Category Archives: Tips & Tricks

It’s all too easy to cause accidental camera sun damage. Picture the scene: it’s a lovely day outside, the sun is shining. You’re getting some great photos with amazing natural light. You decide to take a break and grab some food – leaving your camera on the table outside.

You come back and your camera looks like this:

Luckily there was no damage to the camera sensor; it was the mirror box that took the brunt. The repairs still amounted to around £350, but all things considered the photographer got off lucky. If they’d been using a mirrorless camera, or had left the camera in the sun for longer, the damage could have been significantly worse.

And it could have easily been avoided.

Let me explain the above picture a bit more – and what happens when a camera is left out in the sun.

This digital camera, a Canon EOS 7D Mark II, was left outside with the lens still attached, but no lens cap on. It was left for a few hours in direct sunlight. When the lens was removed, this damage was seen.

Think of it this way. What materials are cameras often made from? Plastic and metal. Plastic may have a high melting point, but it can and will reach this point if it’s left in high heat conditions for long enough. Shutter blades are made from extremely thin metal, and exposure to intense heat can cause them to sag or become twisted, resulting in permanent damage.

Some cameras are equipped with failsafes to prevent overheating in use. If they detect the internals getting too hot, they will initiate a ‘safety shutoff’ to try and reduce the temperature. This is useful to have, but is no defence against prolonged sun exposure, which can damage a camera whether it’s on or off.

Does taking pictures of the sun damage your camera?

This question doesn’t have a straightforward answer. It depends on the camera, how long you’re shooting the sun for, the position of the sun, and numerous other factors. But when it comes down to it: yes, when your camera is pointed directly at the sun, it can suffer damage – especially when the sun is at its highest point. This is because the lens acts as a magnifying glass and multiplies the intensity of the sun, which can be too much for the sensor.

In many cases, aiming your camera at the sun can cause a temporary ‘blooming’ effect – whereby the sensor becomes overloaded, and the light source may seem to give off the image of horizontal or vertical streaks of light.

This is not necessarily causing damage, and usually fades away. However, with older models, it may cause a slightly more permanent effect.

Now, you can take pictures of the sunrise and sunset as much as you want; this won’t cause any damage. However, if you are taking photos of the sun at any other time, try not to point your lens at the sun until you are ready to take the picture. Ideally, make sure your settings are pre-prepared. The longer your lens is pointed at the sun, the longer your sensor is being exposed. Pointing your camera at the sun for half a minute will be significantly safer than pointing it at the sun for a full minute. And when the sun is at its highest, I would avoid taking photos of it completely.

What about the solar eclipse?

A solar eclipse can be incredible, and is definitely photo-worthy. However, even with the moon blocking it, the sun’s rays are still immensely powerful. Shooting an eclipse could cause solar damage to your camera if you focus on it for too long, so it’s worth fitting your camera with a solar filter.

Be aware, however, that using a solar filter does mean that your shutter speeds will need to be slower, especially when using a long focal length. It would therefore also be worth using a tripod for stability. You may have heard some recommend using a neutral density filter, but solar filters are the only filters that are specifically designed to sufficiently dim the sunlight and protect the camera and your eyes from the sun.

On that note, I would avoid looking through the viewfinder if you can, as it may damage your eyes. Use Live View and the LCD screen to compose your image instead.

Ways to protect your camera from the heat

Cameras really don’t like performing in the heat, so you need to get creative in protecting them from it. This is especially true if you’re planning a long, active shoot outdoors. Here are a few quick tips for protecting your camera on an outdoor shoot:

Camera bag: Keep the camera in your camera bag when you’re not using it. This will give it a break from the sun and a chance to recover from the heat.

Towels: If you don’t have a dedicated camera bag, wrap your camera in a towel or a blanket. Even some clothes will do in a pinch! If your camera is just sitting in the car, cover it with some extra protection. Any way you can shelter it from the heat is recommended.

Umbrellas: If you’ve got a big setup and can’t move your camera, it may be worth investing in a couple of umbrellas (the shading kind, not the light modifying kind) to give your camera some protection.

Fight internal heating:  Another way cameras can overheat is if they’re pushing themselves to do too much. You can help them with this by using an external battery, or a faster memory card.

To summarise

Cameras can severely struggle with the sun and with overheating, both internally and externally. However, there are many ways you can help with this and protect your camera.

