I always feel a little sorry for mobile phone designers who presumably spent late nights designing their phones to be of a size that perfectly fits in the average hand, and have a casing and screen which are designed to withstand a reasonable amount of punishment. All of this means nothing to the average consumer who, immediately on purchase, swaddles the phone in a hideous plastic case adorned with pieces of fluff and cartoon characters; and sticks a piece of plastic on the back to “protect” the screen which is already constructed of industrial strength glass and resistant to all wear unless attacked by a diamond.
We camera users are little better. Many of us, myself included, swaddle our cameras in expensive cases (often more for looks than protection), and the rear screens have some form of flat Durex applied at the time of purchase.
There is some rationale for the latter. If your camera is to spend its working life draped round your neck, then the rear screen is going to come under constant attack from buttons, zips and other assorted metal work in the area of your ample belly. A replaceable protector is a probably a good idea. So much so that the camera shop will probably fit a new one for you free of charge when you buy your camera. The good news is that the protector is free and the sales assistant is able to fit these things without having a nervous breakdown, the bad news is that it is invariably shit; unless you like viewing your creations through a semi-opaque rainbow-tinted fog.
So, after a while, you buy a better one via the web and it arrives in your mail and you ignore it for at least a week. The reason being that these things are almost impossible to affix with any degree of success. The man in the shop can do it while talking to his friend on the phone and watching a Thai soap on the in-store TV; but you, you with your university education and your honed reflexes and your innate sense of superiority; you are bloody useless (at least I am, maybe because I never actually went to university).
There are three main problem areas: alignment, bubbles and fluff (good name for a band). You have to start at one end of the screen, and it is impossible to tell at the start whether the thing is straight; but you can be sure it isn’t. So you have to keep lifting it and re-positioning it until finally it is aligned. It is only then you discover that it is peppered with air bubbles which, vicious bastards that they are, refuse to move when squeezed; so you have to lift the damn thing again and try and get rid of them. Finally, finally, you have a properly aligned, bubble-free fitting; but by this time you have lifted and moved the protector so many times that there are pieces of fluff stuck between it and the screen; even though you have tried to this in a dust-free room, with your wife and the cat having only having breezed in twice to see what you were up to.
It’s at this point that your rip the stupid thing off your screen, throw it away, and pop down to the camera shop to have the smug bastard behind the counter fit another crappy one for you.
Which was pretty much my situation until I received an email from Expert Shield. They had seen Pattaya Days, knew I had an E-M1, had heard rumours of my enormous genitals; and as a result they wanted to send me one of their screen protectors for review. (Leica, Olympus etc.; if you are reading this, please do likewise).
I had heard of their product because reader Kevin had banged on about their customer service some months ago:
Can’t praise their service enough. When I first bought mine, the guy I spoke to asked me if I wanted the anti glare or clear. I told him the clear and he said tell you what, I’ll send you a free anti glare one to try as well. It was fine also but I preferred the clear out of the two. Today when I spoke to him I mentioned that I had two small bubbles under the shield but it was caused by me trapping two minute dust particles underneath. Wasn’t sure if lifting it would harm the shield so lived with it.
Asked him if I could lift it up and remove dust without harming the shield. He told me how to do it by lifting a corner with wide tape and using wide tape again lift any dust of the inside of the shield. He went onto say, that he was also sending me a free replacement for the one with the dust issue as they were lifetime guarantee. I again said it really wasn’t a complaint with the shield but although he agreed with me he still insisted I accept his kind offer which I have done.
That sounded positive, so I checked out their website to find that as well as selling stick-on gubbins, they have a sense of humour. My sort of company. Plus they claimed that their product was easy to fit which was exactly what Mr. Can’t-Put-Things-On-Straight-In-A-Cloud-Of-Dust needs.
So I had the Pattaya Days Media Relations Department reply in the affirmative (I sent them a mail saying “yes”), and in no time I received a rather smart box wherein lay two protectors and cloth for wiping away my tears after I fucked things up. Apparently only top reviewers like wot I am receive the fancy boxes, although mere minions like you may get one at Xmas time (allegedly).
Never fear mere minion; the small packet contains everything your need, the protector and a little cleaning cloth:
To learn how to apply it, you turn to the back of the packet where help can be found. This may be the only time where the words “Marmite” and “muffin” appear together in a set of technical instructions…
Right, time to get this thing attached to my E-M1. I go overboard on the “slightly steamy bathroom” idea by running a hot shower for far too long in a room that is already hot and humid. The result is “sauna” and I feel it is appropriate to therefore strip to my underpants before proceeding. You would do well not to visualise this.
Plunging almost naked into a world of steam, I clean off the camera screen with the little cloth and check that no stubborn dust remains whilst simultaneously ensuring I do not drip sweat onto the target surface. Next comes the clever bit.
I partially peel off the first protective mask and then attempt to align the protector on the screen. This is not easy and several attempts are required before alignment is achieved and I can lay the protector across the screen. It’s properly aligned; but there are the inevitable air bubbles between the protector and the screen. Previously, this has required me to partially or completely pull back the protector to try and remove them; at which point armies of dust particles would descend and stick to the screen, and/or the protector would come off completely and I would have to start all over again. But with the Expert Shield, all I had to do was press with my finger and push the bubbles out of the side. Almost time for a muffin!
The final step is to peel off the second mask on the outside of the protector:
A final check to ensure that there is no trapped dust (there isn’t) and I am done. The first disaster-free screen protector install in my tragedy-filled life. And the protector is so good you can’t actually see it on the screen.
Really impressed with the Expert Shield protector, both with the product and the ease of application; and I can thoroughly recommend you fit one to your camera too. You can, and should, head off to their website today and order one.
But if you are feeling a little short of cash; how about they send you one, free of charge, to any address in the world?
To have a chance of a free Expert Shield screen protector, leave a comment on this post starting with “I would strip to my underwear to install an Expert Shield screen protector, because….”.
Make sure you use a valid email address along with your comment, the usual “winkywanker@hotmail.bum” will not be much use should I need to contact you to tell you I have won. You can enter as often as you wish, and the best entry received by 31/12/14 as judged by me will receive an Expert Shield screen protector of their choice. It’s an offer you can’t refuse.
Comments 🔗
2014-12-01| Chang Noi saysSpike would strip to his underwear again to install an Expert Shield screen protector, because his viewer on his E-M1 is still unprotected.
2014-12-01| Spike saysI took off the eyepiece to allow maximum access to the rear screen. Although now you mention it, I am not sure where I put it for safe keeping….
2014-12-04| ChristianPFC says“swaddles the phone in a hideous plastic case adorned with pieces of fluff and cartoon characters; and sticks a piece of plastic on the back to “protect” the screen”
Actually on the phone, the screen protector is on the front. And it does a pretty good job, using my phone over one year now, there are only some minuscule scratches.
2014-12-29| NJ saysI would strip to my underwear to install an Expert Shield screen protector, because pants are overrated, but protection isn’t. Don’t be a fool, wrap your tool.
2015-01-13| NJ saysA friend recently put an Expert Shield on her new GH4 after reading this and other reviews. I had the chance to have a play with her camera yesterday and can confirm the screen protector looks as good as you described; crystal clear display, touchscreen works perfectly, seems to be decent quality too. All in all, good piece of kit. Thanks again for posting this very informative review.
2015-01-13| Spike saysCongrats NJ, by virtue of being the only entrant; you are the winner! I will pass your email address to Expert Shield and they will be touch. Have fun wrapping your tool!
2015-01-19| NJ saysThanks Spike! :D
Default win ftw! I eagerly await the protector. Looking forward to the muffin stage.