No joy finding a lens cap...

Just a note to give a thumbs up to these guys, www.2filter.com, also known as The Filter Connection.

I made the trek over to see them today and found it to be a nice little place. They do not have a retail store, but I called before hand went over to their location. They have offices in the second floor of a strip mall. Their stock is pretty extensive and well organized in bookcases throughout their offices. The woman I spoke to was very nice and very happy to help me. I asked about some Series V retaining rings, but they did not have them in stock. She did give me a price, around $3.50 I think, and said she can order one and have it really fast for me.

We talked a little about their advertising. She says the owner used to advertise in photo mags, but doesn't anymore as they get significant business from the internet through search engines now.

All in all a nice experience. It was nice to see the way an e-business is operated. It is a real place with real people there. Prices seem right, so I think I will make up a list of do-dads and thingy-ma-bobs that I need and place an order from them for take out, not delivery!
 
thanks for the mini review ralph.

i checked out their site looking for some oddball stuff (40mm yellow, series 6 for canon) but didn't find anything.
did they mention if they have stock that is not on the website?

joe
 
I didn't ask. I would suggest that you email or call them. They seem to have resources to order from and my be able to supply it. They had a 40.5 hood and some 40.5 filters I asked about, but did not have others in stock.

I should have taken Huck Finn with me. He is a much better conversationalist and would have found out a lot more important stuff to share with everyone. Maybe I can suggest this as our next field trip.
 
Given the fact that all recommendations are that an RF camera NEEDS a lens cap to avoid damaging the shutter, I think anyone who sells a lens without a cap ought to be hung out and dried. Certainly that applies to businesses, if not to individuals. Unfortunately it isn't that way. Not long ago, I purchased a Zorki-6 from Yuri at Fedka, and it arrived without a lens cap. When I e-mailed him about caps, he replied that there was no problem for a J-8 on a Kiev, but he couldn't supply for a Zorki (Industar-50) except by robbing another camera. Somebody ought to go into the lens cap business!!
 
The Industar-22 and collapsible Industar-50 can be covered with the cap from a Tropicana orange juice bottle, 14 ounce size. Use a sharp knife to trim the thread out slightly from the inside unti it fits.

-Paul
 
dll927 said:
Given the fact that all recommendations are that an RF camera NEEDS a lens cap to avoid damaging the shutter...
Hi-- I have not heard those recommendations, and wonder what the background facts and logic might be. Caps and/or filters can protect the front surface of the lens, surely, but the shutter?
 
Thanks for the tip Paul. I'll have to check for one, that or look around in the huge amount of garbage left behind after the spring thaw :)
 
Doug said:
Hi-- I have not heard those recommendations, and wonder what the background facts and logic might be. Caps and/or filters can protect the front surface of the lens, surely, but the shutter?

The protection is mainly for cloth shutters, as direct sunlight can burn a whole through them.
 
Doug said:
Hi-- I have not heard those recommendations, and wonder what the background facts and logic might be. Caps and/or filters can protect the front surface of the lens, surely, but the shutter?

Just leave the camera out or carrying it in such a way where the sun might shine thru the lense, and you'll get a hole burnt in the cloth shutter. I'm not sure that it would be such a problem with the collapsible lenses, but I'm not volunteering to try it :)
 
It takes less than 60 seconds to burn a clean hole through a cloth shutter if the lens is focused on infinity and the camera is left in one position facing the sun. I've done it recently and learned how to patch a shutter curtain as a result.

-Paul
 
Solinar said:
The protection is mainly for cloth shutters, as direct sunlight can burn a whole through them.
Ah, right! Wasn't thinking in those terms, but I've even used a Nikon S2 that had sun-caused shutter pinholes. Good reminder to us all to either use a lens cap or keep our cloth focal plane shutter RFs from basking in the sun this coming seasons!
 
For my fixed lens RF's, I use a step-up ring and use easily found 52mm caps and filters. Sure is easier than finding a lot of odd-ball sizes that my small town camera stores don't have in stock.
Just a thought ~ ; - )
 
I only have caps for a few of my fixed lens RF's, but they're the least vulnerable to the sun burning a hole problem because they all have metal leaf shutters, and the shutter also sits between the elements, so they don't have the sunlight being concentrated on one spot.

It it takes 60 seconds to burn a hole, then a collapsible i-22 or i-50 is probably quite safe when the lense is collapsed, given how blurry everything is when that's the case :)
 
Over the last few days I have been busy making custom lens caps for odd-size lenses; it would be a very long shot to try and find a lens cap for things like a Ross-Zeiss Protar V 265mm, or a Spencer Port-Land 8", or an Angenieux R1, first release...

In a nutshell, I coil strips of paper into a hoop and build it up to a reasonable thickness, top it with a disc cut from stiiff card, wrap the outside with leatherette from an old desk diary, and line the inside with velvet-finish ConTact paper. Looks quite smart too.

Come to think of it, in the old days of brass-barrel lenses, lens caps were made in pretty much the same way, expenside ones used paper-thin morocco leather for the outside, and the inside lined with velvet. Apart from time needed for the glue to set, it is not an iunpleasant project and the result very agreeable.
 
Olympus lens cap

Olympus lens cap

dkirchge said:
HELP! I'm desperately trying to find a lens cap and or UV filter suitable for my Trip 35 :bang: . Matt Denton's website says that a 45mm slip-on or a 43.5mm screw-in filter/cap will work, but I'm having a horrible time finding one, even with the mighty Google on my side. Can anyone here suggest a source for these elusive beasts? I even tried eBay, but didn't have much luck there. I would really, really like to find one so that I can feel comfortable using this as my everyday take-along /leave-in-the car camera without fretting over scratching up the lens, even though it is pretty well recessed.

Thanks in advance everyone,
Doug K.


Hey Doug,
Just found your thread... Still looking for that cap? I have one! Original! With a non-functioning camera attached..

Rob.
 
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