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Lens Covers Lens Caps

 
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Norman72



Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 7
Location: Northwest, Tacoma, WA

PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2002 4:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am having a lot of trouble finding lans
caps for my lenses I need one for my 135mm
Graphex-Optar and one for my 135mm Schneider/Krueznach-xenar plus one for my 90mm Graphex-Optar---Help! Help!

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Dan Fromm



Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2144
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2002 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2002-07-03 21:26, Norman72 wrote:
I am having a lot of trouble finding lans
caps for my lenses I need one for my 135mm
Graphex-Optar and one for my 135mm Schneider/Krueznach-xenar plus one for my 90mm Graphex-Optar---Help! Help!

If you're made of money, Steve Grimes (www.skgrimes.com) will make you very nice caps to fit your lenses.

Cheers,

Dan
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2002 2:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had good luck making my own. Try to find some single ply matte board cut it it in strips as wide as your lens sticks out from the shutter, then cut a disk the diameter of the lens + the matte board. Tape these together, cut another strip the width the first disk sticks out and wrap that around the first strip with double sided tape.

Essentially we are building up a lens cap with lamintations. The strips and discs alternate like bricks in a wall so it's rigid.
then cover with black masking tape.

They fit very well since the lens is used as a block. and there cheap. If you wanted to get fancy you could cover them in kid leather and gold stamp "Goerz" on it. That's where I discovered how to do this.
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RichS



Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Posts: 1468
Location: South of Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2004 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How 'bout this for reviving an old topic?

I was just measurinig up and getting ready to order lens caps. So far I need about a dozen. I paused, for quite a while, when I saw the price they get for them now... So I thought I'd do a search here for other options and found Les' remarks about making your own...

Hey, I have mat board, and glue and tape and contact cement and even multi-colored paints! I can do that!

Thanks Les. I never even thought of just making them...
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disemjg



Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Posts: 474
Location: Washington, DC

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've made several this way, using very thin hobby plywood (1/64th) for the ring that is built up on the barrel of the lens. For small diameter caps the ply, even that thin, is not really flexible enough and the cardstock is more appropriate. I use Elmers yellow glue. My caps are lined with velvet to make them a nice slip fit onto the front of the lens. Velvet tape is the trick for the ring since the selvige keeps the narrow strip of velvet from fraying. You can make a really nice looking cap if you take your time and pay attention to detail.

And do not forget to build up the diameter of the lens before using it as a form; you have to allow for the space taken up by the velvet. Use masking tape to build it up.
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disemjg



Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Posts: 474
Location: Washington, DC

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And I should have mentioned that for the more common sizes, you can go to a site like KEH and just buy the things for five or ten bucks. Look on the large format caps category.
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RichS



Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Posts: 1468
Location: South of Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought about making some nice 'show' caps out of wood. At least it would be easy to cut round circles and the correct size. But a lot of work all around...

The card stock is easy. Just a pair of scissors and some glue.

For some things, I don't care about looks. Lens caps are one of them. If the camera is in use, they're not visible, or get lost, beaten up... Maybe I should care but lens caps just don't mean anything to me as long as they fit and protect the lens. I've even used pill bottle caps when they're thr right size...

As far as making these things, turns out it's harder than I thought to get them tight. Seems okay while I'm putting it together, then it's loose after it's finished... Have to refine my technique

And about buying new ones. That was the whole point of my post. I need more than a half dozen. At 7 bucks a piece for cheap ones not including shipping and tax (as B&H was the only company I found that listed the sizes I needed), it gets a bit expensive...


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Sjixxxy



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 109
Location: Midwest US

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For my 135's mounted on 4x4 boards, when not on camera, I just stick one into an empty sheet film box from a 50 sheet box. Fits nice with room for a cable release.
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RichS



Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Posts: 1468
Location: South of Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2004 4:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A box is a great idea and I have one lens in the original box that it shipped in. Keeps it nice & safe. But they only work for me in something like the Graphic cases.

I like lens caps for two reasons. First is the old rim dent from a tilt-over or drop. A push-on type lens cap will very often protect the rim of the lens from damage. That's the reason I don't like the snap in type as they don't offer any rim protection.

The other reason is when I'm walking about with the equipment. I keep extra lenses in soft pouches. I either us a large 'fanny pouch' with multiple pockets (and it's in camo so noone can see it), or Polaroid pouches. I have no idea what these pouches were made for, but they work great for carrying two lenses or 5-6 4x5 holders.

When I carry the lenses in soft containers, they can use all the glass protection they can get...

And for all that, ya gotta see my face when I'm setting up a shot and finally figure out that I forgot to take the rear lens cap off


P.S. Thank you again Les. I just finished making the six caps I needed for my 'normal' lenses. Worked great and took hardly any time. Don't know how they'll hold up yet, but for the cost, who cares?


[ This Message was edited by: RichS on 2004-06-18 21:49 ]
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Nick



Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 494

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2004 11:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can buy new caps but I just use cheap UV filters. It seems every time I buy a lens it comes with a cheapie filter. Only once have I got a heliopan filter on a lens.
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RichS



Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Posts: 1468
Location: South of Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You must be buying much newer lenses than me

Very few on my lenses could accept a screw-in filter. And most are too large for a push-on series adapter. My only options are lens caps and filters like the Lee gel-snap...
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Nick



Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 494

PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For lenses with no threads I got that Tiffen thing. MCS?? Anyways nobody really knows what it's for so it sold relatively cheap-) It might not be that hard to rig something like it up. It uses three set screws to tighten around the lens barrel. The front of it is magnetic so you can add almost anything to the front. Allegedly a nice hood exists but I've never seen it.
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RichS



Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Posts: 1468
Location: South of Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

At one point I had even bought a used metal lens hood with the plans on drilling & tapping 3 holes in the hood, placed over the lens backwards, screws through the tapped holes to tighten on the lens barrel. The idea was to have a standard filter thread at the end for screw-on type filters. I never did get around to trying that...

But along these lines. If you made a wood ring that could tighten around a lens barrel, inserting tiny magnets into the front of it would be very easy...

Another project...


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t.r.sanford



Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 812
Location: East Coast (Long Island)

PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

...or how about one of the (relatively) new modeling plastics (some of which can be formed easily, then set by heat), or "Alumilite," or "Lab Metal"? One might mold such a thing around the lens barrel, protected with saran film, and envelop a disc of thin metal or plastic in the stuff, as an internal reinforcement.
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Nick



Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 494

PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was told to get one of those cheap rubber hoods and tape it to the lens. I didn't think much of the idea but those hoods are pretty cheap so I bought one. You need one big enough that the edge of the hood ring is at the edge of the lens barrel. A couple of loops of duct tape and it was finished. It sure didn't look pretty but it worked just fine. Ended up with a filter ring and a hood-). Make sure the hood you get includes a female ring.
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