The lens cap.

jim10219 · Jul 3, 2019

I also only use lens caps when storing the lens. When I pick up the camera, the first thing I do is pull the lens cap off and put it in my back, left pocket.

I naturally baby those things. I recently fell pretty hard in the woods in Hawaii, but as I was falling, I instinctively raised the camera above my head and fell into the mud and rocks and hurt myself a bit. I did find it odd after the event that I tried to protect the camera over my own body. I didn't even think about it.

etn · Jul 4, 2019

BradS said:
How many photos do you have of the dark side of the lens cap?

Ha ha, not so much of the lens cap itself - I take it off when taking the camera out of the bag and leave it off for the day. My lenses are all protected by UV filters so I'm not too worried.

My most frustrating experience happened on the other side of the world, more precisely in the crater of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on the Reunion Island. It's a 12-hour flight, so I don't spend every weekend there. I was taking some B&W pics, the light was good, and I thought "This would look pretty cool in color too". As I was having a hiking vacation I decided to travel light with 2x 35mm rangefinders (Zeiss Ikon ZM), a couple lenses, nothing more. So I swapped the Tri-X body for the Velvia and kept shooting. Weeks later, reviewing the pics at home, I realized I forgot to remove the orange filter from the lens. To quote Brad: AAARRRRGGGH!!!!

In retrospective, it was good to travel light, but the breathtaking landscapes of La Réunion really deserve to be shot in medium format (or larger).

etn · Jul 4, 2019

BAC1967 said:
It's easier to keep track of the lens cap if it's on the lens.

The lens cap: the most misplaced item in photography Can't recount how many I lost. Which becomes kinda annoying -or expensive- when they are non standard (e.g. Hasselblad, Rolleiflexes etc.)

grahamp · Jul 4, 2019

Just where do all the lost lens caps go?

BAC1967 · Jul 4, 2019

grahamp said:
Just where do all the lost lens caps go?

Probably the same place your socks go after you put them in the wash and find only one half of a pair.

JerseyDoug · Jul 4, 2019

Several of the lenses I use on my screw-mount Leica have the aperture numbers or index obscured by the lens cap. I have no pictures of the inside of those lens caps. Unfortunately, the lenses I use most frequently lack this "feature."

ic-racer · Jul 4, 2019

My rangefinder has a dark-slide too, so I have twice as many chances of blanks.

MattKing · Jul 4, 2019

I was once taking photos to illustrate an article on a panel discussion involving several renowned French Canadian playwrights. The discussion took place on the stage of the old Arts Club theatre in Vancouver, which featured a fairly steeply rising audience section with about 15 rows of seats. I was in the back, shooting over the audience's heads. I stood up to shoot down the stairs. After switching to a Ionger lens, my lens cap slipped out of my hand.
Did you know that a lens cap makes an incredible racket if it rolls down 15 flights of metal stairs?
I got the most amazing set of scowls from the leaders of the Quebec stage!

Theo Sulphate · Jul 4, 2019

etn said:
... Weeks later, reviewing the pics at home, I realized I forgot to remove the orange filter from the lens. To quote Brad: AAARRRRGGGH!!!!
...

Possible to correct digitally by adjusting white balance?

Bill Burk · Jul 4, 2019

I've got two lens caps for three lenses for the rangefinder.
That tends to alleviate the issue.

etn · Jul 5, 2019

Theo Sulphate said:
Possible to correct digitally by adjusting white balance?

There might be a possibility indeed, but not by adjusting white balance. This kind of correction is best done by subtracting the color cast, in a similar way as it is done with color negatives.
The white balance adjustment follows the black body radiation on the chromaticity diagram (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromaticity_diagram ). This kind of orange case in not on the black body line.

I actually haven’t tried - i like to project my slides and rarely scan them

Etienne

eddie · Jul 5, 2019

macfred said:
I printed small stickers as a kind of reminder (STOP! lens cap! ) and attached them to the back of my FUJI GW670, 690 and GA645 series rangefinder cameras - do not think this stops me to take photos with the lens cap …

I'm the same. I printed "LENS CAP!" stickers for my Fuji 6x9's. I need to print "READ OTHER STICKER" stickers...

