Life+Guard camera skin review

Life+Guard camera skin introduction

Life+Guard is a Taiwanese company that makes ‘skins’ or armor wraps that stick onto your camera and lenses. Their AlphaGVRD range started out for Sony Alpha cameras, but now also includes other camera brands like Canon, Nikon, and Fujifilm. The skins are made from premium 3M materials and are precisely cut according to the dimensions of your specific camera model or lens.

Why would you want a Life+Guard camera skin?

Now, why would you want to have a skin like this many people ask? Well firstly, cosmetically it’s a way of personalizing your camera according to your taste. There are many different designs and colors available, and it’s possible to mix and match some of them. So the possible combinations are almost endless, allowing you to create a unique look for your gear.

Secondly, it’s an efficient way of protecting your camera against dust and scratches. Like protecting your screen with a screen protector, a LifeGuard skin will do essentially the same for your camera and lens body.

Life+Guard camera skin installation

My package arrived within one week in a basic grey plastic envelope. Inside was a cardboard box for protection. It was bent somewhat due to the transport but luckily no damage inside.

Inside the box, you’ll find the set of skins as well as plastic tweezers and an applicator. These can, of course, be used to apply the skins to your camera.

As you can see, the ‘skin’ is actually a set of precisely cut vinyl stickers that need to be applied piece by piece in order to get full coverage of your camera.

If you’re baffled by the many different parts, don’n worry. You’ll also find a manual that explains step by step where start.

In my case, I had to start with sticker A1, the front part of the viewfinder. It’s a simple matter of following the entire sets of A’s, B’s and C,s until the enite camera is covered.

Now at this point I should mention that you’ll need some time to apply the full skin. Mine took around 90 minutes fro start to finish. At times it’s not always easy to get the stickers in all the nooks and crannies that this camera has. I imagine it’s like that with any camera really. The method I found most effective was to use the Life+Guard supplied plastic tweezers to lift the 3M stickers off the paper, apply them on the camera surface and then use the other tool to flatten the sticker onto the surface.

Now I have to be honest. I’m the type of person whio gets dust spots under almost any screen protector I’ve applied. Nomather how much cleaning I do with a cloth, solvents or whatever, I always manage  to get one or two spots under the proector. My wife on the other hand, usually just slaps them on without much regard, and usually gets it right on the first try. In this case, I found it reltively easy to get a good result, with only a few corners and  overlaps that I was not totally happy with. I woud think that your second application would go better than your first.

There is also a cover included for the grip. You’ll net a hairdryer in order to make a solid adhesion here. This of course because the grip has a bir more texture. I also use the hairdryier on the entire bodu to ensure all corners and ends sticked well.

Conclusion

In my case, t chose to buy the Life+Guard skin called Retro (BRTI/BEBK)for my Sony A7rm4.  My old A9 actually got some damage in the first month of ownership. Nothing major, but a few scratches on the bottom plate.  I had been looking for a practical solution to protect my new camera body and this looked both stylish and practical. I’ve used half cases in the past, but at times you need to remove them, like for use on a tripod. And as luck would have it, that’s of course when the body gets scratched.

A skin like this Life+Guard stays on permanetly and gives at least a solid superficial protection thanks to the rugged 3M coating. Application isn’t too difficult and Overall I’m happy with the final result.

If you’re looking for a way to proect your mirrorless camera or want to tweak the appearance more to your liking, have a look at the options on the Life+Guard website.