Do you follow a procedure when changing lenses

The other day I was astonished when I watched a person change lenses with no concern for keeping dust out of the camera or lenses. I have always had a ritual, but now I am wondering how others do it.

My steps

1. Get out of direct sunlight; put lens cap on old lens.

2. Unscrew (but don't remove) the back cap of the new lens, stand the lens (rear end) up with the rear cap laying on top.

3. With the camera pointed to the ground (to keep dust from falling into the camera) remove the lens and place it next to the new lens

4. Place the rear cap from new lens on top of the old lens and put the new one on the camera that is still pointed to the ground.

5. Screw on the rear cap of the old lens and put it back in the bag.

6. Remove the lens cap and shoot.

I do steps 3 and 4 as quickly as possible to minimize the amount of dust getting, first into the camera, and second onto the rear of the lens.

The person that I watched was carrying on a conversation while she changed lenses. She had all of the lens caps off and laid the camera on a table facing straight up while she dug around in her bag. Watching her drove me nuts!

I use to be much more careful and went to great lengths to avoid dust. But now that I have had gone through 5 different bodies and have been dealing with dust issues for several years, I'm much more relaxed. I do switch my lenses quickly but all this hanging upside down stuff does nothing. Dust happens and it's so simple to blow it out that it's not worth stressing over.

About the only time I will get out of the elements is if it's raining, really foggy, or really windy and dusty like at a beach. I'll change lenses in the car or go out with both bodies, one with a wide zoom and one with a long zoom and not change lenses.

Dust gets in whether I'm fastidious when changing lenses or not. It is easier to blow it out before a shoot than to always be freaky when swapping things around. I'd rather be fast at lens changes to get the shot and clone out some dust after than be slow and miss things.

1) Take off lens.
2) Put on another one.

I seldom change lenses in the field

The advantage of shooting with a pair of camera bodies is not only having a very wide focal range available (with great IQ and terrific AF along with relatively fast apertures and IS) is that I seldom need to change lenses in the field.

I not only do not miss out on shots while I am changing lenses, I am far more likely to use the correct focal length for each shot.

Finally, I have a backup camera immediately available and I also have longer battery life and greater CF memory since I am dividing my shots between two or more cameras.

My procedure:

1) Take
2) off
3) lens
4) put
5) on
6) another
7) one

Whew, I'm exhausted.

Okay.. Thanks all for confirming that I really am anal; I have always suspected.
This is just a hobby for me, and while I do still have my old 300D, shooting with it is agony after using a the 7D; so two bodies is out.

With the exception of getting out of sunlight (a practice I adopted when using film), nothing about my routine really takes very long, so I'll stick with it when time is not critical.

I have six EOS bodies, the oldest being 3.5 years old, and nine lenses. To date I have only performed one wet clean and I have not used my Rocket blower for over a year. The wet clean was on my 30D after over a year of ownership, more like 15 months, I think. If I have dust then I don't see it. Whatever I am doing, it works for me. What I can say is that I rarely change lenses in the field. If I want more than one lens then I usually take two bodies and I sort out my lenses at home before I leave for my shoot. A short/wide f/2.8 zoom and a longer zoom have me well covered. I might take primes if I have concerns about the light, but I rarely use them.

I used to be worried about dust and take every precaution before switching lenses, but I realized that the dust issue is no problem and a simple rocket blower will get rid of the issue.

The ONLY time I am cautious about switching out lenses, it when the air is damp or wet because the dust can stick to the sensor and a rocket blower won't get it off.

hairy_moth wrote in post #9588384
With the exception of getting out of sunlight (a practice I adopted when using film), nothing about my routine really takes very long, so I'll stick with it when time is not critical.

What's the point? Sure, sunlight can sneak in and fog film - maybe - when the lens is off, but that has no application at all with digital cameras.

Bright light on the sensor? I use a very bright LED light/magnifier when cleaning the sensor. Nothing wrong with that.

-js

and besides, the curtain is covering the sensor from sunlight anyway...

I usually take the caps off my lenses before I ever start shooting and leave them off during the shoot. I'll take a lens off and drop it into a pouch without the caps so it's ready when I need it again. I also use Black Rapid straps and attach them to the tripod collar foot of my 70-200 or 100-400. I;ll even go so far as to remove the camera from the lens and leave the lens hanging from the strap with the back wide open while I shoot with a shorter lens on the camera.

I just love watching the OCD newbies spin up when I do that...

I cant say I have ever worried about dust when I change lenses. While I am far from reckless about it...I am just as far from careful.

It is funny hearing all the OCD stories about how careful people are about it. It seems the more people work with their cameras the less they obsess about it.

Lens caps off in a tray in a studio is nothing. I have seen working pros that keep their lenses at the ready on a lil blanket in the grass as they do an outdoor shoot, none of the lenses have either the front or rear cap in place. And they lay there by the hour.

So why did you ask if it makes no difference to you?

I shoot dirty, dusty horse shows for a living. I follow Cesium's procedure.

But I clean sensors after every week-end and send them in to be thoroughly cleaned once a year. And I'm with the Hoff. I can't worry about lens swapping at a shoot.