ZI lens caps - you better not drop them

[FanMan]

One thing that happend to me, while using the ZI the first time.

My son goes to the kindergarten and the children of this kindergarten had a little performance in our church. And in church I tried to take some photos of my son without disturbing the divine service too much. Hm, perhaps I was too proud to use this camera. :angel:

As you know, if you try to move carefully this is not always good. And so I let the lens cap fall down to the floor. The result: dark church and the lens cap now in three peaces between the feet of strangers. :bang::bang::bang:

Well, as you surely can imagine, it was not easy to find and get the peaces of the lens cap. And then I noticed that those 2 little springs, which allow the lens cap to stay on the lens, were gone. And it was absolutely not possible to find them. Well, if I would not have been where I was, I think that I would have started to swear like a trooper in this situation. Therefore I only thought „OH NO!!!!!!!“ So, be careful while removing or replacing the lens caps of your ZI lenses.

 

[Avotius]

oh bummer! im surprised zeiss went for such a shoddy design with springs. I really love how the canon lens caps and just about any other cheap cap uses plastic tention peice between the two clip nub things as the spring, ie its impossible to loose the inside parts unless you smash it. Shame on zeiss for this one! Go get a tamron lens cap if they have them in that size, I love tamron lens caps.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

What are lens caps for anyway?

 

[newfinder]

Is this the lens cap you've got? I'm thinking of it, but you just told us it is not tightly fixed to the lens, right???

Thanks!

 

[newfinder]

Is this the lens cap you've got? I'm thinking of it, but you just told us it is not tightly fixed to the lens, right???

Thanks!

Another question is, does this kind of lens cap blot out the viewfinder? it looks big in diameter

 

[jano]

No.. that's the lens hood. Those won't break, only dent or warp.

 

[ZeissFan]

Those are lens shades. I've seen those plastic springs snap in the cheaper shades ... personal experience on that.

The Zeiss caps are a bit of a pain, especially with the lens shades in place. I tend to just leave them at home.

 

[FanMan]

The photo above shows indeed the lens shades (and not the lens caps). For my 1.5/50 I have currently no lens shade - it was not available when I bought the C-Sonnar and the Planar shade does not fit on the C-Sonnar. Whether too big or not - I will order it when it's available and will tell then how much it blogs from the viewfinder.

@Jon Claremont: I always thought that especially a rangerfinder needs the lens cap so that the shutter is protected. I remember from a discussion in a Leica forum that users were afraid that the sun might burn a whole in the shutter curtain. But maybe I'm wrong.

 

[back alley]

the zi has a metal shutter, less likely to burn.

 

[Bromo33333]

Another question is, does this kind of lens cap blot out the viewfinder? it looks big in diameter

I have a lens shade for the 35mm - the slots int he hood means the obstruction is quite minimal and at 35mm is not in the picture area even if the slots weren't there.

 

[newfinder]

Thanks guys

 

[Huck Finn]

The Leica lens cap on my 50 Summicron is the worst. It is constantly poppoing off. I like the Voigtlander push-on lens caps the best.

 

[Sonnar2]

Yes I like the Voigtlaender push-on lens caps as well. With exception of the logo, which is just printed and don't last well. For dust-protection I favorize lens-caps over UV-filters. Maybe the best of all are my two small Russian push-on plastic caps which shields my 1.5/50 and 2/35mm Canon.

 

[jaapv]

@Jon Claremont: I always thought that especially a rangerfinder needs the lens cap so that the shutter is protected. I remember from a discussion in a Leica forum that users were afraid that the sun might burn a whole in the shutter curtain. But maybe I'm wrong.

This is an exceedingly rare occurence, only if you leave the camera with the full sun shining into the lens for a period of time. I would not advise this with any other camera either. For instance, on a SLR the (plastic) focussing screen will overheat and sag, causing permanent misfocussing. But it is a nice part of RF folklore....

 

[Pherdinand]

What are lens caps for anyway?

What a strange question,Jon.
To make pictures of lens caps, of course!

 

[SDK]

The photo above shows indeed the lens shades (and not the lens caps). For my 1.5/50 I have currently no lens shade - it was not available when I bought the C-Sonnar and the Planar shade does not fit on the C-Sonnar. Whether too big or not - I will order it when it's available and will tell then how much it blogs from the viewfinder.

The C Sonnar 50mm/1.5 Lens shades are now available from Popflash Photo.

Leica 46mm lens caps will fit the C Sonnar fine, but I prefer the cheap plastic Nikon 46mm caps because they are smaller diameter. Unfortunately, B&H no longer carries them. The Zeiss caps do have a tendency to get knocked off easily, if the hood isn't on the lens.

 

[SDK]

This is an exceedingly rare occurence, only if you leave the camera with the full sun shining into the lens for a period of time. I would not advise this with any other camera either. For instance, on a SLR the (plastic) focussing screen will overheat and sag, causing permanent misfocussing. But it is a nice part of RF folklore....

I think you would have to leave your RF camera sitting still with the cap off your fast wide open lens set to infinity and facing directly into the sun for a long time (minutes to hours, depending on temperature and cloudiness) to get a hole burnt in your shutter. It can be done, but this won't happen walking around with the cap off your lens in broad day with the lens set to middle apertures.

Older cameras might have holey-shutter damage from mold or insects!

 

[telenous]

Push-on caps, like the Leicas of old and Voigtlanders of the present, were the best for me. As for Zeiss lens caps, it's like the title of the thread says. They are terribly inconvenient in use. Once, the cap of the Planar 50 ZF snapped right out of my fingers. I followed in horror its trajectory in the air, then to the pavement, into the gutter, round the sewer, over the grate...

...and then, mercifully, and unbelievably, the cap literally performed a delicate balance act over the grate to stop in the middle of the road.

As much as I love some of Zeiss' lenses, the caps were a pain.

 

[Xmas]

Lens caps are to make sure the best street shot you ever take is not too over exposed. Keeping the rubberised cloth shutter or plastic focusing screen intact is a minor secondary benifit.

You can always replace the screen some are snap in, or send the camera off for a blind replacement. You can never repeat the shot unless it is a still life. Life is not like a game of snooker, where the referee will replace the balls.

Noel

 

[john_nyc]

Ok.. so the lens cap of my 1 day old ZM Sonnar fell off and literally exploded on contact with the sidewalk.

In reading this thread I think I understand why CZ provides lens caps of this variety: a cap that self destructs can't be responsible for missed shots!