Protecting the screen

[ttibby]

Hi, a couple of quick questions. 1st, what do you guys do to

protect the LCD screen on the back of the camera from things like

scratches and such? Also with the 20D, how many (approx) pictures

can you take in RAW and large Jpeg formats? Thanks for the info!

 

Eric...

[godfrey]

I don't use anything on the 10D LCD screen. It's already protected by a hardened plastic

cover, which is replaceable for about $10. I imaging the 20D is the same or similar.

 

I'm not sure how different the file sizes between the 10D and 20D are. With the 10D, a 1G

card will hold about 300-320 full resolution JPEG Fine files, and up to about 145 RAW files.

I imagine the 20D files are 10% larger so cut those numbers back by that amount and

you're in the ballpark.

 

Godfrey

[akajohndoe]

I bought a pack of the Palm brand PDA screen protectors. 15 or 20 of em for less than $10. I cut them to size; each PDA screen protector makes 2 LCD protectors. I'm still on my first one on the 20D and the 2nd one on the 10D.

 

There's a table in the manual of capacities. It is based on a particular CF card size, but the relationship is linear, so extrapolation is easy.

[ilkka_nissila]

Why would it need protection? My D70 has a plastic removeable protector which is recommended to be used when transporting the body but my bag is good enough to keep the equipment from banging into each other. Besides, the use span of these cameras is about 2 years. What could happen to it? Do you keep a protector on your watch? On your glasses?

[aaron_good]

I tried one of those PDA screen protectors on my Canon S410. Because it is textured to make a PDA feel more "paper-like," it creates weird interference patterns on the screen.

 

Once my Olympus digital camera was in the same bag as my YashicaMat 124G, and the Yashica shifted while I was walking and it scratched the Olympus's screen pretty badly.

 

I don't think it's unreasonable for Eric to be concerned about the screen scratching.

[ttibby]

I guess that the main reason of my concern is a bit over prudent. I own a Nikon Coolpix that I used to carry around in my pocket all the time and the screen was scratched to heck. Now I wish that I would have put some kind of cover over it because I am going to pass it on to my Dad but the screen is in really bad shape (very usable but just not esthetically pleasing). On a 300$ camera, if I was keeping it, I honestly couldn't care less but from my experience and for 1800$ I would much rather be safe then sorry. History is written so that things are made better and since I now know first hand that the screens are not invulnurable I'd rather take precautions. Now I also know that a DSLR won't fit into my pocket but I do know that I won't hesitate to take it to the limit I have good cases but if I can find something for 10-20$ that will protect my equipment that much more, why not? I hope that quenches your desire to know why I would like to protect the screen on the back of my camera and as a teacher once said, there are no stupid question, just stupid answers. That's why I answered your question. But if people who post here have to justify all their questions, i think that it will become tedious, but I don't mind answering...

 

Thanks for your time and responses

 

Eric R Thibodeau

[akajohndoe]

Yes, the protectors do make a wierd moire pattern on the screen. So what? The screen is so small and poor resolution anyway that it hardly matters. After shooting slide film almost exclusively for 20+ years, I rarely use the screen anyway. Correct exposure is correct exposure regardless of media; film or digital.

[tom_montemarano]

I had tried a few things. First was the Palm protector. The textured surface didn't have any reflections but it also killed the contrast and brightness.

 

Then I tried the clear plastic protector that comes with a new cell phone or even computer CRT. Contrast improved greatly in dark areas, but the reflections made it very difficult to use in normal lighting.

 

I then found a pack of 'digital camera protectors' at Radio Shack. They are similar in concept to Palm protectors but are not textured and have an anti-reflective coating. They come in packs (don't recall how many, but not as many as for a Palm), and have to be cut to size. They cost about $20 for a pack. They are easily removable. I've had one on my camera for over a year. I think they are still available in the stores. Not sure if they are available over the net.

 

Tom

[brian_lee9]

I just use a piece of packing tape that I put over the screen of my D70. I make it less sticky by lightly pressing it on my palm first before sticking on the screen so that it won't leave reside if I remove it. I don't even bother cutting it to fit. Looks a bit ugly, but it seems to work for me.

[ttibby]

Thanks for all the help guys...

 

I'll be checkin' in

 

Eric R Thibodeau...

[d._chan]

Got this idea from someone on the web. I bought self adhesive laminating film from one of the big office supply stores. I don't remember the brand right now. About $7 for 10 9"x12" sheets. You're going to cut PDA protectors to size anyways so it's not more work. No texture, a bit non-reflective. I'll never use up all the sheets so I seem to be giving them away to others especially to cover the Nintendo DS screen for friends/family kids.