[Debsy99]

Hi All

I am the proud new owner of a Nikon 40DX. Literally bought it home last night but have it out of the box, battery charged, lens on. However I am already panicking about how I am going to protect the screen on the back of the camera - surely it needs some sort of protection? Please note: I have armour plating on my i-pod so that it remains in pristine condition .....

Also worrying about getting dust on my sensor?!!!!! How can you keep this to a minimum and what cleaning kit is best?

Thanks,

Debs

[JMitchell]

They're pretty tough, but if you really want you could buy one of the Nikon branded screen protectors, dunno if there's a D40x fit one, or one from jessops which are cut-to-size readhesive clear plastic....


Dust on the sensor is something everyone worries about but it's not such a big deal. Try and keep the sensor facing downwards when putting on a lens, ie camera body facing downwards, but that's about all you can do. you can also easily edit out sensor spots in an editing program like Photoshop.
The dust wont actually damage the sensor because what it will fall on is the sensor cover, but that still needs looking after, so don't poke it with a pin or anything . But unless it's really bad you should onlybe able to see it at high f stops, and it should easily be editable out. Don't know anything about cleaning kits cos I don't got one, but the giottos rocket blower bulb is a favourite for blowing off dust...

[orangepeel]

these aren't trivial

As far as I know you can't get an LCD cover. Not a Nikon one anyway. There may be some aftermarket ones on EBay.

As for your sensor, I use the copperhill method myself. Bought the cleaner gubbins from chili-pix.

I've had my camera 14 months and cleaned it twice. It's not as big a deal as some would make it seem. As long as you are careful and follow the instructions then it's not too bad.

[IanHoughton]

I've had my D50 for about a year now and have only suffered from dust spots once (after foolishly changing lenses near the beach). I always follow the following method:

1) Make sure camera is turned off
2) Prepare the lens to be added by removing the cap
3) Turn the camera so that the hole in the body is facing downwards
4) Take the lens off the camera and quickly replace it with the new lens
5) Put the cap on the lens you just removed.

As for screen protectors I have tried the self adhesive clear covers but found that it was harder to review images. You can buy plastic covers that go over the screen and act like a sunshade as well, not sure if they are ready for the D40x yet though.

[VikingPhotography]

Debsy,

You shouldn't worry too much about the rear LCD screens; they're more robust than most people think and will only crack/scratch when there's a fair bit of force applied.

I have two D2X bodies and I simply don't bother using the plastic protectors that came with them, and believe me when I say that my cameras get subjected to a lot of abuse.

If you're insistent on protecting them then the best thing to use is the self-adhesive type of LCD protectors that are commonly sold for PDA's and mobile phones. If you can't find one the exact size, buy one larger than you need and trim it to fit.

Oh, and on sensor dust: get a good blower such as the Giottos Rocket or similar to help get contaminants out of the sensor chamber. The D40 is Nikon's most dust resistant camera to date in terms of sensor arrangement so you'll have less worries than, say, a D2 series user



When you need to change a lens, use a common sense approach to minimising the contaminants that might get on your lens or sensor, as per Ian Houghton's method outlined in the previous post. Take time to clean your camera, lenses, caps (body caps and lens caps) properly about once a month... or the day before you leave for an important event (wedding, holiday etc..)

[gsgary]

Originally Posted by Debsy99

Hi All

I am the proud new owner of a Nikon 40DX. Literally bought it home last night but have it out of the box, battery charged, lens on. However I am already panicking about how I am going to protect the screen on the back of the camera - surely it needs some sort of protection? Please note: I have armour plating on my i-pod so that it remains in pristine condition .....

Also worrying about getting dust on my sensor?!!!!! How can you keep this to a minimum and what cleaning kit is best?

Thanks,

Debs

I have no protection on my 1D or 10D i they get treated rough, as for dust always turn the camera off before changing lenses, leave it on and its like a magnet cleaning is easy if you do get dust lots of people panic about cleaning, i clean mine every few weeks get some of these can be used wet or dry Intemos - the home of digital camera cleaning

[Debsy99]

Thanks everyone for the good advice - I can see I will have to start adding a few items to my kit already.

Ian - your method is exactly what I used to do when had a "film" slr many years ago so I will carry on in the same way with my new camera.

Anyway I have been out in the garden today and am having fun with it already - hope to post a few pics once I get the software loaded up.

Thanks again

Debs

[Dutchie]

Debsy, I had a screenprotector on my D80. But with fairly little use it has broken off. And seriously I have not used it that much and i'm very gentle with it. So those protectors don't say much either. I've had a digicam for around 5.5 years now and not one scratch on the lcd screen. And that has been used lots of times. So don't worry to much about that.

Have fun with your new addition

[stevemurrayphotos]

Hi Debs,

Lots of good advice here already, I used a Hoodman LCD shade when I had a D70, which both protected the screen and shaded it in sunshine for reviewing your shots. Now, I just use some self-adhesive clear plastic as the Nikon one kept falling off.

Enjoy your new camera !

[Dabhand16]

I got some pre-cut ones from e-bay from some guy in Germany for £5. There were only for the main LCD where other camera makes (on the same site) also had them for the top plate LCD too.

Took about 3/4 days to arrive.

[silver]

it will make a slight difference to the lcd image but on all my cameras I use the plastic sheets you can buy in jessops (well lots of places) generally called PDA screen protectors, takes 5 mins to cut to size and will protect from scratches

Sil