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Is it safe to swap manual lenses with camera switched on?


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I have always adopted a policy of switching off my camera before adding or removing lenses. My concern is when the lens is removed the contacts on the lens could bridge the pad on the camera body causing shorts. This may be an unnecessary concern because if the lens mount system was well enough designs the distance between pads should be greater than the contact width, but I do it to be safe.

My question is: When using manual lenses or manual lens mound adapters, is it necessary to switch off the camera when changing lenses, since the lens should not be in contact with the electrical cotacts on the camera body, else it would short them all out.

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IMHO the best thing is to develop a routine.

Mine is to always switch the camera off, regardless of the lens mounted. While there could be no issue with manual lenses, for me it is more difficoult to switch between change with camera on and change with camera off, depending on the lens. For me it is easier to develop a habit and follow it without thinking. I also heard that leaving the camera on with the sensor exposed increases the chance of capturing dust because of electrostatic effects. I cannot say whether this is a urban legend or not, but, once again, I developed a habit: turn the camera off, remove the old lens with the camera pointing downwards, place the new lens on and switche the camera on.

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I tend to agree with you. It was just that I was doing a lot of back to back comparisons between lens which meant taking one photo swapping lens taking another, swapping again. I was getting fed up of switching on and off, so just wondered.

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Check you manual..  On mine - a700, a850 & a900 -- it does not mention anything about turning off the camera to change lenses, but it does mention how to avoid dust. 

When it comes to switching batteries, it specifically says to turn the camera off.

Edited by XKAES
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3 hours ago, Zedster said:

I was doing a lot of back to back comparisons... I was getting fed up of switching on and off...

Either you're incredibly foolish or lazy risking pricey hardware because you don't want to bother suffering the 2 seconds it takes to turn off then on again or you're impeded because you have hooks for hands.

 

I'll always forgive the second option, but never the first.

 

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Call me lazy but I've had numerous occasions where I realized my camera was still turned on halfway the lens swapping procedure. I totally agree it's best to develop a routine of turning your camera off beforehand, but based on anecdotal experience it really won't hurt your camera or lenses to leave it on. And this was with 'smart' lenses with electronic contacts, so it'll likely be even less of a problem with 'dumb' MF lenses. The IS mechanism even proceeded normally with recognizing the proper focal length of the newly attached lens.

All of this anecdotal evidence is disregarding the rumored increased dust accumulation on your sensor. 

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The added dust attraction isn't really a rumor, the only questionable part is how much it actually accumulates, and that'd depend on a lot of variables. But, yes, while shutting the camera off makes the most sense, sometimes when in a hurry I'm guilty of forgetting.

So far so good. 

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Regardless of individual routines (I got mine when I started using my Nikon AF camera and it was stated in the manual to switch the camera off when swapping lenses) I think that the risk of damage to the lens and/or the camera is limited. If there is a significant risk of damage, I would had read in forums stories of people that actually got their equipment damaged. I do not exclude that I also did a swap with the camera on while I was in a hurry to seize the moment. 

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1 hour ago, Cameratose said:

Very first sentence in the manual for 2 of my cameras: "Turn camera off before changing lenses."

Which cameras were those?  It might be in some of the Nikon manuals, but I haven't seen it in any Sony manual -- but I don't claim to have seen them all.

If it were a risk with a particular Sony camera, the manual would spell it out -- like they do with other activities, such as changing batteries.  Go ahead and turn your camera OFF every time you change lenses, but if your manual doesn't advise it, you're just wearing out your ON/OFF switch.

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5 minutes ago, XKAES said:

...you're just wearing out your ON/OFF switch.

Given that I tend to minimise lens changes to avoid catching dust on the sensor while doing it in the field, for me this is not an issue. During my last vacation I took 2000+ pictures with my Sony and I think that I have swapped lenses less than 20 times, the 18-135 did most of the job, less than 1% more switch use won't make a difference. For me.

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1 hour ago, XKAES said:

Which cameras were those?  It might be in some of the Nikon manuals, but I haven't seen it in any Sony manual -- but I don't claim to have seen them all.

If it were a risk with a particular Sony camera, the manual would spell it out -- like they do with other activities, such as changing batteries.  Go ahead and turn your camera OFF every time you change lenses, but if your manual doesn't advise it, you're just wearing out your ON/OFF switch.

