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Current Category Care for your camera

TIPS ON HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA:

We are not here only to sell you the camera, but also to provide advice on how to care for your new camera. Now that you have finally chosen which camera you want to buy, here are some tips on how to care for your new digital camera. The following tips are from our experience and some of our customers experience to share with you.

1. When charging the battery for the first time, charge the battery overnight.

No matter if you are using Lithium Ion battery or rechargeable AA / AAA batteries, it is better to charge the battery overnight with first time usage. Why? With new batteries they are completely empty, if you charge it overnight it will charge the battery to the maximum capacity. This way, your battery will last longer voltage wise and usage lifetime of the battery.

2. If you are not using the camera for a period of time always take out the batteries, never store batteries in the camera.

If you are not using the camera for a period of time (say 1-2 days) it is essential for you to take the battery out. No matter if you are using Lithium Ion batteries or AA rechargeable batteries. If you store the batteries in the camera, the power in the batteries will be slowly released. This way the batteries will slowly loose it's power capacity and you will need to replace the batteries after 1 year. If you properly store and care for your batteries, you should get at least 2 years of use with the batteries.

3. If you've just come back from the beach / humid places put the camera in an air tight container with some silica inside for overnight storage.

To prevent condensation (too much moisture in the camera) with the camera, remember to put the camera in an air tight container overnight with some silica inside it. Under the manufacturer's warranty, condensation is not covered under warranty. Putting it in an air tight container with silica inside it will take all the moisture out of the camera. In the long term, too much moisture in the camera will cause mould and corrosion.

4. If you are going to the beach with your digital camera watch out for sand.

If you're bringing your digital camera to the beach the most important thing to watch out for is sand getting into the camera. If you didn't buy an all weather case for your digital camera (because it's quite expensive..) and taking the camera to the beach then you have to be extra careful. Most people get sand into the lens part of the camera causing the optical zoom lens to malfunction. Again, under the manufacturer's warranty sand and water is not covered under warranty. Therefore, some people have improvise by putting the digital camera in a plastic bag (please use a clear and un-creased plastic bag). This way, water and sand will not get into the camera. However, the quality of the picture will be sacrificed as a layer of plastic is between the photo and camera. But, hey at least you won't fork out $200-$300 for the all weather case. However, if you're a regular to the beach then buying an all weather case would be advisable. At least you'll get clearer photos.

4. Never attempt to open the digital camera yourself.

Some people who do get sand in the camera attempt unscrew the digital camera themselves and clean the camera of sand. This is very dangerous and no one should attempt to do this unless you are trained to repair cameras. Other the dangers of electrocution, most people can't put the camera back together and ending spending more than getting certified people doing it in the first place.

5. If the lens gets dirty, please use a proper cleaning cloth to clean it.

If you camera lens gets dirty, please use a proper lens cleaning cloth. Most people just use their shirt (or towel) to wipe the lens. This is a big NO NO, your shirt's material might cause damage to the lens which is the most expensive and important part of the camera. You can also use the lens cleaning cloth to clean the LCD screen of the camera.

6. Make sure you have enough battery in the camera before downloading the photos from the camera to your computer.

If you use the USB cable to download the photos from your camera to your computer make sure the battery is full or at least enough for it to fully download. If during the download of the photos from your camera to the computer the camera is out of battery and automatically shuts down, you may get corrupted files/photos. Therefore, make sure the battery is full when you do the transfer of photos. For those who use a card reader this does not relate to you as the card reader the plugged into the computer. Those who use notebooks, make sure the notebook has enough power for the duration of the download.

7. Always make back up copies of your photos on CDs.

A majority of people download their photos onto their computer's hard disk and leave it there. It is essential for you to make a back up copy onto a CD for safe keeping. This will prevent loss of photos when you need to re-format your hard disk in case of virus etc..

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I will be adding more information in this section from time to time.

I hope the above information was helpful and if you have any further enquiries regarding the usage of your camera please e-mail us at austrend@bigpond.net.au

Regards

Annie and Edward

www.digitalfunstuff.com.au