Use our Fujis as workhorse tools or keep them pristine?

[LeFey]

I wish I could just chuck my gear around ! So many people seem to be able to use their Fujis like workhorse tools.. they get beaten up, grazed and scratched but are always instantly ready to capture an image. On the contrary..  I keep mine safe, wrapped in leather cases with lens caps AND skylight filters, they all still look like new. Somehow I can't bring myself to let them get messed up. I think I need help !

[milandro]

Some beat them up on purpose to pretend they have been used to death and some do use them to death

 

 

Anyway.

 

I have never worn out a camera in many years of professional practice, not even one which we used to shoot catalogue pictures for which we shot many tens of thousands of shots with one body.

 

But those were the analog times.

 

Digital cameras are, because of their own transient nature, cameras which you may want to keep for a relatively limited amount of time. After few years you probably will upgrade so, being overly protective may not be all that necessary. However I bought a few months ago a barely used X-E2 which I’ve used well, brought it on holiday with me and before lost any of its value sold it on.

 

If I had it scratched it would have bee worth nothing.

[jlmphotos]

OH MY GOODNESS I love this topic.  My two cents:  Don't throw it around, but use the darn thing.  If it gets dinged up, so what?  As I've mentioned in other posts throughout when I'm done with cameras they become paperweights. I still own my 1978 Minolta X-E7.  If you saw it, you would swear it doesn't work; but it does!

It has traveled from the northern slopes of Alaska, to the Florida tropics and everywhere in between!

 

I don't abuse gear, but I'll be damned if I'm going to baby it.  All this bullshit of WR and non-WR lenses to me is just that.  BS.  If a lens can't get wet, screw it -- move on.

As I've said before: Back in the day, there were no WR lenses.  We used what we got.  Period.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! 

[Tom H.]

Scratches on the body never hurt the image quality. A camera is still a tool. Take care of it, but don't cuddle it to death either.

[erwiurewurwehu]

I wish I could just chuck my gear around ! So many people seem to be able to use their Fujis like workhorse tools.. they get beaten up, grazed and scratched but are always instantly ready to capture an image. On the contrary..  I keep mine safe, wrapped in leather cases with lens caps AND skylight filters, they all still look like new. Somehow I can't bring myself to let them get messed up. I think I need help !

I used to baby my equipment but now I don't care anymore and use it.

[Warwick]

I try to steer a course between the two. I use my camera a lot, but try to keep it in good condition for resale when I want to buy the newest model. That said, I dropped my X Pro2 from about 3ft onto rough concrete a week after I bought it: I was changing a lens, and I forgot I'd taken the strap from around my neck. That was a lucky escape: only a tiny chip in the paint.

 

 

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[Sam H]

The week after I bought my x-t1, I tripped on the street in Mumbai, landing all 250+lbs of me directly on my new camera. I got a big scrape on the outside of my lens, but aside from that everything was fine (except my chest, which had a HUGE purple and yellow bruise), and that scratch serves as a constant reminder of a great trip.

 

These cameras are TOUGH... use em!

[Aswald]

I've got a few dings and scuff but my workhorse still looks pristine. I don't pamper them either. I'm getting the pictures I want. I'm not sure how some cameras end up so beaten.

 

I do buy used stuff occasionally and If one observe closely, there is a direct correlation between the condition of gear and attitude of owner. Sometimes, I don't even have to look at the camera to tell if I'm going ahead with the purchase or not.

 

I've know owners who don't even bother to cap the body or lenses when they chuck them into the bag. Yeah, sensor exposed and all for the entire assignment.

[LeFey]

Thanks for the advice and comments guys. I was worried I was turning into a collector rather than photographer.  Time to remove the leather cases I reckon.. Regards Drew

[milandro]

you could have the case AND use the camera, I don’t see the reason why you couldn’t do this 

[jeffryscott]

Camera equipment is meant to be used. I can never understand how so much fine equipment is used so little - cameras a few years old with only a few hundred actuations. I certainly don't purposely abuse gear, but I buy it to use and to get photos.

 

If you are unwrapping a lens from a protective cocoon every time you want to put it on, you are likely missing photos, unless your only subject matter are static. I'm a former photojournalist, so my views are probably a little more cavalier towards using gear. But if it isn't accessible and easy to get to, you miss shots.