Roger Thoms · Jul 5, 2019

Nice feature on my Fuji GW680III is the built in lens hood that make it much harder to see if the lens cap is on. The thing I don’t like about my photographs of the inside of the lens cap is how severely under exposed they are.

Roger

Patrick Robert James · Jul 5, 2019

I shoot with rangefinders for most of the photographs I take. I don't even remember the last time I took a photo with the lens cap on. My "secret" is that I use hoods, and no lens caps.... Well, I still use rear lens caps, but that is a non issue.

The dark slide thing I do all the time. I typically err on the side of taking a nice photo with the dark slide in. I used to have issues forgetting what side of the holder I had already shot since I followed the horrible advice to put a mark on the dark slide and only pull it out to the line without taking it out. Now I pull the dark slide and turn it around after the exposure. White means unexposed, black means exposed.

I'm much more likely to take pictures with no film in the camera, or leave the house with only two pictures left on a roll and bring no film. I do that all the time. Lol. Once in Colorado i hiked a mile to some waterfall only to find out that the battery in the camera was dead. Hiked back and got another battery. Hiked again to the waterfall only to discover that I didn't have any film in the camera. One more roundtrip.... That was the day after I thought I lost a lens only to find it on the roof of my Jeep after driving a couple hundred miles. Stuff happens. Lol.

BAC1967 · Jul 5, 2019

After reading this thread yesterday morning I took a few shots of our local July 4th parade with the lens cap on. Luckily someone I was with pointed it out so I only got 2 shots of the back of my lens cap. Leica IIIf with a Canon Serena’s 135mm lens.

Roger Thoms · Jul 5, 2019

One thing I like about my view cameras is that I have never taken a photograph with the lens cap on. Made a myriad of other mistakes but never that one.

Roger

Luckless · Jul 5, 2019

Roger Thoms said:
One thing I like about my view cameras is that I have never taken a photograph with the lens cap on. Made a myriad of other mistakes but never that one.

Roger

I don't get to use mine much, but personally I'm still waiting on the day when I pull the dark slide before I reset my shutter...

ic-racer · Jul 5, 2019

Roger Thoms said:
One thing I like about my view cameras is that I have never taken a photograph with the lens cap on. Made a myriad of other mistakes but never that one.

Roger

I have made the error of pulling the dark slide on this one with the lens cap OFF! (need to use lenscap as a shutter :O)

Luckless · Jul 5, 2019

ic-racer said:
I have made the error of pulling the dark slide on this one with the lens cap OFF! (need to use lenscap as a shutter :O)

That's just applying some softening-blur and maybe an exposure gradient to your image... Saves on adding filters to do the same thing I guess?

John Koehrer · Jul 5, 2019

Regarding the pics of interiors of caps. They could be priceless with the proper gallery representation.
They must be fluent in ARTSPEAK and be able to refute any logical argument.

Theo Sulphate · Jul 5, 2019

My attempts at lens cap photography seem to be a failure. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

macfred · Jul 6, 2019

Theo Sulphate said:
My attempts at lens cap photography seem to be a failure. What am I doing wrong?...

Not a reliable lenscap - it's Canon-made and holey ...
Your lenscap shots will be overexposed with -kind of- ghosting effect ...

Theo Sulphate · Jul 6, 2019

This one is better; good shadow detail.

macfred · Jul 6, 2019

Theo Sulphate said:
This one is better; good shadow detail.

Great one ...

TheRook · Jul 12, 2019

When I first started using a rangefinder camera, yes, I did forget to take the lens cap off a few times. But not anymore. One must learn from one's mistakes, or one continues to repeat them. For me, removing the lens cap before using a camera is simply a procedure I do automatically. Like putting on a seat belt whenever I get behind the wheel in a car... I don't really think about it, I just do it.

The lens cap.

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