13 Tips for Taking Care of Your Digital Camera

 
These tips cover caring for virtually any camera. Mostly they are just common sense. Nonetheless, see how many of them you routinely apply.

1. Always put the camera strap around your neck WHENEVER taking pictures so if the camera slips, it does not drop onto the ground. If it comes only with a short strap, hook a longer one to it. Immediately! What? You don’t have a camera strap (lanyard)? You can order one online at many sites. My favorite lanyard comes from Cyberguys.

2. Never set the camera on a surface when there is a lower surface below it. (Example: setting a camera (or anything breakable) on the back seat of a car where it can FALL down onto the floor; set it on the floor to begin with.)

3. In a restaurant, set the camera in the center of the table. Never hang it on the back of the chair or leave it on the edge of the table.
 
4. With a big SLR-shaped camera, always use a padded camera bag with a long neck or shoulder strap. The padding will protect the heavy camera when, inevitably, you drop it. Kodak offers some excellent camera care kits.

5. To ensure against theft in a crowd, wear the camera's shoulder strap across your chest; not merely hanging off one shoulder. Keep a neck strap around your neck. Thieves love seeing cameras they can grab.

6. In a bus or plane, never put the camera by itself in the overhead storage compartment or under the seat by itself unless you want to watch it the entire flight. Keep it with you, out of sight, in your carry on, or with its strap wrapped around your leg.

7. Don't put your camera into checked luggage. Checked luggage is often X-rayed, workers can see the camera, and not everyone in baggage handling is honest.

8. Don't ask someone at a resort or beach to take the camera from you and take a picture of you. If you do, just be sure it is someone that you can outrun in case they take off with your camera!
 
9. Put a return address/phone number sticker on your camera (and camera bag) so in case you lose the camera and an HONEST person finds it, they will know how to contact you. If you are on a trip, be sure to also put the contact info for where you are staying. Those contact info stickers that people put on golf club shafts work great on cameras, PDAs, etc., and can be gotten at PinHighInc.com.

10. Better yet, just have your jeweler do it for a few well-spent bucks.

11. Although it is sometimes a pain in the neck to do, keep your lens covered when the camera is not in use. One scratch and your camera is no good, or, you'll pay dearly for a repair.

12. When on vacation, always check under your table, or under the bus, van or airline seat you were sitting on as soon as you get up. We are not used to "carrying things around" when we are home, so on vacation, it is very easy to forget that we were toting a camera. My husband, Bill Koelzer, who visited China 21 times, and led large groups of tourists all over that country, can tell you how heartbreaking it is for a passenger to lose a camera filled with tour pictures simply because s/he forgot about it when leaving a bus or taxi.

13. At your office, never ever leave your digital camera (or other small, desirable electronic devices) sitting out on your desk. Buy a piece of furniture that locks or have a locksmith put a lock on a desk drawer for you. Not everyone you work with is honest. Moreover, the world's greatest thief is the one that you would least expect.

Welcome to the world of online digital Internet imagery. Now, get your money's worth by learning how to keep your digital camera safe and ready to use always.

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Tips courtesy of Debbie Ferrari, San Clemente real estate broker.