Canon EOS mag

Reproduced from EOS magazine January-March 2013

Comment and opinion

Switched on?

There is a thread running on the forum which

asks if it is necessary to switch your EOS

camera off before changing the CF or SD

card, battery or lens. Here at EOS magazine

we hardly ever do. That’s because we long

ago discovered that the camera powers down

the moment you open the card or battery

cover. Canon has added microswitches to the

covers to stop people like us doing damage by

forgetting to switch the camera off at the main

switch.

The important rule to follow is never open

the card or battery covers while the red access

lamp is flashing. This lamp, situated near the

card cover, tells you that data is being written

to or transferred from the card. Interrupting this

flow can corrupt one or more image files. This

is a bad thing.

However, the access lamp mostly flashes

for a second or less after you press the shutter

button. For the rest of the time it is dark, so the

risk of corruption is slight.

Changing the lens is a different matter. There

is a school of thought which says that there is a

static charge on the sensor when the camera is

switched on. Removing the lens allows dust into

the camera and this is attracted to the sensor.

Again, at EOS magazine we change lenses

with camera switched on and have not suffered

any bad consequences. Mostly, though, we are

changing lenses in areas which are relatively free

of dust. We would be more careful outdoors in

windy conditions.

Another point thrown up by this thread is

that some photographers turn their cameras off

between exposures. This is not necessary and

could lead to missed shots as the camera takes

time to start up again when switched on.

We try to remember to switch the camera off

when it is put away, but that does not happen

every time either.

However, there is no need to change habits

of a lifetime just because another photographer

does things differently. If what you do works for

you, carry on.

Photo thief

One forum member reported that an image he

had posted on Flickr is now appearing all over

the web without any credit or acknowledgement.

Sadly, this is not uncommon. Some people

appear to think that because a photograph is

on the internet it is in the public domain and

can be freely copied and used. Wrong. Laws of

The problem is that tracking down the culprits

is much more difficult. And even if you get your

pirated image removed from one site, it will

probably reappear on several more.

What can you do? One answer is never post

online. If you sell your photos, check the security

of a site before you post (can you download

images from other photographers)? Never e-mail

an image to a friend if you think they might post

it on Facebook. Otherwise, treat piracy as a

compliment – someone likes your work!

Club directory

The forum is a great place to chat to fellow EOS

enthusiasts online, but it can be even better to

meet up from time to time. Forum members

organise occasional events, but camera clubs

are also a great place to get together.

EOS magazine is looking for clubs which have

a good number of experienced EOS owners

among their membership who would will willing

to share their knowledge with new EOS owners.

If your camera club or society qualifies, send

details to

editorial@eos-magazine.com

and we

will add you to the camera clubs page which will

shortly be published on our website.

Many years ago we supported local groups

run by readers. These were less formal than

camera clubs, often meeting at a local pub or

organising local photo shoots. If you would like

to start a local EOS group, let us know (same

e-mail address as above) and we will be in touch

with further details.

Join the conversation at

www.eos-magazine-forum.com

Forum

Above

Forum members

have been running an

‘End of Year Showcase

2012’. This has been ably

organised by one of the

members. Voting is now

closed, but you can still

see entries for a short

while at:

http://bit.ly/WeEPVf

The image above is

one of the entries in the

‘Landscape’ category.

Andy Leslie shot it from

one of his favourite

viewpoints – the Pillow

Mounds overlooking

Carreg Cennen Castle, a

few miles from his home

in Llandybie, South West

Wales. The November

sunlight was fading as the

autumnal sun sank into the

west and he caught this

shot, with his favourite

combination, an EOS 7D

and EF 70-200mm f4L USM

zoom with an Extender

EF 1.4x attached. The

exposure was 1/1000

second at f5.6, ISO 160.

ANDY LESLIE

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