Gear Maintenance Pt.1

Keeping our camera gear clean and well maintained will make it serve us for a long time. It is not just about cleaning it off once in a while after a shoot, but how we protect it while out in the field. In this two part series I will let you know what I do to keep my gear protected while out on a shoot and how I clean my gear when I get back home. This first part focuses more on the protecting and handling your gear while using it, while the second part will focus on the upkeep and cleaning once we get home from a shoot.

So here’s what I do to keep my gear working in the optimal condition.

In the field

Some cameras, lenses and tripods will be better equipped at handling harsh conditions and taking a beating simple due to their build quality and weather sealing, especially when it comes to the camera body. If you are wondering if your camera is weather sealed look it up in the manual or the manufacturers website. As a general rule of thumb though, higher-end gear such as Nikon’s professional range of cameras are weather sealed while their lower consumer range is not. Likewise the same is true for other manufactures, in other words, cheaper gear = less protection, while expensive gear = better protection, at least in general.

That being said, cameras, lenses and other gear are for the most part made to be able to take a bit of beating, so we don’t need to treat it like its made of fine china, nor does it mean you need to clean it as soon as you have used it. It does mean treating it decent and giving it just that little bit of protection from the environmental elements.

The Basics

My basic setup I carry around is a set of lens pens in a cloth so I can clean my lens while out on a shoot, and one of my Kata bags that comes with a rain and dust jacket. The bags will provide cover if I need to put away my gear and are cushioned should drop it, plus it allows me to carry several lenses and additional protection such as a rain sleeve to protect the camera and lens from rain, snow and dust if I need to.

When just going around town or photowalks I may just carry my camera with a Rapid R-Strap and a single lens, but even then I carry at minimum the lens pens and cloth. My camera is weather sealed so as long I don’t get caught in a monsoon I should be fine.

Mind your surroundings and try not to put your gear directly down in a wet muddy field or bang it into concrete walls or dropping it also goes a long way.

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A bag to protect your camera and lens is always a good idea.

Lens hoods

Also known as lens shades their primary function is to shade the front of the lens to help reduce lens flares. I keep my lens hoods on for several additional reasons, it will minimise rain, dust and snow from hitting the front of the lens (depending on wind direction).

When carrying your camera hanging from its strap, it absorbs any dings and may even prevent some items from hitting the front lens element. Better a broken lens hood than a lens I’d say. In colder conditions keeping a lens hood on, can keep the wind from cooling the front of the lens, preventing build-up of frost for an extended period of time.

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The standard lens hood a great companion to your lenses

Wet, damp and dusty environments

If I know that I am going to a location where there is fine grained dust like a sandy beach or desert type situation, I bring a rain sleeve that slips over the camera and lens but still allows me to control the functions of the camera and lens. This prevents any dust from getting caught in the knobs and dials and moving parts of the lens which can be disastrous for your gear. These are long enough to even slip down over the tripod head so it will provide good protection there as well.

The same goes for rainy shoots, if there is a good chance of getting caught in a downpour or if I will be shooting an outdoor game and there will be rain I keep a rain sleeve close by. To protect any additional gear I bring with me I use my Kata bags and its rain/dust jacket that pulls over the bag itself. 

Likewise resist the urge to put your camera inside your jacket when it rains. The lens will fog up and when you need to take a photo the camera won’t be able to focus as the lens is now all fogged up. It may get so bad that both ends of the lens fogs up and will continue to do so, even after you wipe the fog away until the lens reaches the same temperature as the outside of your jacket. Invest in either a rain sleeve or bag instead. The standard plastic rain sleeves are normally available in any well stocked camera stores.

Acclimatisation

Like the jacket scenario you should do the best to let your gear acclimate itself to the environment you will be shooting in before going out. Going from inside your home or hotel room out into a cold environment will have the same effect as the jacket described in the previous section. You will be battling fogged up lenses, and if the difference in temperature is large enough, the sensor glass might even get fogged up and you cannot wipe this away simply wait.

Acclimating the gear becomes more important as the temperature differences becomes greater, like when going from a warm house out into below freezing temperatures. 

What I do is that I pack my bag the night before and put it in the boot of my car or on a secure balcony to let it cool down to the same temperature I will be shooting in. This way I won’t have to worry about gear fogging up on me. I also keep the gear in the bag until I need to take it out and shoot and store it away in the bag when not shooting in these colder conditions. 

When coming back I do the opposite, I leave the gear in the bag with all zippers closed and let the gear gradually warm up to the same temperature as the room. This gradual warm up prevents condensation from happening inside the lenses and the sensor glass that can otherwise leave condensation marks if you would unpack the gear the first thing you do. So resist the urge of unpacking straight away.

This obviously will be applying to large scale temperature differences so don’t over due it just because it's a 5°C difference.

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My frozen tripod, ball head and bag after coming back from a -18°C shoot.

Batteries

Quite the opposite you want to keep your batteries as warm as you can. Batteries drain faster when cold so store spare batteries as close to you body as you possibly can when in a cold environment and only take them out when you need to swap.

Changing lenses

Always point the camera down towards the ground when you are changing lenses. It is harder for things to fall into the camera if you point the opening downwards. Ensure the back of the lens is clean itself so there is no dust, hair or other dirt on it that can dislodge itself and fall into the camera. Switching your camera off will ensure that any static charge that builds up are dispensed and there is less chance of it drawing particle in.

If it is windy out try to find shelter close by before swapping your lens or use your camera bag or a use plastic bag dedicated to swapping lenses. If you are parked not too far away, a walk back to the car to swap the lenses out could be an option.

The takeaway

If you take anything away from this is that I hope that you realise how simple it is to protect our gear, it really is just common sense at the end of the day. If I were to invest in anything from this list it would be a bag. A bag goes a long way to protect your gear both while on the road travelling and just to safely store your gear away on a shoot. 

In Gear Maintenance Pt.2 I will show you the tools I use for cleaning my gear with once a shoot is done as well as provide some recommendations.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned!