Tips to Protect Your DSLR

There are 4 things that you have to be on the lookout for to keep your DSLR away from danger. These 4 elements are sand, water, heat, sunscreen and dust.

What are the signs that'll tell you your DSLR has already come into contact with any of the 4 elements? How can you solve it? Most importantly, how to avoid ever letting your DSLR get exposed to these 4 things?

Protect DSLR Photography Tips #1 - Stay Away From Sand

Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

When your DSLR gets into contact with sand, you will notice that the moving parts of your DSLR get stuck. The error message on your DSLR's screen appears.

How To Resolve This Problem?

It's bad news that sensor cleaning kits won't be able to come to your DSLR's rescue. Not even gadgets that puff air.

Your only option here is to send your DSLR to a dealer who will do the cleaning for you. Otherwise, you can take it to the manufacturer.

What they'll do to rescue your DSLR is to take it apart, then clean and re-lube all the moving parts of your camera.

Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Sand

Fortunately, there are numerous methods you can implement to avoid sand from entering your DSLR. One of the many methods is to make use of a sealable food bag. Another tip is not get low while shooting at a sandy area. Doing this is very much similar to you inviting sands to hop onto your lenses.

Despite that, you can put towels in an ice chest cooler and keep your DSLR in it. Why not just use the camera bag? This is because camera bags trap sand. Your goal here is to not let sand harm your DSLR.

Also, while you're shooting, keep an eye open while the other closed. This way, you'll be on the lookout for incoming sand. Other than that, you must anticipate danger. For instance, if you see kids running past you, then quickly save your camera.

Protect DSLR Photography Tips #2 - Water Isn't Good For Your DSLR

Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

Once your DSLR has gotten into contact with water, immediately remove the battery. Do not turn it back on as a killer power surge will be released.

Be on the lookout for corrupted files and error messages on your DSLR's screen.

Also, be watchful that if your DSLR happens to turn off unexpectedly, it is most likely that your camera has already been hit with water.

How To Resolve This Problem?

The best way to solve this is to get professional advice from a dealer. Place your DSLR (although already damaged) in a bag of dehumidifying sachets to make it dry.

Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Water

Something that you should consider doing is to invest in a camera encasement. Also, save up some money to invest in a waterproof rolling bag. Another way to avoid your DSLR from getting hit by water is to never put it on a table next to drinks.

When you're photographing at a location where there is water nearby, especially at a splashy condition, be sure to use a zoom lens to avoid your DSLR from being hit by water.

Never attempt to switch your lenses during snowy or very cold weather conditions. If you have to switch lenses, then perhaps have it done under your coat or a blanket. Be creative here. At all cost, refrain from letting your DSLR get into contact with water.

Protect DSLR Photography Tips #3 - Refrain From Heat

Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

Although most of the latest DSLRs are tailored to withstand extreme weather conditions, there still are a few types of heat that are very bad cameras.

These types of heat are direct sunlight and hot enclosed air. An example of hot enclosed air is the hot air trapped in a car's boot under the hot sun.

The polymer glues, glass coatings and plastic casings within your camera kit may be damaged by heat, so be watchful for that. When the heat is very strong, the oils in your DSLR that act to lubricate the inner workings can indeed be evaporate, otherwise get separated.

Also, be watchful in case your memory card is no longer working right. If your DSLR's LED screen appears to be malfunctioning, it is very likely that your camera has been exposed to conditions with extreme heat.

How To Resolve This Problem?

When you touch your DSLR and notice that is burning hot, leave it somewhere shady and let it cool down. Once cooled, remember to replace the memory card with another one before you use it.

However, if the damage of your DSLR is serious, be sure to bring it to a dealer to be analyzed.

Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Heat

There are things you can implement as to avoid your camera from being damaged when exposed to extreme heat. Never put your DSLR in a car while the sun is shining very brightly. Also, while you're out photographing, provide your DSLR shade whenever possible.

Protect DSLR Photography Tips #4 - Avoid Being Exposed To Dust

Signs That Your DSLR Is Already In Trouble

It is easy to scout and check if your DSLR has already been affected with dust by looking at the resulting photos. When you see little black specks on them, it's a sign that your DSLR has already been attacked by dust.

