Jerry's 101 Camera Tips
Jerry's CTT 101 stands for "Jerry's Camera Tech Tips 101," click below to visit the starting/main page for this series. Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll be glad to answer!
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Help! I need to fix x,y,z!
This is the section that inspired me to create this manual. Thanks to my mentors for suggesting me to pass down the random tricks I knew that could often save a shoot, such as fixing a broken SD card. Many of these tips are from my experience in filming. Paid work is quite different than personal projects because there’s a significant time crunch, and you’ll lose clients if you take too much time. Here’s the list of quick fixes.
Help! My SD Card is broken!
Trouble trouble! Hopefully, no footage is lost - here are some tips
My slide lock broke!
Happens often with old SD cards. The issue with this is that without a slide, the footage is locked in circuitry. My quick fix is to cut out a tiny piece of paper about the same slide lock and stick it into the slide lock slot. Make sure it doesn’t move when you insert the SD card into the computer. This should cut the circuit on the card and act just like normal. If that doesn’t work, you can try disassembling the SD card, but this can lead to significant damage if you don’t know what to do. Once you save your footage, don't use that card anymore
SD Card requires formatting!
Try using the same OS as you last used the SD card. This should normally fix the issue. With a correct format, an SD card should work on Windows, MacOS, and even Linux, so if your card only works on one OS, look into a different way to format the card. If you don’t have any footage on the card, feel free to format it. (On the other hand, hard drives often only work on one OS)
I deleted the footage!
Don’t fret. Try using backup recovery software such as RescuePro. If that doesn’t work, hire a professional techie to flash it and retrieve the data if its really important. When data is deleted, most of the time, the data isn't actually deleted, it only gets marked as deleted. The data gets truly deleted when more footage is put on the card and the old one gets over-written. It's not a 100% guarantee that the footage will come back, but it's worth a shot if the shot was high-value.
As a rule of thumb, a professional can often deal with these issues. You wouldn't be your own lawyer in court if you weren't a lawyer.
Help! My pictures are blurry!
There are many different reasons why a picture may be blurry.
If the blur spot appears to move in different pictures
It’s probably skill-based. Make sure you’re focusing on the right subject and using a proper aperture. Try using a tripod/changing shutter speed.
If the blur spot doesn’t move
Try cleaning the lens with an air blower first, then use a cloth to see if it fixes it. If not, take off the lens and clean the inside of the lens. Use an air blower on the sensor. If none of these work, try using auto sensor cleaning on your camera if it has that feature.
If the blur only appears on the edges of the picture (or is darker)
It's probably the lens. If cleaning it doesn’t work, it's probably the filter or lens quality. The term for this is vignetting. Don’t fret! This can be fixed in post and some photographers even purposely edit it in for a cool effect! Also, make sure you’re not using a crop lens on a full-frame body. Sensors come in different sizes so make sure you are using the right lens for the camera sensor.
Help! My camera overheated!
Often happens with Sony mirrorless cameras. Here’s a couple of tips.
Remove the battery, blow in the battery case, air it out, then return filming
Switch batteries
Try using an external monitor or lower screen brightness
Pull the flippy screen off the body (so there’s circulation)
Use an external battery pack if the camera supports it (via USB port power)
Use first-party batteries
Consider a camera shield to block sunlight, or a tent
Use a proper-speed SD Card
Help! My camera won’t turn on!
The scariest sometimes. Here’s what to do
Take out the battery, charge, and try again.
See if the camera can run via USB power. If the camera works through USB power, it's often a bad battery which is cheaper to replace.
Plug it into a computer (if your camera supports data output) and see if the computer can read it. If it can, the camera is probably salvageable.
Try a firmware update.
Look in the camera where the battery goes. Use an air blower to blow off the grime that may be covering the contacts. Same for the contacts on the actual battery itself.
Have you dropped the camera or dropped it in water? Then a professional may need to see it.
Remove all SD cards or anything attached to the camera.
Make sure it's not too hot or cold.
If it's a DSLR, see if the mirror is pointed downwards. Try booting up the camera without a lens if the mirror is down (or if it's a mirrorless camera). If the mirror is up, this may indicate a larger issue at hand, but feel free to try the above.
These tips should fix the most common issues. Obviously, these probably won’t work for film cameras.
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