50
votes
What would be causing a thick black diagonal line in front of my camera's sensor?
From what I see this is element from the shutter. And my humble advise is to send your camera to repair shop, give it in to the hands of professional, do not try to repair it.
- 9,253
38
votes
How to recover footage from a bent SD card?
Send it to a data-recovery company.
If you're lucky, the only damage is to the internal wiring of the card. A data-recovery company will be able to open up the card, pull out the memory chips, and ...
- 836
28
votes
Accepted
Front element shattered, can I have my lens repaired?
I have the same lens.
Your front element is not broken
From your photo it looks like only a protective filter (UV?) broke. Notice the letters saying "16-35mm". They are printed on the ...
- 1,123
26
votes
Can the sun damage the camera sensor? Under what conditions?
At very wide angles the danger is much less and taking photos with the sun in the field of view doesn't normally harm the camera or lens. When the sun is very low on the horizon the energy is also ...
- 167k
21
votes
What would be causing a thick black diagonal line in front of my camera's sensor?
The item obstructing the sensor is a shutter blade. Your shutter has failed and needs to be replaced. There's no hack or DYI solution for this problem. This is a hardware problem and not something ...
- 644
19
votes
Is it safe to zoom while taking a photo for the effect?
Provided your lens isn't a power zoom (fairly rare, these lenses have motors that drive the zoom mechanism), then no you will not damage either camera or lens.
- 117k
17
votes
How to recover footage from a bent SD card?
Since this is a full sized SD card, it is possible there is a MicroSD card inside the bigger package. If the inner card is not damaged, it may be extracted and read with suitable adapter.
Like on ...
- 279
16
votes
Accepted
I accidentally refrigerated my lens for a month. Should I be worried?
Storing the lens in the refrigerator for a month or even indefinitely at 43° will not harm it in any way. What could potentially damage it is removing it from that environment without taking adequate ...
- 167k
16
votes
DSLR in sand and salt water
You've got the right approach, but given that the electronics were powered up when the camera took it's swim in the sea, I think it's quite unlikely you'll restore function. Probably the best you can ...
- 5,805
15
votes
Will the vibrations of a motorcycle be harmful to a DSLR?
I wouldn't be concerned much about the camera body; there isn't really anything in it that would be very sensitive to vibrations. The only mechanical parts are the shutter and mirror, and both are in ...
- 4,544
15
votes
Will I damage the command dial on my D5200 if I rotate it quickly?
I don't know what specific model rotary wheel Nikon used in that camera, but moving it fast shouldn't cause any excessive wear.
These rotary wheels are usually just rather simple mechanical switches. ...
- 17k
15
votes
What damage could be caused by touching the rear part of a lens?
Don't worry about it. No, really, don't worry about it, and certainly don't panic. All that's going to happen if somebody touches a lens's glass is that it will get a bit of oil and muck on it, and ...
- 19.7k
14
votes
How to fix a bent lens mount hook/tab?
The first thing you need to ask yourself is, "Am I sure the only damage to the lens is to the mounting flange?"
The second thing you need to ask yourself is, "Considering the cost of a new EF 75-...
- 167k
12
votes
Can videoing burning magnesium damage a camera sensor?
Here is a methodology to find it:
Prepare a white screen on you computer, for example a white document in GIMP.
Take an out-of-focus photo, for example, focus at infinity and the widest aperture to ...
- 20.7k
12
votes
Front element shattered, can I have my lens repaired?
I'm answering the question based on if it wasn't the UV filter you broke, in case anyone stumbles here in the future.
Can I get it repaired?
This honestly depends on the age of the lens. For ...
- 4,806
12
votes
How to recover footage from a bent SD card?
I think scottbb's answer is probably correct - but there's one other possibility that's worth checking, which might give similar symptoms.
I have an SD card that wasn't being recognised by some ...
- 2,903
11
votes
Accepted
Could holding my camera lenses backwards ("free-lensing") for macro photography cause damage?
Whenever you're freelensing (holding the lens against the camera, rather than securing mounting it), you do run the danger of getting stuff inside the camera body (including stray light), but as long ...
- 49k
11
votes
Can the front glass on a broken lens be repaired?
Although it is hard to tell for certain from the included image, it looks like the only thing broken is a filter placed on the end of the lens. The first element of the EF 85mm f/1.8 lens itself is ...
- 167k
10
votes
Accepted
How long is too long to leave the shutter open before prolonged exposure to light damages the sensor?
As long as you aren't pointing the camera at the sun, lasers etc. (see this question)
You should be ok, at worst you'll get a completely over exposed image and the camera may give an over heating ...
- 1,118
10
votes
What happens if anti-reflective coating is fully ruined or removed from lens' most outer surface?
Up until the late 1940s and into the 1950s, camera lenses didn't have coatings. The result was much higher incidence of lens flare and reduced contrast in the presence of bright light sources.
...
- 8,934
10
votes
How to fix a bent lens mount hook/tab?
Check if you can somehow get this replaced/repaired for free by some expert due to warranty, insurance, etc. That would be the best solution.
Find out the price that an expert repair costs or at least ...
- 8,334
9
votes
Will any of these actions damage a tripod?
1: this is what tripods are designed to do
2: you're worried about standing a tripod on its legs?
3: the legs will naturally loosen a little with use, so this isn't unexpected
4: is risky because, ...
- 17.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Can removing the lens while pressing the DoF preview button damage the equipment?
Not unless you drop the lens while removing it because you don't have enough hands to hold everything.
Seriously, no you can't damage a Canon EOS lens using this procedure. Canon EOS lenses are ...
- 167k
9
votes
Can I damage my camera by shooting directly at a lightbulb in the ceiling?
The direct view intensity of an indoor electric lamp is generally lower than that of a specular reflection (say, from a car window or chrome hubcap) of the sun when outdoors -- but we don't see loud ...
- 5,805
9
votes
Accepted
DSLR in sand and salt water
It's toast.
Salt water is the most corrosive thing you can do to the electronics inside a DSLR that doesn't involve a vat of strong acid.
Roger Cicala, the founder of lensrentals.com, has posted at ...
- 167k
8
votes
Accepted
Will I damage the command dial on my D5200 if I rotate it quickly?
Those controls are made for rapid adjustment. You shouldn't have a problem with using them as quickly as you can accurately make adjustments. I can't guarantee your knob won't eventually fail, but ...
- 34.4k
8
votes
What are these blue/purple spots visible underneath the front element of my lens?
That looks like fungus. Here's some information from the Zeiss website regarding fungus. If it is fungus you may be able to halt its progress with an ultraviolet light source (removing the lens and ...
- 909
8
votes
Accepted
How long do DSLR cameras last?
If your friend is truly referring to photographers that take thousands of images per week, yes they likely will wear out the shutter in about a year or so. Note that the shutter can be replaced for a ...
- 45.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Why are there black dots on all photos taken with Sony phone?
It's highly unlikely that this many pixels on the sensor would become "dead" in quick succession, or in this pattern (groups of pixels, rather than individual pixels).
This is clearly dust directly ...
- 1,057
8
votes
Why are there black dots on all photos taken with Sony phone?
Looks really bad. Normally, dust gets on top of the stack of optical filter which sits above the sensor. It then shows as small blurry disks which get smaller and darker at narrow apertures because ...
- 101k
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