# must i turn off DSLR every time when i change lens?



## indyrodeo9 (Dec 29, 2007)

someone told me so. said once or twice lens change with cam on is ok. doing it more can damage the cam. is there truth to this? what can break as a result of changing lens with cam on?

thanks.


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## ScottS (Dec 29, 2007)

That's just silly. Never heard of anything like that before....

( # 300 baby WHOOOoooo...... man I need a life.... :greenpbl: )


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## indyrodeo9 (Dec 29, 2007)

ScottS said:


> That's just silly. Never heard of anything like that before....
> 
> ( # 300 baby WHOOOoooo...... man I need a life.... :greenpbl: )



whoohooo #9 yayayayaaa. sry i had to do it. thnx for the reply btw. oh the guy sold me the 40d told me lol.


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## ScottS (Dec 29, 2007)

Haha yea, the only thing that i have heard is that when the camera is on, the sensor is statically charged, and could attract more dust. But, just be careful when you change lenses.


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## Stratman (Dec 29, 2007)

Why not turn it off? It takes only a second to turn the power off before  changing lenses...


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## indyrodeo9 (Dec 29, 2007)

Stratman said:


> Why not turn it off? It takes only a second to turn the power off before  changing lenses...



i do turn it off. just like to to know thats all.


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## jstuedle (Dec 29, 2007)

I turn mine off when I think of it and don't when I don't. More often than not, I don't when changing lenses or cards. No issues over a couple million frames over 6 DSLR's.


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## Sideburns (Dec 29, 2007)

You can suck in dust to the sensor since it's charged.

But other than that...you won't kill it.  Turn it off anyways...it's not a long process.


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## Alex_B (Dec 29, 2007)

I would turn it off... because of the sensor, and because of the electric connections.

I once got one of my SLRs confused when I changed lenses without switching it off, and it started rewinding the film when I had the new lens attached and then was refusing to do anything. had to switch it off for a minute to solve the problem


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## Garbz (Dec 29, 2007)

Suck dust in to a charged sensor? which is covered? I'm not quite sure how large you think this charge is on a 5v low current component which isn't actually on anyway unless you're exposing it, but I doubt it extends much beyond its surface or the closed shutter.

I wouldn't swap lenses with liveview enabled, but unlike a miss-read signal like in Alex's case no damage can occur short of spilling some liquid or shorting the lens contact terminals (even that is probably not damaging but I wouldn't try it).


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## JerryPH (Dec 29, 2007)

It is not critical to turn off the camera, but honestly... why? It takes like half a second to turn off.

What I am concerned about is the fact that on my camera there are electrical lens contacts out in the open that I do not know if when shorted out accidentally if it could damage my D200 or not (VR, lens focus, etc...). So I make it a point to turn it off.  It likely will not, but whatever, thats me.


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## indyrodeo9 (Dec 29, 2007)

JerryPH said:


> It is not critical to turn off the camera, but honestly... why? It takes like half a second to turn off.
> 
> What I am concerned about is the fact that on my camera there are electrical lens contacts out in the open that I do not know if when shorted out accidentally if it could damage my D200 or not (VR, lens focus, etc...). So I make it a point to turn it off.  It likely will not, but whatever, thats me.



i did it twice so far cuz i forgot to turn off my 40d. i noticed once i remove lens i think the camera knows cuz i saw the B&W mini LCD turned off when i did that. when i mount the lens again the mini LCD screen turned back on.

im sure a company that makes a thousand dollar DSLR would at least ensure no circuit get fried from doing a simple lens change during power on. right?


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## JerryPH (Dec 29, 2007)

I have over $5,000 in my setup so far... I'll let someone else be the guinea pig.  
I have no problems turning the camera off while changing lenses.


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## Trenton Romulox (Dec 29, 2007)

I usually turn mine off, but sometimes I forget. I am pretty sure that most of the time I turn it off. Although, now that I think about it, I'm not sure exactly how much I think about it when I'm doing it. I'll try and think about it next time I change lenses, to see if I naturally turn off the camera...I think I do...but I just don't know. I'm pretty sure I do. Yeah, I do. I do turn it off. Right, right.


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## Iron Flatline (Dec 29, 2007)

YES. It's an incredibly finnicky piece of electronics.

A: Always turn off your camera when taking out the battery, the memory card, or the lens. How lazy can you be?

B: Never connect a cable to your camera. That USB port? A me-too feature for consumers. Do NOT hook a very expensive camera to an electrically-charged cable connected to a very expensive computer. It's a bad idea. Get a card reader. 

C: Format your memory card every time after you've pulled images off it. Takes three seconds, and removes additional risk. 

...but it is every consumer's right to use gear as is deemed fit and appropriate. These are my guidelines.


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## Trenton Romulox (Dec 29, 2007)

I use a USB cable to connect my camera...is it really that dangerous? 

Now that I think about it though, it's sort of an $1800 body and a $3000 computer...

I think I'll get a card reader today or tomorrow.


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## indyrodeo9 (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah i use a card read as well, its because its alot easier to get pics off the card.

as for the format your card everytime you pull pics off, wow that's a bit excessive. removes additional risk? like what? computer virus? lol


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## pm63 (Dec 29, 2007)

Iron Flatline said:


> B: Never connect a cable to your camera. That USB port? A me-too feature for consumers. Do NOT hook a very expensive camera to an electrically-charged cable connected to a very expensive computer. It's a bad idea. Get a card reader.
> 
> C: Format your memory card every time after you've pulled images off it. Takes three seconds, and removes additional risk.



