Do you turn your camera off?

[handicap18]

Probably not to death, it just sort of throws you on your butt and leaves black marks on the wall. (don't ask how I know this as it is still painfull to remember)

Yes, for your or I, but for a 1 year old who is 24lbs. I wouldn't want to see that.

"If a child sticks wet fingers into an outlet, or even worse if a child sticks a piece of metal into an outlet, electocution is a definite possibility. Electrocution frequently results in death. About 100 kids die every year by electrocution. "

 

[Master Mason]

Someone mentioned a power strip. Some power strips will use up electricity even if nothing it plugged into it. It a light comes on its using power.

On my HDTV, when I shut it off, there is a little red light that stays on. That red light is using electricity. Same thing with our stereo receivers. Your cable box, when you shut it off still shows the clock. That is using electricity. I have a powered USB port that only shuts off when I unplug it. Many external HD's don't shut down when the computer turns off. Even those that do will still use electricity to show that little status light that is its plugged in.

Now these things on their own only cost a few cents a day to keep like this, but when you start adding the 15-30 little things around your house (clocks, cordless phones, cable boxes, and other little things) it comes to a few dollars a day which in turn comes to hundreds of dollars a year.



I'm with you on this. There is so much wasted electricity in this country its not even funny. If no one is in a room, why is the light on?

Not to get off topic, but another thing that REALLY gets me, is the people who leave their cars running when they go into a convenience store real quick. I see it ALL the time. These are the same people who complain about gas prices. (and also the ones who drive 80 MPH on the highway).

I've also seen the big trucks that deliver to supermarkets leave their trucks running while their truck is being unloaded. It can sometimes take an hour or more to unload a 53' trailer and the truck is running the whole time. Do they think that it doesn't use fuel?? When you leave your car running like that you can loose 2-3 miles per gallon. This can add up to $10-20 a week depending on how much you drive.

When people start realizing that they are wasting thousands of dollars a year what do they say. Maybe because its only like $3 a day over many different things so its not as big a deal. But $70,000+ of wasted money in little things over a lifetime is a lot of money.

couple of things. Lots of electronic stuff has memory type pulls that are going even if you see no lights. There is actually a push to make vendors pull these types of pulls out of the products and put in rechargable sources so they are only pulling when on and then run off a battery instead of pulling power.

As to the leaving the car running. You can actually leave a car running for 5 minutes at idle for the same amount of gas used to start the car. So if you turn it off everytime you stop for less than 5 minutes, your actually using more gas than if you had left it running. (this assumes a properly running vehicle) Got nothing on the trucks, but since so many of them do it, there must be some reasoning behind it I would hope.

Yes, for your or I, but for a 1 year old who is 24lbs. I wouldn't want to see that.

"If a child sticks wet fingers into an outlet, or even worse if a child sticks a piece of metal into an outlet, electocution is a definite possibility. Electrocution frequently results in death. About 100 kids die every year by electrocution. "

I think I was about 3 when I shoved the keys into the socket. When my mom told me not to do it, well then it just became a chalange you know.

 

[brack]

I turn mine off when it goes back in the bag. If it's out of the bag, it's on.

This is how I use my camera. Having it in the "on" position makes it power up faster when I need to shoot.

 

[brack]

I think I was about 3 when I shoved the keys into the socket. When my mom told me not to do it, well then it just became a chalange you know.

I was maybe 5 when I made a "plug" from some metal. My dad was not happy when I took out several fuses (this was pre-circuit breaker) in the house.

 

[LMarge]

Probably not to death, it just sort of throws you on your butt and leaves black marks on the wall. (don't ask how I know this as it is still painfull to remember)

Sorry, Master Mason, but I experienced an insensitve moment here and had to give in to the giggle that came on when I read that!!!

Editing to add - The visual for the above was sort of a 3 Stooge thing, never thought about it being a child! Yipes! My experince was with sodering(sp?) wire - crawled under the kitchen table where my dad, an electrican, had been working earlier - picked up a soder scrap and stuck it in the outlet! My dad came in to the smell of something melting..... the blessing was that it melted and I wasn't harmed! Yes, all my plugs had covers on them when my 3 were younger. But my youngest still tried with the car keys, no less, to remove the covers!

