something I made for my lenses so I don't burn a hole in the curtains

[Leica All Day]

Hey guys,

After reading the thread about how easy/difficult it is to burn a hole in the shutter curtains, I thought that I would share something that I do...

FIrst, I would like to state that I burnt a hole in my m6ttl sometime with-in the 2nd year of owning it, I was still under passport warranty so I got it fixed for free......but, ever since then (about 8 years ago) I have been using these things that I make....

I am 100% sure that I did not "invent" this, I either read about it on Pnet, google or Sherry K. told me about it...anyways, here it is.

When I was in California, I would buy the supplies at the local arts and crafts store......now, I just buy face masks off street vendors here for about 15 cents and take them apart.

face masks...I usually buy black...I try to avoid the Hello Kitty print

I take out the stitching and remove the elastic bands

then I cut the corners off and start to sew the elastic band in a circular pattern onto the cloth...

to be continued....cheers, michael

 

[Leica All Day]

......the important thing to do is to stretch the elastic while you are sewing, so when you release the elastic, it makes the cloth bundle up

here it is on my 50mm summilux.....one size fits all......I can put it on and remove it with 2 fingers....I sewed a little white strap on the front to make it quick and easy to take off.....

the nice thing is, it folds/crumples into you hand unlike a lens cap....and you can remove it and shoot quite quickly.....it also feels a lot better in your pocket than a lens cap......

I tend to just carry one camera/one lens with me around town and I do not keep this thing on all the time...just when the sun is bright and I am not using my camera (slung over my shoulder)....they are not the prettiest things...but they work fine for me...

cheers, michael

p.s....I try to make sure to get material that does not "shed" loose fibers....I usually make these on long bus trips (8-14 hours)....when I usually pack my camera gear to go on a photo trip, I can never find where I put these things, so I end up buying a face mask at the bus station (they sell them everywhere out here) and make it on the bus ride....the nice thing is, if/when I lose them, I just make another one (about 20 minutes)...

 

[Leica All Day]

haha, that's funny.......though, I am not sure how many people here will understand that....

cheers, michael

 

[tbarker13]

Why not use a lens cap instead of homebrew panties? 😀

too funny...

 

[PMCC]

Dual-use is ecologically sound.

 

[johannielscom]

Michael, when seeing the shot I honestly for a moment thought you were using your undies to make these from.

What a relief.

And a good idea too!

 

[Leica All Day]

Why not use a lens cap instead of homebrew panties? 😀

good question....I never remove the shades on my lenses ...and I don't have lens' caps that fit over the 3 different Leica shades that I have.......that, and I dont like lens caps in my pockets or floating around in my bag....also, if you loose a lens cap, they are quite often hard and expensive to replace (at least where I live/travel)....

cheers, michael

 

[MartinP]

I was wondering about the normal lenscap idea too.

The obvious question is what do you do with the lens cap when you take it off ? And my solution was to duct-tape some smart nylon string to the front of the push-on cap, having a loop in the other end to go through the end of the shoulder/wrist strap. On chrome-ish lenscaps I use silvery tape and on black ones, black tape. It is easy enough to cut a neat round shape from the wide duct tape to make a tidy job of it. As seen on my J-12 in Barcelona the other year - works well with rain as well as sun too, oops.

EDIT: Aha, a good answer from Michael. The underwear, errrm, facemasks will fit over lens-hoods. I hadn't thought of that 🙂

 

[ampguy]

here's a triple use suggestion

here's a triple use suggestion

get some brown paint at the art store and use white cloth. Paint a skid mark down the middle, and you'll have an effective theft deterrent feature added 😀

Dual-use is ecologically sound.

 

[MartinP]

Eeeeuuccchhhh . . . possibly we should leave the underwear topic !
😀

My own bizarre elasticated idea was useful during rainy dutch tourist days. A disposable shower-cap from the hotel makes a good rain cover for a camera pouch on the belt.

 

[Leica All Day]

hey ampguy, that is funny.....but I will say this...it does "ghetto" the camera out a little bit.... I will never forget one time a Thai photographer stopped and asked me about it....it was funny....cheers,michael

 

[Pico]

get some brown paint at the art store and use white cloth. Paint a skid mark down the middle, and you'll have an effective theft deterrent feature added 😀

Believe it or not, they exist ready-made.

 

[Roger Hicks]

OpTech Hood Hats. Google 'em or see http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/review optech shower cap.html

Failing that, thin.plastic, elasticated jamjar covers.

Frances is a very good seamstress, and makes chamois leather lens cases.

But these lens knickers are a bit much like hard work.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ampguy]

it's funny

it's funny

that they were sold at Sears ...

Anyways, here is a more practical (and classy) way to store those pesky loose lenscaps:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...720361345704.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLEFifthNews

Believe it or not, they exist ready-made.

 

[DNG]

I just hold the palm of hand over the sunshade as I walk.
I can't drop it, or loss it, I never forget to bring it with me, and it doubles as a cup holder 😛😀

 

[PMCC]

No worries, not a bit. I was responding in kind. Nor do I know the book. Back to our regular programming.

 

[Leica All Day]

hey PMCC....if you don't know the book....how did you quote it "word for word"?......

 

[raid]

I use my hand over the lens shade. No images of underwear remain. I am OK.

 

[PMCC]

I use my hand over the lens shade. No images of underwear remain. I am OK.

Good way to avoid getting knickers-in-a-twist.

 

[Chris101]

... I haven't seen any other work by him, but I will google him and see if I can find the stuff on the killings and drug wars.....

You will no doubt then find this recent (May '10) photo essay, In the Killing Zone.