Camera mites

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Carl V

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I was at a mate's house earlier today for an hour or so and he mentioned to me about having bugs/mites in his camera. I asked to have a look, he showed me the camera and sure enough we spotted one moving across the top plate. He also said there was another inside the lens although I couldn't see it at the time.

I wasn't sure how to advise him, other than perhaps to have the camera cleaned. I'm sure I have heard of people wrapping up the camera and leaving it in a freezer overnight, although I don't know whether that would affect the electronics with his being a digital camera.

I do actually remember seeing a couple of them many years ago when I used to have a Pentax back then, but they only appeared for a day or two and I never saw them again after. I've never come across any with my present gear.

Out of interest, has anyone else here had any experience with these tiny pests, and if so, how did you deal with them?
 
Not in camera, but had a thunder bug in a flat panel monitor its still there years later
 
Put the camera into a dark box in a bright room....the bugs will migrate to the light and find their own way out - leave the lens off so they can mind.
 
Lensflare said:
Put the camera into a dark box in a bright room....the bugs will migrate to the light and find their own way out - leave the lens off so they can mind.
Click to expand...

Thank you kindly for that. I'll phone him up in the morning to tell him to try it. I'll make a note of it as well just in case I see any on my gear in the future. If I go out shooting with him, best keep my stuff as far away as possible from his. :lol:
 
Less of a problem nowadays with closed back cameras - shooting film it was always a problem, especially at Mallory and Cadwell - blasted thunderbugs would get in and walk all through the viewfinder!
 
One explanation I've heard is that they're attracted to the film emulsion, but this would normally only happen if you've had the film in the camera for, say, several months. But I haven't a clue what they'd find of interest in a digital camera.

Maybe he had the camera locked away in the cupboard or somewhere for many months without using it. This combined with humidity can be the cause of fungus growing inside a lens.
 
Had this at Duxford, got flippin covered in hundreds of little black bugs, they got in and on everybody and everything and ended up turning up in the camera, only a couple but after a short time they disappeared of their own accord
 
hmmmm the little critters!! I had a visit from one about a year ago, just kept on walking across me lcd screen (inside :P) anywho I didnt know what to do with it so i left it. Made the mistake of showing a mate who was chuffed to bits saying he had got rid of it after a couple of minutes.

I was also chuffed until I realised he had just squashed it in the middle of the lcd :(

so then had a squashed bug that just grated on me every time I uesd the camera. Finally got a new lcd cover and got rid of the bug that way :woot:
 
Lensflare said:
Put the camera into a dark box in a bright room....the bugs will migrate to the light and find their own way out - leave the lens off so they can mind.
Click to expand...

9/10 times they are psocids ( book lice)
They can live for about six months and in that time the female may lay up to 200 eggs.

They feed on fragments of animal and vegetable matter, particularly on fungi and lichens.
Indoors, they feed on minute moulds and mildews scarcely visible to the human eye, which grow on wallpaper, book-bindings, leather, upholstery and various foodstuffs.

The advice above is as good as any :thumbs:
 
Cobra said:

They feed on fragments of animal and vegetable matter, particularly on fungi and lichens.
Indoors, they feed on minute moulds and mildews scarcely visible to the human eye, which grow on wallpaper, book-bindings, leather, upholstery and various foodstuffs.
Click to expand...

sounds more like your camera gets a free *6-month* service! :lol:
 
I've just been on the phone to my mate to tell him what 'Lensflare' recommended. He did mention to me that the last time the camera was used was last year at an agricultural show.

I can't see there being a connection here because I go to similar shows myself most years here in Cheshire and I have never encountered these mites on my equipment because of that. In saying that, I photograph most animals from a distance behind the rope barriers - perhaps he was taking a close-up shot of a pot-bellied pig or something - who knows.

But the last time I spotted these mites/lice on my camera would have been around 1994 when I was in Spain, and they only appeared for a day or so then vanished. I've changed all my gear over a couple of years later and have never come across them since.
 
Carl V said:
I was at a mate's house earlier today for an hour or so and he mentioned to me about having bugs/mites in his camera. I asked to have a look, he showed me the camera and sure enough we spotted one moving across the top plate. He also said there was another inside the lens although I couldn't see it at the time.

I wasn't sure how to advise him, other than perhaps to have the camera cleaned. I'm sure I have heard of people wrapping up the camera and leaving it in a freezer overnight, although I don't know whether that would affect the electronics with his being a digital camera.

I do actually remember seeing a couple of them many years ago when I used to have a Pentax back then, but they only appeared for a day or two and I never saw them again after. I've never come across any with my present gear.

Out of interest, has anyone else here had any experience with these tiny pests, and if so, how did you deal with them?
Click to expand...
Did you call in PentaKill for the critters? LoL sorry for that
 
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