Lens caps are probably the thing I used to lose the most often, until I quit bothering replacing them. If I have none to lose, then I can’t lose them, problem solved. Sometimes, though, having lens caps saves a lot of hassle. Lenses that I use often are regularly cleaned. But, for lenses that end up sitting on the shelf unused for several months, cleaning dust out of the front element can be a pain. So, I do still keep a few handy. But if you want to stop losing your lens caps in the first place, what can you do? Well, this video from the guys at The Film Look on YouTube offers three tips to help make your lens caps more visible, organised, and easy to temporarily store while shooting without losing.
Painting them bright orange is sure going to make them stand out if you accidentally leave one on the floor. As shown in the video, though, you do want to remember to not cover parts that rub together. If you’re using the paracord zipper tags, you can even colour coordinate. Labelling the lens caps, so you know which goes on which lens can be a good idea if you have many different sizes of lens. I solved this by simply putting 77mm step-up rings on all my lenses that weren’t 77mm. My B+W 10 stop is 77mm, my circular polariser is 77mm, and the adapter ring for my Cokin Z-Pro holder is also 77mm. So, it made sense to buy step-ups for all my lenses that needed them. This means I only need 77mm lens caps.
The velcro idea, though, is pretty genius. Virtually every camera bag out there has surfaces to which velcro can be applied. Most of them use velcro for the dividers within the bag. It allows you to quickly reconfigure your bag to whatever size body, lens or other gear you need to carry. So, it makes it very handy for something like this. There are, of course, other options, like lens cap leashes, but I was never really all that keen on having my lens cap just dangling down below the camera. Having a strap around the lens barrel can also make it difficult to focus or zoom. I don’t know if I’ll be painting or labelling my lens caps, but I think I’ll definitely be picking up a roll of velcro. What other tips do you have for not losing lens caps or other equipment? Do you lose something more often than lens caps? Let us know in the comments.
