Best practise lens swapping

[Mike Garrick]

OK Can't find an answer anywhere on this one including the manual.

My question. Lens swapping, power down or keep it on?

I know you can do "live swaps" no problem & yes I know the "heat exchange" system is separated from the sensor housing. However with that fan sucking in air right below the sensor should we ? Because of likely dust falling onto the sensor ? Thanx

 

[Robert L. Mickles]

Lens swapping while on is no problem. Use an air blower to clear the area of dust. Try to swap quickly, don't go for long periods without the sensor covered. That's my recommendations.

 

[Chris McKechnie]

I always try to make it a habit to change lenses with the camera pointed downwards. This will decrease the likelihood of dust falling on the sensor. You should always carry an air blower (not compressed air), a sensor magnifier, and an arctic butterfly (about 90 bucks) just in case dust gets in your sensor on location. It would suck to have to shut down production for a day because you got caught without the proper tools to fix the problem.

 

[Phil Holland]

I find the Epic and Scarlet are not dust magnets compared to some other cameras. However, I have a hot key on my DSMC Side Handle set to power down as I try to stay efficient with my battery wasting habits. By the time the new glass is on I punch the power and get behind the camera.

On the flip side, if I have a lens fly in, I usually keep the camera on while the change happens.

I agree with Chris about the blower and Arctic Butterfly. Blower is pretty much always near camera.

 

[Ramesh Jai]

In my 3-4 years of filming with RED I've never powered down the camera to swap lens BUT we do make it snappy.

 

[Satsuki Murashige]

Lens changes between primes takes seconds. No need to power down. As an AC, i never want to have to explain to an impatient DP that they cannot look at the image because the camera is still booting up. Its much less of an issue with Epic than with the Red One, but it still happens. Use the lens port cap between changes if it takes longer for whatever reason. Put a small strip of hard side Velcro on the handle of the port cap and a soft side patch somewhere out of the way on the camera body. Then you'll always have the cap close by.