Op Tech product review: lens wraps disintegrated

I have owned a set of Op/Tech camera and lens soft wraps for at least 12 years now and discovered a problem with one them that is probably due to aging. I had wrapped a lens for additional protection and placed it in my camera bag. When I got to my destination I discovered that the wrap had delaminated and began to disintegrate in the bag leaving very fine particulate debris and smudges on the inside of the bag where it had contact. I don't think any of the fine debris got inside the 15mm Carl Zeiss lens that it was supposed to cover but I was disappointed that the wrap failed in the manner that it did. Since purchasing six of the wraps they have been used with a variety of other brands once every one to two years for trips where I needed to save space or for greater protection and otherwise kept clean and dry in a pelican case for storage. They were never exposed to evil vapors or organic solvents. I have generally been happy with the Op/Tech products and go out of my way to use US made products. I no longer have confidence in this product. Even if the wrap was 12 years old it should not have disintegrated in my camera bag. If your going to spend 13-14 dollars on a 19X19 inch piece of high tech polyethylene cloth you should never have to worry about part of it ending up inside the barrel of an expensive lens.

Never had that problem with disposable bubble wrap. Nor with commercial 'no-brand' Neoprene foam sheeting used to pack out slightly oversized lens cases.

 

The vinyl piping on the outside of some of my - otherwise excellent - Sigma lens cases is disintegrating though. (I'm no great fan of Sigma lenses, but they do make very good cases to keep them in. So I buy them up when I can find used ones.)

Watch out for long term storage in pluckfoam lined cases - I was shown a hard case at the camera shop that had been brought in for cleaning . The foam had stuck to every point of contact with the cameras and lenses - an unbelievable mess, which I doubt could be fixed. I do like and use the cases, but store the gear elsewhere.

Not all neoprene foam is created equal, though I think the OP probably should have noted the problem earlier. I use thick, heavyweight polar fleece-like material for loose-fitting pouches cut and overlock-sewn formy lenses. Very early Zing camera bags I use are still flexible but later editions switched from high quality Dupont neoprene to material that looked and wore very differently. I like Op/Tech too but their merch is only as good as the material used to make it.

C_watson l 1, sorry for the confusion. The Op Tech wraps are made of polyethylene plastic that is similar to what is in polar fleece and is relatively non biodegradable. It's funny that when I saw the black smudges on the inside of my camera bag I thought it looked like broken down neoprene but it was broken down polyethylene microparticles. Your right that if I had been looking carefully I might have noticed it sooner. Maybe bubble wrap and duct tape are in my future.

cheap foam.

Here is a original Zoomar 500mm mirror lens case.

It's been vacuumed out but even expensive items can have materials that do not stand the test of time.