How to Protect Any Camera LCD for about $10
Hello! I’ve recently begun to send out a weekly photo tips newsletter (you can sign up here to start receiving it). One of the recent tips that I shared was: Use Glass LCD Protectors on all of your LCD screens.
This may be one of those “I wish I had done that” tips for you. If you look at all of your camera LCD screens (the part on the back that displays video and/or stills), and if you see any scratches on any of them, you almost definitely could have avoided them by using a thin, self-adhesive glass LCD protector. That being said, I’ve been amazed at how the appearance thin scratches get reduced dramatically when I put an LCD protector on. To find them online, just search on your favorite camera store’s website or other retailer for “Glass Protective Screen Guard,” or “Glass Screen Protector,” or “Glass LCD Screen Protector” and your specific camera name. Cost will be about $5-30 each. I recommend buying two (they often come in packs of two), and try to work in a dust-free location. Also, keep the screen on by pressing the play button before you apply it so that you can more easily align it properly.
I would also remove the lens and place a body cap on the camera so that it’s easier to work on a flat surface. If at first you don’t succeed placing it properly, try, try again! I like to line it up on the left side of the lcd and carefully place it without touching the sticky part. In the video below, the person applying the glass cover shows how you can use the two alignment stickers. It may or may not be helpful on camera LCDs if your glass covers come with the stickers, but it’s worth trying.
My small Panasonic DMC-LX5 camera was saved thanks to an LCD Glass Protector (shown above after the damage was done). I dropped it at an amusement park onto pavement from about two feet. I’m amazed that the camera survived with just a cracked screen protector, and a small scratch to the metal near the Display button! Of course, if it had fallen a different way, the screen may not have made a difference, but using it might just save your camera one day.
The glass protectors go on like stickers and can be removed without damaging the LCD (I can’t personally guarantee that, but I have never had any problems after using them on my cameras, smartphones and tablets for at least the last five years). And if you want to be a “ninja,” you can measure the entire area of the screen and any additional border, and find a protector that might be for another camera because sometimes the glass covers made for specific cameras will cover most, but not all of the glass on the back of your camera.
Here’s a good video that shows how to install a glass screen protector on a Smartphone. I highly recommend using these on smartphones, especially since most people don’t have a neck strap or other type of strap connected to their smart phone.
UPCOMING LIGHTROOM WORKSHOP
I’m really looking forward to returning to the NJ Media Center in Berkeley Heights, NJ to teach this workshop on Lightroom workflow and editing:
Mastering Lightroom Workflow: From File Organization to Effortless Manipulations w/ Andrew Darlow
Date: Sun. 6/24/2018
Lightroom Classic CC offers many powerful features, but without a good foundation and understanding of its tools, it’s easy to get frustrated. In this full day lecture and hands-on workshop, I will focus on helping you get the most from your images from start to finish.
Here’s what one participant had to say about the workshop: “I’m a full-frame DSLR camera user and I have a considerable amount of experience with Photoshop. However, I didn’t know how to organize my photographs properly, and I was getting frustrated trying to edit my photos inside of Lightroom. The full-day workshop had a lot of information, but it was very well presented, in an easy to follow way. Andrew is extremely professional and he managed a very diverse group, keeping everyone happy and on-course, which is not easy. I picked up a lot of editing tips and shortcuts that would have been much more time consuming for me to research online on my own.” – Branch Watkins
