Do you leave lense on SLR body?

Do you recommend that a lense is left on digital SLR? Many thanks

I always leave a lens on my SLRs. It stops them from dust getting in there when not in use and stops damage to shutter/mirror/semsor etc as the body caps are not usually that secure. Plus, with having alens mounted on at all time it is pretty much ready to go in an instant.

 

My 35mm cameras all have a 50mm lens that lives with them permanently.

I always have lenses attached to each of my bodies, and many times I keep fairly heavy lenses on them. I do typically try to support both the lens and the body seperately in either the bag or outside of the bag though. Last week, I kept a 200 f/1.8L on my body for almost the entire week. I have never had a problem, and this is going over quite a few years.

I always leave a lens on my SLR bodies. I have a couple of lenses that won't fit in the camera bag when on the camera, and I'll just swap them out for a smaller one when I put it in the bag. I never carry a body cap around.

That depends entirely on your goals. Mine are to have my camera as ready as possible at all times. With that goal, yes.

Why would you want to do otherwise?

 

If you mean, WHICH lens do you leave on the body by default, then for me it's most likely going to be the 17-85, as it's the most widely useful lens I have for a grab shot of whatever comes along.

Back in the day some bags and cases were designed such that you had to remove the lens

everytime you put it in the bag. After all the SLR was a "component" system. I recall arguing

with a camera salesman in Korea over this very issue. My wife wanted a bag to fit her Elan

and EF 35-135 USM but needed it to be ready to shoot. Everytime he demonstrated how well

the camera fit he removed the lens and stuffed it in the bag. He couldn't grasp the fact she

had only one lens. Why would she want to remove it everytime? Plus she hadn't a clue how to

put it back on (she was horrified it came off). We had to give up and bought a small Tamrac

with lens bridge in the USA.

If I was working with prime lenses as I did with my film system I used to leave the bodies (2) lens free a lot of the time. However with the digital system I leave a lens mounted. That is normally what I used last unless it is too big to fit in my eveyday bag (300/f4) or specialised (MP-E 65mm). Most often I have the 100mm f2.8 macro on but at present the 17-40 is mounted as that is whatI used last.

You mean that big glass thingy comes off the front of my D70? Cool!

I always store it with the lens off. The way my Lowe Pro back back is setup I keep the body only at the very top of the arch. I can pull out a divider and store it with the 70-200 2.8l on it, but I do not do that very often. I find that I switch lenses so frequently that I don't know which one I would want so I pack it away by itself and then just grab the lens of choice when I open the bag.