Switch off camera when changing lens or sd card

Hi, does anyone here know for sure we should switch off our camera when we change our lens or SD / CF card? What will happen if we continue to do this?

I have loaded my sd card when it was on and it didn't do anything. To be safe I would turn it off when loading/unloading the memory card just to be safe, you don't want to mess up the reader.

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I would turn it off, but thats just my opinion.

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It's what the user manual recommends. They might know the reasons why this should be done. It's just a question of habit and it might prevent repairs or loss of pictures. I heard of a friend that had a card problem because he removed it with camera on. Seems the card file structure might get damaged.

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I agree with Marcel regarding the memory card. I do know of cases where the removal of a memory card while it is being accessed (read or write) can cause damage to the data that is on the card. This could result in the loss of all photos that are on the card. I don't believe it will physically damages any hardware. The card can be reformatted and reused.

Changing lenses with power on, however, can cause a different set of problems.

Your camera has sensitive electronic circuits. When you mate the lens to the camera, you complete the circuits to those in the lenses. The contacts never touch "Instantly", there is always contact bounce to some degree. (Bounce is where the contacts touch, they then bounces away then touch again). This bounce takes only milliseconds to happen but is does happen. If power is on, then this bounce creates surges in the current that can cause damage to the camera circuitry.

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Mike150 said:

I agree with Marcel regarding the memory card. I do know of cases where the removal of a memory card while it is being accessed (read or write) can cause damage to the data that is on the card. This could result in the loss of all photos that are on the card. I don't believe it will physically damages any hardware. The card can be reformatted and reused.

Changing lenses with power on, however, can cause a different set of problems.

Your camera has sensitive electronic circuits. When you mate the lens to the camera, you complete the circuits to those in the lenses. The contacts never touch "Instantly", there is always contact bounce to some degree. (Bounce is where the contacts touch, they then bounces away then touch again). This bounce takes only milliseconds to happen but is does happen. If power is on, then this bounce creates surges in the current that can cause damage to the camera circuitry.

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Exactly, Mike. And that's the reason you shut off the camera whenever changing lenses or memory cards. Cameras come back on almost instantly, so it's no big deal to shut it off while changing. Why risk damaging your camera or card?

These things are electronic - almost anything can happen when making/unmaking contacts. You should turn it off before doing anything, including talking dirty to it.

BWTHDIK...

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hi all...

PhotoAV8R said:

These things are electronic - almost anything can happen when making/unmaking contacts. You should turn it off before doing anything, including talking dirty to it.

BWTHDIK...

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You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to talk dirty to it when you want to turn it on.

Mike150 said:

You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to talk dirty to it when you want to turn it on.

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Oh, crap. NOW they tell me...