Dust that lands and get stuck on your camera's sensor form these tiny black specs on your photos. Dust has the tendency to affect your DSLR's autofocus so that it fails to function properly.

How To Resolve This Problem?

Some of the latest DSLRs have great features that will periodically shake dust off your DSLR's sensor. This cleaning system is set by default. What I like about this system is that it actually rids off dust before it can even become a problem to your DSLR.

Tips To Avoid Getting Your DSLR Into Trouble with Dust

Properly place your camera at an appropriate place when you're not using it. Keep the insides of your camera away from dust. This can be done as long as you avoid leaving your camera without a lens or the front camera.

Avoid switching lenses at dusty areas. If you really have to switch lenses despite the dusty condition, then you must hold your camera so that the lens mounts faces downwards. This way, dust will not fall and later get trapped onto your DSLR's sensor.

ATTENTION: Do You Want To Skyrocket Your Photography Skills?

It takes time to practice and improve your photography skills. If you are serious and want to be a better photographer, see this Protect DSLR to begin your journey to becoming a professional photographer!

DSLR Photo Tip, Using the Depth Of Field Preview Button!

Today's DSLR photo tip is about depth of field. Have you been using the "black button"? Continuing with our study of features your digital camera has - that you probably aren't using and may not be aware that exist - the depth of field preview button certainly qualifies!

This one, the "depth of field preview button" is not new to digital cameras or digital photography. It has been an added feature on most of the higher end cameras for decades! But, it's one of those things that, while we may know about it, few of us use on a regular basis.

What is the depth of field preview button?

To answer that question, let's take a quick step back and define depth of field. When you see a photograph, how much of it is in focus? Is it sharp from the foreground all the way to the horizon? Or is it so narrowly focused that the front of a fly's eye is in focus, but the back of that same eye isn't!

DOF is the amount of a photograph that is acceptably sharp and in focus.

The amount of a photo that is acceptably sharp can vary greatly from photo to photo depending on the lens used and the distance from the subject. (And your creative vision!)

A rule of thumb to predict the area of acceptably sharp focus is... Take the distance from the lens to the subject; the image will be sharp for a distance of about 1/3 of that distance in front of the focus point to about 2/3rds of that distance behind.

For example: Let's say you are shooting a large group of people and you have them posed in 4 rows. If you focus on the first row, the last one will be out of focus (or very soft). If you focus on the last row, the first one will be out.

If you focus on the third row, you still have a soft first row. But, focus on the second row and the first row falls in the 1/3 in front and the fourth row falls into the 2/3rds behind DOF range.

Before all you technicians write in... We don't need all the calculus formulas! The above is only an example! The actual depth will vary depending on the lens and the distance from the subjects!

By the way, you can increase the depth by moving further away from your subject and using a longer lens.

When you change the exposure settings on your lens or change the lens itself, the viewfinder is still going to show you the scene with the lens wide open. This is so that the lens can gather the most light possible to aid in setting up the shot.

Your lens won't stop down to the actual exposure settings until you finally depress the shutter button. What this means is that the scene you see in the viewfinder is NOT the way the final image will turn out.

Have you ever shot an outdoor scene where the background was nicely de-focused in the viewfinder, but in the final image all the background branches were in sharp focus? They look like antlers sticking out of your model's head!

That's because the viewfinder was showing the image with a wide open lens, (which has a shallow depth of field) but the final image was stopped down and sharper. Using the depth of field preview button would have shown you the problem.

Since the depth of field will vary from lens to lens and photo to photo, wouldn't it be nice to be able to see exactly how it will turn out BEFORE we shoot?

We can!

There is (on most of the better cameras) a little black button that - when depressed - will show you the image the way it is going to turn out! It is called the "depth of field preview button".

When you depress and hold this button - it is going to stop down the lens to show you the final image. Keep in mind that since you have been looking at the image with the lens wide open, when you stop down it is going to be letting in less light so the image is going to be darker in the viewfinder. Depending on your exposure settings, it could be a LOT darker!

Most of us don't use this feature because we either don't know about it, forgot about it or since it is darker, we think something got messed up.

Today's DSLR photo tip is to start using the depth of field preview button. It should be a regular check you make on virtually all of your photography. This will help you get the shot you pre-visualized and avoid potentially embarrassing mistakes.