[jlmphotos]

Thanks for the advice and comments guys. I was worried I was turning into a collector rather than photographer.  Time to remove the leather cases I reckon.. Regards Drew

 

Good for you!  Think if that leather case as saving you a few ounces of weight, and removing some bullk

J

[Aswald]

If you are unwrapping a lens from a protective cocoon every time you want to put it on, you are likely missing photos, unless your only subject matter are static. I'm a former photojournalist, so my views are probably a little more cavalier towards using gear. But if it isn't accessible and easy to get to, you miss shots.

 

Agree with you.

 

A good bag and 2nd body will let you shoot like a pro and miss fewer shots. And still end up with pristine gear.

[darknj]

I just use them, stuff happens anyway, unless you live in a museum things are bound to happen to your gear.

 

If possible, I would like to keep them in "as best possible" condition for my sons to enjoy if they do want to dabble in photography in a few years.

But if they get broken, replacement is always possible.

[milandro]

unlike analog cameras nobody will use these digital cameras of ours in 25 years, so being overly cautious is not very productive, yet not slamming them around or dragging them through muck is my strategy.

 

Well...almost

 

Years ago, while working for a local paper, I went to shoot the yearly livestock fair. I had a large canvas bag with my Canon gear in it.

 

At some point I shot something from a low angle and didn’t realize that the bag had landed in a large cow’s pat... well, of course it was a canvas bag and could be washed, now suppose I would have had camera hanging on the same side with a long tele ... that would have been not so easy to hose clean. That’s where the WR comes handy!   

Edited September 5, 2016 by milandro

[ocbeyer]

The one part on the XE and XP cameras that is particularly vulnerable to damage is the battery/card door, it's just plastic. A half case will protect that but I find the hand grip to do the job and is less cumbersome.

[mdm]

I keep mine safe, wrapped in leather cases with lens caps AND skylight filters, they all still look like new. Somehow I can't bring myself to let them get messed up. I think I need help !

 

No, I haven't got leather case... but I have lens caps AND skylight filters and they all still look like new and I definitely don't need any help here. It's just my nature and I treat all things I possess the same way whatever it is - my camera, my car, my boots or my thoughts.

[Begi Nabara]

 I think I need help !

I concur. Professional help.

[JDFlood]

When my camera was my most expensive possession, I was crazy careful. Not true now, I work hard to avoid catastrophic problems... Dropping an f1.4 lens off a cliff. I use a half leather case, but I love to use fully and not worry about it. I'll buy a new one or be dead... Enjoy it while you can.

 

 

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[johant]

Good for you! Think if that leather case as saving you a few ounces of weight, and removing some bullk

J

Maybe, but it also adds protection when you accidentally scrape against a wall or rock. If the case is designed well, I see mostly advantages in using it.

[Mike G]

I thought that leather camera cases went with the dinosaurs. But obviously I'm wrong!

 

I would prefer protection to my lenses rather than the camera, so that they do not rattle about in my bag. Normally when I've arrived somewhere, I usually wear a Domke Photographers vest, a huge number of pockets to put your stuff in! Some may think that nerdy, but I got the pockets!

[Azimuth]

Are you the type that upgrades every two years? You had better baby the cameras then.

 

I'm on a much longer buying cycle, and don't mind working my T1 really hard. Still, there is room for taking care of equipment without babying it. I keep my gear in a camera bag or backpack, generally careful not to scratch or drop it, and it gets wiped off after a seascape expedition.

[David Thompson]

I am not going to drop it intentionally, scruffed the screen on my xpro 1 by letting it sit on the car shelf, was not happy at my carelessness, but won't cry as i use the viewfinder!

 

if a do bust it its time for an upgrade!

 

cases - do like them to pose with but normally have a telephoto so umph

[johant]

I thought that leather camera cases went with the dinosaurs. But obviously I'm wrong!

 

With the skin peeling tendencies of the Fujifilm cameras, I think that leather cases still fulfill a purpose.

[rckstflbn]

I never intentionally abuse gear,  but I definitely don't go out of my way to protect it.  It's a tool...  tools get used.