The importance of lens caps?

[Rob-F]

I don't keep a cap on my lens when I'm out shooting. I have a lifelong habit of keeping a hand on the camera to tilt it down slightly, to keep the lens axis below the horizon. It's so ingrained that it's automatic. If using a heavy lens, such as a DRS or a 90mm Summicron, the camera will hang low enough to keep the sun out. Even then, out of long habit, I will still have a hand on the camera. I've never burned a shutter.

 

[Rayt]

I was taking photos of some strangers on the street and saw them laughing at me pointing at my lens. I kept the cap in the box after that. I later also stopped using those rectangular hood caps after losing a few and realized their replacement cost so in the box they went.

 

[Timmyjoe]

https://www.dagcamera.com/store/p145/How_Long_Does_It_Take_To_Burn_a_Hole_in_A_Shutter_Curtain%3F.html

 

[enasniearth]

Of the black nikons used professionally I’ve had.
3 had patches on the shutter curtains from sun holes
I use a cap when sun is out

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I don't keep a cap on my lens when I'm out shooting. I have a lifelong habit of keeping a hand on the camera to tilt it down slightly, to keep the lens axis below the horizon. It's so ingrained that it's automatic. If using a heavy lens, such as a DRS or a 90mm Summicron, the camera will hang low enough to keep the sun out. Even then, out of long habit, I will still have a hand on the camera. I've never burned a shutter.

This is how I work, too. I don't keep a cap on the camera I am carrying while I am walking around shooting, but I do keep caps on the lenses I have in my bag when I am walking around.

Some RFF members brag about never having caps on their lenses,throwing them in pockets or bags uncapped. That's just asking to get the glass scratched and the focusing cam mechanism (on the rear of the lens) dirty.

 

[css9450]

Youtube is full of enthusiastic young photographers getting their first Leicas only to get the first roll developed and they see there are pinholes on the shutter curtain. So, it must be happening to someone. I wouldn't want to risk it.

I also use lens caps on my leaf-shutter cameras. Sure, the shutter leaves are metal, but there is nothing else there to prevent a leak from getting through to the film. Better safe than sorry.

I never use UV or skylight filters on any lenses. Ever shoot a photo at dusk and get an annoying reflection from a streetlight in some random part of the photo? Usually those are because there is a filter on the lens.

 

[retinax]

Always capping between pictures seems very tiresome. Why do we use modern cameras with coupled film advance and shutter cocking, coupled rangefinders etc. in the first place?

My rangefinders are Canons with steel shutter curtains, so burning holes fortunately is no worry. Generally I don't use front lens caps or clear filters, but I do use hoods that give some protection, especially while in the bag. Exception is my little Skopar 21/4 ltm, the short hood doesn't offer enough protection to the front element so it gets capped in the bag. As soon as it comes out, the cap comes off. Same procedure for some SLR lenses. I always use rear caps.

 

[Dogman]

I don't keep a cap on my lens when I'm out shooting. I have a lifelong habit of keeping a hand on the camera to tilt it down slightly, to keep the lens axis below the horizon. It's so ingrained that it's automatic....

Yep. That's it.

 

[markjwyatt]

Just wait until you ask whether or not you need a UV filter...

...or a at least a med. Y filter always for B&W (which I tend to do in general).

 

[David Hughes]

The main point to make about lens caps is that they keep muck, dirt and dust off of lenses and that is far more likely to happen than your camera bursting into flames or mildly smoking as the shutter burns.

I have seen a lot of scratched lenses and a lot of scratched filters and so I also have a soft lens brush in the kit but I have yet to carry a fire extinguisher when out shooting...


Regards, David

 

[raid]

I use a lens hood on all lenses when I use them. I rarely use a lens cap. Even rarer do I use any filters. I don’t want to downgrade the quality of the lens optics.

 

[wes loder]

I do little "street shooting" and seldom need an instant response to what I see. I use lens caps when I have them. I have developed a habit of reaching for the cap the moment I see a picture in the making. Haven't shot a picture of the inside of a cap for years. I do use hoods when I can find the right size. I also like to use UV filters. Keeps the lens glass cleaner and safer. Never noticed any degradation or flare from so doing, but what do I know? I have noticed that using a coated UV filter on an uncoated lens seems to cut down on flare.

 

[retinax]

I have noticed that using a coated UV filter on an uncoated lens seems to cut down on flare.

It might cut down atmospheric haze, but not lens flare, after all that's made behind the filter.

 

[GarageBoy]

I use caps and protective filters on older lenses that are super prone to scratches - don't want to touch the element if I don't need to

 

[jankap]

Here is an interesting report:
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/09/rental-camera-gear-destroyed-by-the-solar-eclipse-of-2017/

 

[CLAdictic]

Why are lens caps made? Why do lens makers put caps on all new lenses? Protection. Protect the front element, in the case of Leica M's the shutter curtain. I was told this years ago and I still follow that rule.

 

[farlymac]

Cap on if I'm not immediately going to take a photo, as in traveling between scenes. Nothing goes in the bag without a cap. First thing I do before taking a photo is check that the cap is off (I failed at this a couple of times. You get some interesting images though if using a vented hood.) Accidents will happen, even if you are careful of where the camera is pointing. I blasted some holes and left smoke trails on the image when I worked the lens through a chain link fence once. Kind of forgot where the sun was coming from.


As for filters I usually only use the contrast ones for b&w, and sometimes a UV if there is haze. Occasionally a Skylight if using color film, but I'm not particular all the time.


If you go down a check list of Cap, Aperture, Shutter speed, Wind, Focus, Expose every time you first use the camera, then you lessen the chance of leaving a cap on. If you find a cap with one of those loops to attach a hanging string to, you can put the cap on the lens so that the loop is visible in the viewfinder. And using vented hoods makes it easy to see if the cap is still on because it blocks part of the scene.


PF

 

[Fraser]

Caps in the bucket filter on everything.

 

[presspass]

Can it be done? Sure can. I have a nice MP .58 in a drawer waiting to go in for a new curtain to replace the one with a burn hole in it. An expensive lesson. This is the first time it’s happened to me in nearly 50 years and I am trying very hard to keep it from happening again.

 

[Pál_K]

Why are lens caps made? Why do lens makers put caps on all new lenses? ...

In Washington DC, the Lens Cap Lobby is very powerful. On Wall St. billions of dollars are made on small cap and large cap funds.


OK, reading this all over again, it seems to me that whether a cap is needed depends on one’s style of photography.

For example, if your style involves multiple lenses in a bag, or you carry the camera on a strap across your shoulder, I can understand using a lens cap for protection.

But when I’m using a camera, rangefinder or otherwise, I am taking one camera and one lens only. Also, I don’t use a “bag” - on my way to my destination I have a semi-rigid case with a compartment that can hold a camera and a lens snugly - there’s nothing in there that can damage the lens or the camera. Then, when out making photos, I leave the case open in the car, carry the camera in my hand, strap wrapped around my wrist, and camera pointing down. I do use filters for protection and for effect. So, for me, a cap is a useless annoyance. Thus, I have about 200 lens caps tucked away in boxes. Some, however, are kind of rare, so I have them on display.