Protect your lenses

[F, Calla & Luca]

Years ago, when I got my old SLR, I somehow learned, maybe from the camera store salesman, about using a clear filter to protect my lenses. I transferred my old filter to my new camera. Lo and behold one day recently I saw a chip in the filter. Lucky it was there to protect the lens. Today I bought a replacement for $11. A good deal I think.

[Billy Woody]

If you get into being really serious about your photography I suggest you see if you camera will shoot photos in RAW format. This creates an image with no compression and gives you the fullest color depth possible. When it is saved as a jpeg there is some loss of detail and color.

Plus later if you wish to manipulate or color correct your photos later in something like Photoshop, Aperture, or some other software, having the RAW format as a starting point is a big help.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks but we are well aware of that even though many of us , myself included, do not do it. I really do not love editing and have never really mastered it. I love the one great shot directly form the camera even if it takes thousands to get it. But you will find many discussions on all sorts of topics in this group. I also have indexed some but not all of the pertinent ones under various categories. You can find the index on the main group page. Some of our info. is in the comments section unfortunately since it does not lend itself readily to retrospective searching and perusal. Our members range from pros to could be pros to just for fun folks like me.

[Jean, Rylee and Cooper]

I don't shoot in RAW either, because of the editing time involved, although, I have been thinking about it.  Who knows, maybe someday!

[Camilla and Darwin]

I ALWAYS shoot in RAW, so much better for editing!

[Carol and Banjo]

I have to MAKE mayself do this......I haven't been brave enough to try it...because I don't know what to do with it when I do!

[Camilla and Darwin]

I haven't ventured into all of the RAW settings yet, I usually just tweak exposure and white balance in RAW. But it's much more simple than I expected, and SO worth it. I would recommend giving it a go. 

[Diane Margetts]

Ditto--I only shoot RAW. It does take up more space--a lot more actually . . .

[Camilla and Darwin]

Yeah, and it makes it slower for the memory card to record the picture. Downside for sure, since I like shooting rapid ones to capture just the right facial expression. I guess I need a faster card. :-)

[Diane Margetts]

Yup . . . I have one really fast card and it makes a huge difference . . .

[F, Calla & Luca]

A lot more indeed.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Just another thought for protecting your lens, I heard a tip from a member of this group to use a lens hood. I immediately bought one, and I will say that it's an extremely good safety option. I dropped my lens, and the lens hood got a little scratch but the lens was unharmed. 

[Richard Crowe]

Let me toss my hat in the ring and include my favorite accessory; the lens hood.  I will not shoot at any time or any place without a hood on my lens.  It has saved my very expensive Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens when I fell and the lens hit the concrete hood first.

As I mentioned on another post, Canon only provides lens hoods for their top-line "L" lenses and the Canon brand hoods are quite costly.  However there are oodles of lens hoods on eBay, made in China, and at a very cheap price.  I use Chinese hoods for all my lenses which don't come with hoods. I se no difference between a forty dollar Canon hood and a five dollar Chinese knock-off. Fortunately all other manufacturers (that I know of) supply hoods with their lenses...

I lost my 17-55mm f/2.8 lens hood the first hour I was in Naples while boarding the water bus from the airport to my hotel.  I hit the guard rail boarding the boat and the hood landed in the water.  Luckily, the lens hood from my 12-24mm f/4 Tokina fit (fairly well) on my Canon lens...

A hood can also increase the quality of your imagery by shielding the front element from flare.  Like they used to say in the old American Express TV commercials, "Never leave home without one!"