What? Me, and millions of other people around the world have been hooking up their cameras to their computers through USB cables for years, and I've NEVER heard of it going wrong. That's what camera manufactures supply the cable for. It's actually reccomended in the manual, and doesn't void the warranty. If the camera is turned off when you hook it up, and you turn it on to activate it, what's the problem?

And why does formatting the card reduce risk, and risk of what? I've only heard of formatting once you start using it in a new appliance. 

On topic: actually, today I was looking through my D40's manual and it said to turn off when removing lenses. After what others have said, probably worth that tiny bit of extra effort.


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## indyrodeo9 (Dec 29, 2007)

pm63 said:


> On topic: actually, today I was looking through my D40's manual and it said to turn off when removing lenses. After what others have said, probably worth that tiny bit of extra effort.



my 40d manual does not say. all it shows is how to mount / detach the lens. doesnt say turning off cam or leave it on.

can other 40d owners plz confirm?


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## Trenton Romulox (Dec 29, 2007)

My camera came with a manual? 

Oh, so it did...

Screw manuals.


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## pm63 (Dec 29, 2007)

^ It's my first ever DSLR, so I felt the need to learn how to operate it. For my next one, I'll be sure to join the cool crowd and screw the manual haha.


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## Iron Flatline (Dec 30, 2007)

pm63 said:


> What? Me, and millions of other people around the world have been hooking up their cameras to their computers through USB cables for years, and I've NEVER heard of it going wrong. That's what camera manufactures supply the cable for. It's actually reccomended in the manual, and doesn't void the warranty. If the camera is turned off when you hook it up, and you turn it on to activate it, what's the problem?
> 
> And why does formatting the card reduce risk, and risk of what? I've only heard of formatting once you start using it in a new appliance.
> 
> On topic: actually, today I was looking through my D40's manual and it said to turn off when removing lenses. After what others have said, probably worth that tiny bit of extra effort.


I've heard of several people (incl. this forum, do a search) whereby the cable-to-camera doesn't mount properly. Then the camera is in some kind of weird limbo, and you have to reinstall the firmware. I've personally nuked a motherboard on a computer by poorly attaching a UISB device - though not a camera. 

The re-formatting reduces the risk of losing images. If you shoot for a living you want to make sure your gear is a prepped as possible. A quick reformat helps mitigate risk.


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## Alpha (Dec 30, 2007)

Iron Flatline said:


> I've heard of several people (incl. this forum, do a search) whereby the cable-to-camera doesn't mount properly. Then the camera is in some kind of weird limbo, and you have to reinstall the firmware. I've personally nuked a motherboard on a computer by poorly attaching a UISB device - though not a camera.
> 
> The re-formatting reduces the risk of losing images. If you shoot for a living you want to make sure your gear is a prepped as possible. A quick reformat helps mitigate risk.



Ever shot tethered?


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## Iron Flatline (Dec 30, 2007)

Good point... the only time I've ever shot tethered was with Hassy and a digital back... and I don't remember how we hooked it up. 

Meh, shows you what know...


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## Val (Dec 30, 2007)

Iron Flatline said:


> B: Never connect a cable to your camera. That USB port? A me-too feature for consumers. Do NOT hook a very expensive camera to an electrically-charged cable connected to a very expensive computer. It's a bad idea. Get a card reader.



Lol?


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## Alpha (Dec 30, 2007)

Iron Flatline said:


> Meh, shows you what know...



Not translating well tonight? 

Was that "shows you what I know" or "shows what you know" ?


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## kundalini (Dec 30, 2007)

I have yet to use the camera to computer cable for uploading images.  I always use a card reader.

One horror story sold me on the idea.  This person was uploading straight from new camera to computer and there was a service spike which fried the camera electronics. (obviously no secondary survival)  True or not I could care less.  I live in a rural area and service spikes and drop-offs are not uncommon.  With a card reader I will only loose a segment of data if/when this occurs.


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## Joves (Dec 30, 2007)

kundalini said:


> I have yet to use the camera to computer cable for uploading images. I always use a card reader.
> 
> One horror story sold me on the idea. This person was uploading straight from new camera to computer and there was a service spike which fried the camera electronics. (obviously no secondary survival) True or not I could care less. I live in a rural area and service spikes and drop-offs are not uncommon. With a card reader I will only loose a segment of data if/when this occurs.


 That is why they make line conditioners/surge protectors for the equipment. The USB port will not surge unless the whole system gets slammed too. I have been hooking up my cameras for many years with no ill affect.
 Now on changing lenses. What I have read is you risk causing a static charge to the lense CPU. Cant remember where I saw it thogh.


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## Val (Dec 30, 2007)

kundalini said:


> I have yet to use the camera to computer cable for uploading images.  I always use a card reader.
> 
> One horror story sold me on the idea.  This person was uploading straight from new camera to computer and there was a service spike which fried the camera electronics. (obviously no secondary survival)  True or not I could care less.  I live in a rural area and service spikes and drop-offs are not uncommon.  With a card reader I will only loose a segment of data if/when this occurs.



TBH anyone whos got expensive electronics on this kind of grid without surge protectors is pushing his luck.

So not really an argument against USB per se.


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## RyanLilly (Dec 31, 2007)

Val said:


> TBH anyone whos got expensive electronics on this kind of grid without surge protectors is pushing his luck.
> 
> So not really an argument against USB per se.



Most cheaper consumer surge protectors(power strips) don't do squat. If you are interested in a good one you have to drop a fair sum of money, but probably worth the money for some people.


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## VeronicaLFB (Dec 31, 2007)

I haven't heard anything about damage from not turning it off-- but really, why risk it? It isn't _that _hard to turn the switch to 'off'!


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