The points to remember are

• Try not to point your camera at the sun (but if you have to – be as quick as possible).
• Do NOT leave your camera in the sun without protection.

Memory cards are an inescapable piece of kit in any photographer’s arsenal and it’s ironic that in many cases, these small squares of plastic and silicon that we entrust with our hard earned images are often the cheapest item in our camera bags!

And it’s probably fair to say that a lot of us have also experienced that panic when the word ‘Error’ shows on your DSLR’s screen and you can’t access any of your images.

Memory cards, in all shapes and sizes, are built on a solid state architecture and despite having no moving parts, there are certain housekeeping processes that will ensure you minimise the risks of your cards failing.

Please note that the following processes are based on our experience with handling memory cards over the years and there are many opinions on how to correctly look after memory cards. We’re simply relaying information that we know works for us and has worked for many of our customers!

Regular formatting

Rather than deleting images, format the card on your camera (once you’ve checked that your images are backed up elsewhere). Even deleting single images as you’re shooting can cause problems with the database structure on the card, and can lead to card errors. Memory cards use the FAT32 or exFAT format, depending on the size of the card. Both these formats can be deployed on a Mac or PC, but it’s generally safer to format the card in the camera itself.

Our Nikon workshop manager, Barry Edmonds, has also come across issues in the past when customers are formatting cards on a Mac: “I’ve had customers reporting the storage space decreasing over time, even though they’re formatting their cards regularly. It seems that in some cases, the cards will retain ‘Apple .Trashes’ files on the directory, despite the cards being formatted in the camera. Formatting the cards on a PC seemed to clear the problem.”

Keep space on the card

The golden rule for computer hard drives is to always leave around 30% of the space free, and exactly the same principle applies to memory cards. The performance of the read/write speed will start to suffer as the card becomes full and you run the risk of data corruption as the remaining space becomes fragmented.

Don’t use cheap cards

Despite some common misconceptions, not all memory cards are created equal! There are different qualities of flash memory and controllers out there, and if a card’s cheap, it’s a good indication that perhaps that manufacturer isn’t using the highest grade materials. Yes, the likes of Sandisk and Lexar are more expensive, but do you really want to run the risk?

Use a card reader

However careful you are when the card is in the camera, when it comes to transferring your images to your computer, don’t use your camera. If your battery doesn’t have much juice left and it depletes halfway through the transfer process, there’s a good chance the files will be corrupted. A good quality card reader is a much safer option and is much more convenient too.

I’m extremely careful with my memory cards but I’ve still been on the receiving end of an error and now I can’t access my images

Unfortunately it’s a fact of life that no matter how careful you are, there will undoubtably be a time when you experience data loss. In that situation, your only option is to try and recover your images using a dedicated recovery application. AnySoftwareTools have some recommendations on image recovery software for both Mac & PC.

You’ll have all noticed the little light that blinks every now and then on the back of your DSLR; red on a Canon, green on a Nikon.

It’s there to indicate that the camera is accessing the card, either to write data when shooting or read data when previewing images. Something important to bear in mind though, is that you should never attempt to remove the card or the battery while the light is on.

If you’ve taken a large burst of images and your memory card isn’t particularly fast, you’ll notice the light on while the camera’s buffer writes the data to the card. If this process is interrupted you stand a very good chance of corrupting not only the images the camera is currently writing, but the entire contents of the card! The same principle applies if you remove the battery during the same process.

Nikon cameras have a green lamp

Canon cameras have a red lamp

Yes, there is software available that can access corrupt data, but it’s not a 100% guaranteed operation.

It’s perfectly safe to turn the camera off while the light is on; the camera’s power will actually stay on until the writing process is complete so there’s no danger of losing anything, just don’t get carried away and pop the card out early or remove the battery.

If you feel we’ve missed out any important tips, or would like to add anything to our suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Polypropylene, or ‘Peli’ cases are a great solution for transporting camera gear and offer substantial impact protection along with waterproofing.

However, many of us make the mistake of storing our kit in these boxes when we get back from the shoot and that’s really not a good idea.

Moisture, however slight, will naturally collect on your equipment and once the lid is closed on your protective case, the moisture will have nowhere to evaporate and can cause fungus to grow in lenses and the viewfinder of your DSLR.

Keeping a few sachets of silica gel in the box will certainly help absorb some of this moisture, but these sachets are only effective for around 6 months, and to be fair, do you really know how long you’ve had those tatty packets in your case?

