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While this tip may seem completely obvious to those of us that have been shooting for years, we encourage you to pay it forward and share this with those that are newer to interchangeable lens photography.

This is the story of two different people who took the lens off of their camera and put the camera in their one pocket and the lens in their other pocket.

Again: I’m going to repeat that.

This is the story of two different people who took the lens off of their camera and put the camera in their one pocket and the lens in their other pocket.

If you’re a veteran shooter, you know much better than to do this–or at least you know to use a body cap and a lens back cap. But for the less initiated, doing this makes cloth, debris and dust get right onto your camera sensor and at the back of the lens. In both cases, the camera was taking photos with spots in the image and the lens wasn’t working. Why?

Imagine a person putting little bits of dust in your eyes. Would you be able to see? Probably not–and neither can your camera since the sensor is very much like the eye. Then also imagine putting on dirty glasses. Obviously, seeing wouldn’t be the easiest thing to do. That’s what happens when you put a dirty lens on your camera.

But even further, the second person got so much dust on the contacts that the lens couldn’t autofocus. If you want to fix a problem like this, use Isopropyl alcohol or use a special brush to clean the sensor.

And make sure that you maintain your camera. But whatever you do, always protect your camera’s sensor.