 

[Super]

I only use mine in timelapse where I power it with a car battery so I can't turn it off

 

[dburg30]

I tend to turn mine off when it's in the bag for sure, or if I'm going to be somewhere that picture taking isnt allowed. Now, ask me about lens caps. You will VERY RARELY see a camera around my neck without the cap on.

 

[jann1033]

i turn mine off when 1) i change lenses...i have read you attract dust more with it on and since the 2 times i forgot to turn it off and ended up with gunk i am thinking it may be true..2) when i put it away for the day3) when i know i won't be shooting for a while( ie lunch or something) it's not hard for me to remember it's off since it won't do anything including focus, when it's off.

 

[jann1033]

Maybe that's my problem too, but I always turn mine off unless I'm shooting. I just this morning asked my husband and kids why I'm the only one in this house who seems to understand that light switches move down as well as up. I hate waste. And I just realized that this is probably why the power dial on my D70 shows so much more wear than other people's. Mystery solved. That's going to be a hard habit to break.



Not sure if the 40D is the same, but the D300 can be set to "clean" only on demand or every time you power on and I think there are a couple of other options too. Maybe you should check the manual if you haven't already.

telling on hub here..i have a habit of leaving the light in the study on since it isn't a wall switch and i have to use extra physical energy to turn it off so till i'm done( ie not stopping for lunch whatever) i leave it on..it drives hub crazy...so of course i make sure and leave it on now just love to hear that "HUFF HUFF...are you done in there or not HUFF HUFF"

 

[jann1033]

I tend to turn mine off when it's in the bag for sure, or if I'm going to be somewhere that picture taking isnt allowed. Now, ask me about lens caps. You will VERY RARELY see a camera around my neck without the cap on.

your photos must come out really underexposed hmm?

and what's with all the psychos rigging up stuff in put in wall sockets?go to the source, lick you finger and put it in an empty turned on table lamp bulb socket, much easier to reachkiddies don't try that at home

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I tend to turn mine off when it's in the bag for sure, or if I'm going to be somewhere that picture taking isnt allowed. Now, ask me about lens caps. You will VERY RARELY see a camera around my neck without the cap on.

I rarely put a lens cap on unless I'm putting the lens away. Even then, if I plan on switching back to it soon, I often leave the lens cap off and leave the hood on.

 

[alan]

My personal goal - a 100% reduction in carbon emissions by 2150. Can I do it? Yes, I can!

Well, I wouldn't be too sure. With the rate of advancement in medical science, you might still be decaying by then

regards,
/alan

PS Apologies if the humour is somewhat morbid... Put it down to my being British...

 

[handicap18]

As to the leaving the car running. You can actually leave a car running for 5 minutes at idle for the same amount of gas used to start the car. So if you turn it off everytime you stop for less than 5 minutes, your actually using more gas than if you had left it running. (this assumes a properly running vehicle) Got nothing on the trucks, but since so many of them do it, there must be some reasoning behind it I would hope.

9. It's a good practice to shut off the engine when your vehicle is going to be stopped for more than:

a. 10 seconds
b. 10 minutes
c. 30 minutes

a: Right. More than 10 seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it.

b or c: Wrong, the answer is "a." If you're going to be stopped for more than 10 seconds, you'll save fuel and money by turning off the vehicle and then restarting it when you're ready to drive away.

(taken from Hamilton County Environment Services: Air Quality Management Division's web site. The Idling Quiz page)

According to the Canadian Office of Energy Efficiency, you can get up to 30 more miles per tank by not idling for more than 10 seconds.

But what about the gas used to start a car? All cars use fuel injection, so starting a warm engine is negligible. And the cost of that or the wear on your starter is far outweighed by the fuel savings.

 

[boBQuincy]

Back in the days of carburetors just pressing the pedal gave a squirt of fuel into the engine whether it was needed or not, and that gave rise to the idea it is better sometimes not to shut it off. Fuel injection only delivers fuel the engine needs, that (and electronics) is the reason the internal combustion engine is still with us and running as clean as it is.

Most hybrids shut off the engine when the vehicle stops, even for a few seconds. Most cameras take a lot longer to shut down but have less emissions.