The golden rule then, is to store your kit in camera bags and only use the cases when you’re transporting gear.

Pretty much everything in the photographic world runs on batteries, and they need to be cared for. Battery corrosion can cause serious damage to equipment if left unchecked. In this quick blog we’re going to give you some tips on taking care of your batteries.

Not that long ago, nearly all photographic products were powered either by AA or AAA batteries, also known as alkaline batteries. Everything from Nikon’s old MD-4 film-advancing motor drives to Canon’s T90 cameras and battery packs for the first SLR cameras in the early 1960s would be powered by common, over-the-counter batteries.

Battery leakage has caused photographers problems for years. We’ve seen the issue plenty of times in the Fixation workshop – sometimes just getting the old leaked batteries out of the battery holder or battery box is almost impossible.
Battery technology has greatly improved, and modern digital cameras now all mainly use Li-Ion batteries, which are designed to give far better performance. They’re rechargeable and more environmentally friendly. Very rarely do we see any problems with these types of batteries!

An important caveat though is that you should buy Li-Ion batteries from a reputable source. if you are buying online and the price of a third-party battery seems far too good to be true, it probably is. The battery will usually be a fake, and this can cause damage to your camera and void the warranty.

Nowadays most of us don’t buy anywhere near as many batteries as we used to. It’s easy to be shocked at how much a pack of AA or AAA batteries costs! However, most camera producers still sneak in one or two products that rely on common AA or AAA batteries, flashguns being among the most common, and therefore photographers still have to buy them.

We would always advise buying a recognised brand, like Energizer, Duracell or Panasonic. These do tend to be more expensive, but you’ll be better off in the long run. At Fixation, we have a wide selection of batteries, so give us a call if you’re going to need them in bulk, or just want to stock up.

If you’re going to buy third-party rechargeable lithium batteries, then we would recommend still using trusted brands like Ansmann and Hahnel, which rarely leak. Be aware that many third-party Li-Ion batteries have a slightly lower voltage, which can mean that they won`t last as long as conventional types and will need to be charged more often.

If you’re using hot-shoe flash units and flash triggers on a photographic shoot, then you’re going to be using AA or AAA batteries. What often happens in these cases is that when a photographer has finished, they put all their gear away in a hurry and leave the pesky batteries in the devices, sometimes forgetting about them for months on end. And what happens? Sometimes, the batteries leak.

Pulling a flash unit or trigger out of your camera bag only to find that its batteries have leaked is a photographer’s worst nightmare. If you haven’t brought a spare flash unit, you’re looking at a minimum of twenty minutes spent frantically cleaning the flash contacts up, and you’d better hope you brought some more batteries! And try doing all that with a client breathing down your neck. It can be extremely stressful!

We’re not shaming anyone – this can happen to any photographer. But it’s best to leave cleaning battery corrosion to the professionals. If your batteries have leaked, Fixation can help, either by cleaning or replacing the damaged parts and getting the flashgun or other device up and running again. In the best case scenario it’s just a matter of cleaning the contacts and battery li. Sometimes, however, due to the highly corrosive nature of the battery acid, the internal circuitry can be irreparably corroded. If so, we can provide documentation to this effect for your insurance.

All this can be costly, and the prevention is much nicer than the cure. So get in the habit of taking batteries out of your devices when you’re not using them!

Take the case of this poor Speedlite. It had been left for a couple of months, and the batteries had leaked rather badly. There was a happy ending however, as it was simply a matter of carefully cleaning the contacts to remove the salty deposits, and the flashgun was as good as new.

In many cases though, if the batteries have leaked excessively, the battery acid can cause corroded contacts and find its way into the circuitry, rendering the equipment irreparable.

So, once again, make a point of taking the batteries out and storing them in a separate pouch or a dedicated pocket in your bag. This way, if they leak, at least they won’t damage anything expensive!

Disposing of batteries

Our responsibility to recycle correctly cannot be emphasised enough. At Fixation, we have regular collections of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) product, including batteries, from our home in London’s Vauxhall.

If your batteries have leaked and you have removed them, please do not throw in the general rubbish bin. These and all types of batteries contain some pretty nasty stuff (acid, lead, mercury, nickel) and they must be recycled correctly. We and all Wex Photo Video stores have collection bins for batteries, as do many other stores including all major supermarkets. We are always happy to recycle them for you, so just bring them in and we will deal with them in the correct way.