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</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.)

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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. []It's probably a good precaution, but I never turn off the camera.
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