 

[handicap18]

Most cameras take a lot longer to shut down but have less emissions.

 

[Groucho]

I can't believe that only Jann1033 mentioned changing lenses! Don't you people even change lenses on your DSLRs? You folks are weird.

You're definitely supposed to shut 'em off when switching lenses, to minimize dust. I also turn mine off when switching cards (or batteries), why take the risk? I did recently set mine to do the sensor clean at start-up, which is good for lens changes. (I suspect that it helps - after ~4,000 photos at WDW and a zillion lens changes, there is little if any visible dust showing in the photos.)

Other than that, the camera was basically out all the time and on all the time. Recovery time is basically instant, so why not leave it "on"? I did turn it off at the end of the day, though, except the nights I took intervalometer shots.

As for lens caps and hoods - I basically always had a lens hood on and never left the cap on. I even had bought a clip-in hood for my 50mm and would keep it on for protection if nothing else.

 

[fitzperry]

I can't believe that only Jann1033 mentioned changing lenses! Don't you people even change lenses on your DSLRs? You folks are weird.

You're definitely supposed to shut 'em off when switching lenses, to minimize dust. I also turn mine off when switching cards (or batteries), why take the risk? I did recently set mine to do the sensor clean at start-up, which is good for lens changes. (I suspect that it helps - after ~4,000 photos at WDW and a zillion lens changes, there is little if any visible dust showing in the photos.)

Other than that, the camera was basically out all the time and on all the time. Recovery time is basically instant, so why not leave it "on"? I did turn it off at the end of the day, though, except the nights I took intervalometer shots.

As for lens caps and hoods - I basically always had a lens hood on and never left the cap on. I even had bought a clip-in hood for my 50mm and would keep it on for protection if nothing else.

Well, since mine is off whenever I'm not shooting, I figured that covered the situations you mention as I am not typically shooting while changing lenses or batteries, etc. After reading this thread though, I am trying to get used to leaving the camera on unless I'm putting it away. As for lens hoods and caps, I leave my hoods on unless shooting with the pop up flash or the 50mm, which doesn't have one. I leave the cap off until the camera goes back in the bag, at which point I usually forget where I've put it--is it in the bag, in my pocket, on the desk, in the car?

 

[Nikel]

Not sure if the 40D is the same, but the D300 can be set to "clean" only on demand or every time you power on and I think there are a couple of other options too. Maybe you should check the manual if you haven't already.

Yup, the 40D can change the sensor clean options as well.

I turn mine off whenever I change/remove CF cards, lenses, flash, or batteries. And if I'm not going to be using it for several days, I go ahead and take the batteries out, so it's off then too.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

You're definitely supposed to shut 'em off when switching lenses, to minimize dust.

Can anyone quote anything even vaguely official on this? I have a hard time believing that the sensor gets much of a charge and that turning it off disipates the charge by a meaningful amount with seconds of shutting it off. I'm not saying that I know it's wrong, I'm just saying that it has an urban legend kind of feel to it.

 

[Groucho]

Can anyone quote anything even vaguely official on this? I have a hard time believing that the sensor gets much of a charge and that turning it off disipates the charge by a meaningful amount with seconds of shutting it off. I'm not saying that I know it's wrong, I'm just saying that it has an urban legend kind of feel to it.

Good question, and I like your critical thinking. (At the nuclear power plant I do some network work for sometimes, that'd be called a "questioning attitude" and you'd probably get a little certificate for asking. )

It certainly is "common knowledge" but that doesn't mean it's correct. (Look how many people still say "I could care less" when they really mean "I couldn't care less".) I checked my K20D manual and it says "Caution: Turn the camera off before attaching or removing the lens to prevent unexpected lens movement." No mention of sensor charge.

I would still lean towards believing that there's some truth to it, though how much probably depends on the sensor, CCD vs CMOS, etc. Anecdotally, it seems that it's like the charge on the front of a CRT TV, where you can feel the charge, plus it stays there for a little while after being turned off.

Either way, it's so easy to turn the camera off and there's no negatives (and I get the nice quick sensor-shake at startup (slightly shorter and less intense than the one can activate from the menu) to help curb any dust that did get in) so I will definitely keep doing it.