A7 IV and A1. Here's a snip from the A7 IV:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited by Cameratose
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3 hours ago, Phormula said:

Given that I tend to minimise lens changes to avoid catching dust on the sensor while doing it in the field, for me this is not an issue. During my last vacation I took 2000+ pictures with my Sony and I think that I have swapped lenses less than 20 times, the 18-135 did most of the job, less than 1% more switch use won't make a difference. For me.

That's pretty good for that kind of shooting! I love a good bridge camera for travel, sometimes I think about getting another one.

I'll probably shoot between 2000 and 2500 tomorrow and will try to limit lens changes to a half dozen, some of those will happen near my truck and some near the track. It really depends on how I feel when it comes to composition variation (getting very near the end of the season and don't care as much as I do in the spring), and if the event goes into dark. I try to get by with two zooms during the day and a couple of fast primes at night.  

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I have the habit of turning the camera off before switching lenses (I think that instruction was in the older camera manuals), I have occasionally forgotten to do so. Maybe a dozen times over a couple of decades. So far I haven't blown up a camera or lens by forgetting to turn it off, but I would not make a habit of it. I wouldn't plan to do it deliberately.

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15 hours ago, FunWithCameras said:

I have the habit of turning the camera off before switching lenses (I think that instruction was in the older camera manuals),

It's not mentioned in any of my PRE-a7 camera manuals -- which many consider "old".   And it's not mentioned in any of my Maxxum/Dynax camera manuals either.

Since I consider the a7 "new", maybe this is just in the new camera manuals -- or e-mount cameras.

Edited by XKAES
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32 minutes ago, XKAES said:

It's not mentioned in any of my PRE-a7 camera manuals -- which many consider "old".   And it's not mentioned in any of my Maxxum/Dynax camera manuals either.

Since I consider the a7 "new", maybe this is just in the new camera manuals -- or e-mount cameras.

Possibly because the sensor on a DSLR is somewhat protected from dust by the mirror when the sensor is powered, where a mirrorless sensor is exposed. Or it could simply be new standard language they decided on when writing the manuals. There's no doubt Sony's A-mount cameras are fully saturated in Minolta DNA, perhaps the manuals are an extension of that.  

 

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1 hour ago, Cameratose said:

Or it could simply be new standard language they decided on when writing the manuals.

Or, even if the risk of damaging the camera or the lens by swapping with the camera turned on is negligible, let's say one every 10 million, they want to avoid a complaint by somebody stating that it was not written in the manual. 

5 minutes ago, XKAES said:

That would make sense to turn OFF the cameras with exposed sensors if the sensors could attract dust.

Not only dust, also a lot of light and, if the camera is turned on, the sensor is overloaded.

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2 hours ago, Phormula said:

Not only dust, also a lot of light and, if the camera is turned on, the sensor is overloaded.

With all due respect, that sounds like utter bullocks to me. The light intensity on the sensor is much higher when pointing a long lens at a bright light source with the aperture wide open (something I also wouldn't recommend doing).

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1 hour ago, Pieter said:

(something I also wouldn't recommend doing)

This is another story. I have seen several damaged cameras and lenses with damages caused by long exposure to the sun.

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Yes but still somewhat on-topic: I think this should be more of a concern with MF lenses (related to OP's question): leaving the camera without lens cap, aperture wide open. Whether on or off, the camera could be damaged by sunlight through the lens. With AF lenses, the aperture is closed when the camera is turned off, just to prevent this kind of risk.

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5 hours ago, Pieter said:

With AF lenses, the aperture is closed when the camera is turned off, just to prevent this kind of risk.

It looks like we have to get specific about camera model,  With all of my cameras -- Maxxum and Sony a-mount -- the lenses are closed when not on the cameras, and wide open when attached to the cameras (regardless of the camera being ON or OFF).  They only stop down during the exposure -- or when the stop-down button is pressed.

E-mounts?  I have no idea -- but it's one more reason I'm glad I don't have anything e-mount.

Edited by XKAES
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3 hours ago, XKAES said:

the lenses are closed when not on the cameras, and wide open when attached to the cameras (regardless of the camera being ON or OFF).  They only stop down during the exposure -- or when the stop-down button is pressed.

E-mounts?  I have no idea -- but it's one more reason I'm glad I don't have anything e-mount.

How exactly is the behaviour of E-mount a disadvantage in this regard? I don't see it...

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