Cable release on lenses

[bobbyc]

Is it better to leave the cable release screwed on to the lens or to take it off

when the lens is not in use, i.e. after the shoot ?

I have heard two conflicting views on this.

[William Kahn]

Depends on how the camera's used. If it's a studio camera which stays on its tripod, leave the cable on. If it's a field camera that gets folded up and packed away after every shoot (my situation), take it off.......

[capocheny]

I have a separate cable release for each and every one of my lenses... they stay on!

 

Cheers

[Monophoto]

My field camera will not fold with the lens in place. I store each lens in a lens wrap, and have a dedicated place for each in my backpack. I have a release for each lens, and I simply wind the release around the lens before putting it in its storage wrapper.

[ronald_moravec1]

Ditto Louie.

[sumo_kun]

I think the general consensus is to leave it on and wind it round the lens but it you go travelling or something where the bag might get handled roughly then take it off. The large format site has a page on this. The owner said that he had a bent cable release after a flight. I only have one cable release so I take it off! I don't mind the extra time needed to screw the release on. It takes enough time as it is to set up so why not spend a couple more seconds to screw it on? If I had more then I probably would still leave them off because I just feel paranoid not from the cable release getting damaged but the lens getting damaged. I'm not too careful when I'm backpacking around!

[pvp]

There are quite a few folks who like to have a release permanently attached to each lens, on the theory that it saves precious seconds when the light is changing rapidly.

 

My preference is to remove the release, on the theory that there is a reason why the release has those cool tapered threads.

 

I suppose it's ultimately a matter of personal preference, mainly how many releases you prefer to carry... :)

[justinblack]

Of course this is a matter of personal preference, but come on! There are so many steps in

large format photography that anything that increases working efficiency is a big deal in

my book. If one uses quickloads for convenience and speed, then it stands to reason that

you should put a cable release on each lens. They are cheap enough to buy several, and by

keeping them on the lenses, I have found that I lose fewer each year!

[richard baznik]

I remove them -- except in the winter. Sound odd? If you've never tried to mount a cable release on an old shutter housing while standing outdoors in frigid winter weather and rapidly shifting light, you may not know what I mean. When the temps start dropping, I scrounge releases from my MF and 35mm systems and put them on all my LF lenses, where they generally stay until spring.

[pvp]

All the releases I've ever owned, have about 1 to 2 inches of inflexible tubing and knurled rings on the end; it looks too easy to accidentally bash that piece while arranging stuff in the bag, and either break the release off at the threads or, worse, bend the attach point on the shutter. I think having a cable release stuck in a shutter all the time is a recipe for disaster, and the 5 seconds it takes to screw a release into a shutter isn't much of an improvement on the time it takes to set up a large format camera, IMO.

[w_t1]

leave on, easier to harvest tree branches...

[gregory_martin]

I use a Gepe 3.25" cable extension on all of my lenses. I've found them to be faster to attach the cable release to and I don't worry about damaging the threads on the lens with repeated attachments. The extension is flexible so I have no problem with storing the lenses.

[ilkka]

I leave them on but have to replace once in a while when they get bent out of shape. That would not happen if I removed them, but maybe I would lose a few that way.

[david_senesac]

When I made this little decision, I too wondered if I would bother wasting a few bucks just to put releases on each lens. But then I thought, gee I've just got three lenses, and I always want at least an extra release anyway in case one breaks. Of course torquing a release where they come out of their attachment is a common way they break. Also in field work I'd hate to have to add playing musical chairs with a single cable release each time I changed lenses. Just too much opportunity to occasionally drop it in the often treacherous places I do landscapes at. I buy the cheap short $6 generic B&H cable releases and have yet to break one on a LF lens though did so regularly with my smaller format cameras. I have to remove my lens plus lens plate when packing up my field camera and simply wrap the release around the lens body as others do.

[jeffrey_sipress]

Once you leave it on and accidentally bump it or pack it tight and break the little mount

casting, you'll wonder why anyone is dumb enough to leave it on just to save 5 seconds.

Except in cold weather, but the chance of breaking your thread mount is still the same.