Stop Gear Cruelty :)

Vobluda said:
Do you have special slippers to wear them in your car only and driving in gloves? :)
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... people wearing special slippers in their car only and / or driving in gloves is not uncommon in Japan. :D;)

I try to take care of my gear, regarding functionality. A nice looking camera (cosmetically OK) is a bonus but not a requirement for me. :)
 
Gotta admit, don't use cases with my cameras, and I DO NOT handle them with a special cloth when I'm shooting. Buy my cameras to use. So yeah, they end up with the occasional ding or scratch--battle scars, I call 'em.

That said, I do clean them ASAP after I use them, remove dust, gook etc, make sure lenses are clean (ONLY clean 'em when actual dirt or gunk on the elements--yes, I use a protective filter), run mechanical cameras through their shutter speeds regularly.

As someone said,"Take care of your tools, and they will take care of you."
 
You guys make me feel like an abusive photographer. Permanent protective filters? OCD cleaning rituals?

My **** gets rained on, set down directly in the dirt when I'm lying on the ground to get a shot, optics get cleaned with whatever portion of my t-shirt I can grab when I notice objectionable amounts of whatever on my glass, cameras are thrown in bags hastily without caps, and when something goes wrong I'm more likely to tear into it with jeweler's screwdrivers than seek out a repairman.

EDIT: I don't mean to imply, however, that I don't actually care about my gear or don't take care of it. I just use it a lot and tend to use it hard.
 
B.J.Scharp said:
To me, taking care of your gear means taking it out to shoot.

A Leica should die shooting, not live in a glass cage.

Everyone is always impressed by this, so why shouldn't we aspire to the same?
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Well this is worn not abused. I mean there is a difference. Of course you have to use it. I dont like the other extreme case either where people keep the lenses in silk cloths and not use...

Accidents happen too...

If you are carrying your lens in your pocket or throw in a bag with other lenses where they bang to each other, that is cruelty IMHO :)
 
KenR said:
I buy gear to use, not to sit on a shelf under glass. Therefore it gets dusty and occasionally dinged. So, when it gets back home it all gets dusted off and cleaned as needed. No glue is used on it or holes purposely drilled into it, my stuff is not pristine and looks, for lack of a better word, used.
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Same hear my gear is to be used and most lkilely abused in the process of being used. But that said my entire bag of gear is sent off once a year for a CLA. I've lost a few cameras over the years though, Canon 1d got smashed into by a Humvee, I esentially destroyed a Canon FD 1.2 50mm when I cracked the mount on my F1 and had to glue it back onto the body as it was my only camera with me in remote North Africa. My Nikons fare much better, my first D2x impacted with a concrete wall while running around a corner in LA, the wall had a 5 inch chip taken out of it, the D2x had a tiny scratch on the vertical grip.

I think babying a camera is a crime to the camera, it was designed to be used not to be loved :p
 
dexdog said:
People do goofy stuff to gear. My 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM came with a leica bayonet adapter super-glued to the mounting threads. I had to remove the damn thing with a dremel tool, which left a shallow groove cut perpendicular to the threads. Lens works fine, is light tight, just a bit disfigured. Not noticeable when mounted on a camera, of course:D

I did not return the lens to eBay seller because I got it cheap ($900), with a nice condition and functioning M2 for a rear lens cap.
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Superglue willl loosen with acetone (fingernail polish)
 
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