HDNitehawk]

I had read somewhere that one of the reason to power down is to avoid an electrical spark damaging contacts between lens and camera.


After reading these posts I am glad to see that I am not the only person with a lens changing ritual

[Daniel Browning]

I had read somewhere that one of the reason to power down is to avoid an electrical spark damaging contacts between lens and camera.


Even if that was true (I don't think it is), turning the camera off doesn't disable the electrical contacts. The camera is always on, all the switch does is tell it to go to sleep and ignore the user controls. (Normal sleep mode does not ignore user input).

[Richard Lane]

When I'm indoors I follow a similar routine as all of you above.


When I'm shooting on the sidelines or in the field, I like a belt system. It's also great on trails or for events.


I use the Think Tank Belt System, and I make sure that I have one empty pouch on the belt.


So, when I change lenses:


I make sure the Neck strap is around my neck, especially at the beach, or near water, sand or snow, so you don't drop the body.


If I have time I turn the camera off, if I'm in a rush I leave the camera on.


I put the lens cap on the lens that is currently on the body, then I make sure that the 2 belt pouches are within my reach near my right hip; one is empty and the other pouch has the lens that I'm going to swap, which is lens face down and rear cap upward in the pouch.


I loosen the rear cap that is in the lens pouch, rear cap is upward.


Then I take off the lens that is on the body and place it in the empty pouch on my belt, with the lens facing downward and lens cap on, and the rear facing upward, then I take the loosened rear cap from the new lens while it still sits in its pouch, and then I transfer that rear cap to the lens that I just placed in the empty pouch.


Now, with the rear cap removed from the new lens, I remove it from the pouch and place it on the camera body, then remove the lens cap and place that in the newly emptied pouch, which will now become the empty pouch for my next swap.


Except for pressing the lens release button with my left hand, the entire lens swap is done with my right hand, sometimes I'm also holding a monopod with a 2nd body and lens attached, underneath my left armpit, with its neck strap also around my neck temporarily.


Rich

[Steve U]

Thanks guys appreciate all the input. I was at public event and there were literally hundreds of photographers there, with quite a few pros. I saw one guy talking and changing lens and he had something like a Sigma 50-500 and was swapping that off the camera and basically did the whole thing without looking. Removed the large lens gripped it between his legs, kept talking to the photogs, the only time he looked at the camera was when he actually lined up the red dots. The whole thing seemless, but very casual, not the sort of ritualistic careful ceremony I have with my hard earned glass.


Tradesmen and their tools. I probably look as nonchalant when I

[Steven23]

Now i

[lculpin]

Changing lenses with the camera body facing down

[Ralph III]

I have not read all the posts but my routine is quite different than some and with due respect I think better. Trondsters routine seems quite tedius and I would not make a habit of putting my glass straight down where it could possibly be scratched. It also does not consider a lense hood, especially a petal type, as mine often has. Otherwise one which could be flimsly in holding up glass in addition to a camera.


Anyhow, my steps are typically as follows...


1) I get the new lense, loosen the lense cap fully without removing, and then place it facing upwards (cap at bottom) on a stable surface.


2) Next, I typically rest the camera in my lap (due to fluid nature of shooting) with lense facing upwards and loosen fully without removing. I continue to hold the lense at all times and am able to leave the strap on my neck/shoulder for camera security. NOTE:In thecase of aroutine lense change I would simplychoose to use a flat surface for this step.


3) I then raise the new lense with my free hand and immediately attach it to the camera. The old lense is only removed as the new lense is attached, therefore the camera, which is protected by the mirror anyhow, is never exposed for more than a millisecond.


4) I then immediately put the old lense into the cap, which is still resting on the surface, and secure it.


The last two steps can be done in a matter of seconds and both lenses are always held upwards, thus the mount downward, which would be preferable for dust control. The camera is never exposed for more than a fraction of a second and is protected by the mirror anyhow.


If no surface is available and I make the change on my person a few things will change. I will put the new lense between my legs with the cap facing upward (glass facing downward, in sitting position) and loosen cap. I will then remove the old lense and immediately put the cap on it and secure it. I will then place the new lense on the camera. This can be done in a standing position as well. The camera and new lense is exposed a little longer but with practice all can be done in a matter of seconds.


I've never had an issue with dust control and is quite minimal on my 30d, considering I may take thousands of shots at an event with multiple lense changes. Anyhow, it works for me.


God Bless

[alexniedra]

A friend of mine just learnt the very costly lesson to always double check that your back pack zips are done up. (16-35mm in about 100 pieces)


Yikes!! [:P]


I use the 5D Mark II, 24-70mm f/2.8L and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS in the field (along with a pair of 580 EX II's), and, to be completely honest, I'm typically in a bit of a hurry to get things set up so I don't miss a shot (I usually shoot events - When shooting nature my pace is more relaxed). Swapping lenses usually involves removing the current lens, placing it face down (with a front cap attached) into my bag, removing the back cap of my new lens and then placing the new lens on the body. Usually the camera body remains cap-less over the course of this process, unless I'm shooting in rain, snow, blowing sand, etc. I have not observed any noticeable downsides to this (in terms of lots of dust on the mirror, sensor, etc).... Yet.. I do take care, though, to make sure the rear glass of my lenses does not come into direct contact with the camera lens mount or body, especially when using the 24-70L (which has a large rear element). I own a Lowepro backpack for nature photography, and I have heard TOO many horror stories of the main compartment zippers not being completely secured.


Hopefully you can gain some useful insight from my experience with lens swapping.


-Aleks

[jfritz]

I