finnegan Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 <p>One of the great world questions of the day:</p> <p>I tried to put on the usual "leash" for a lens cap, loop to station around lens and sticky to stick on the Leica cap. It wouldn't stick. Without a leash I am sure to lose it. What do you use for that? The Leica lens cap must be a metal of some sorts. I want to keep the original to my newly acquired M3, and also my $40 or whatever they cost + hunting for another one.<br> <br /> I thought maybe of a small piece of duct-tape on the unstuck sticky and the whole thing on the cap but I don't know...</p> <p>Thanks on this mundane but important-to-me question.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostly sports Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 <p>I don't think the leash is usual, and I find a dangling lens cap very distracting. I just have a filter and a lens hood on my lenses all the time, keeping the lens cap in the box that the lens came in. You probably don't care, but the leashed lens cap costs you serious style points in almost every arena.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 <p>The metal Zeiss caps for my Contax RF lenses are charming, but not very functional. I've kept them, but for actual use I use modern snap caps that stay on. I would advise you store your original Leica cap as Phil suggests--Leica cameras and lenses are terrific, but some newer technology works better...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straw_man Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 They work best on cameras with irreplaceable lenses. But still, they prevent losses of lens caps. I find it amazing that technicians like Leica machinists had remarkable skills but little knowledge of ergonomics. Great precision, but not user- friendly designers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray . Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 The original Leica caps for some of the lenses are lined on the inside with felt. Those work well and stay on the lens even with a filter on the front of the lens. I keep a UV filter on the lens and add a hood while shooting, and lens cap goes in the camera bag. Cap goes back on when the lens is not in use. I have one lens that I just store with a filter on it. The filter protects the front element of the lens. All my lenses when not in use go in a lens pouch as well. Even a thin silky sunglass bag can be enough for protection if the lens is in a padded compartment in a bag. I've got a couple different sizes of Domke bags and they work great. Anyway, keep a filter and hood on the lens while shooting and stash the cap somewhere else. I wouldn't use a leash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnegan Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>Thanks I usually get a UV filter but I read some that claimed that that somehow got in the way of those perfection Leica lenses and the best photo possible, that's why I was fixed on a leash.<br> Any comments about that? I don't want to start a war, I'm a new Leica-guy and just trying to figure out basic priorities here: protection of the lens and the best shots I can take. <br> I could experiment myself I suppose: same scene, one shot with a UV Filter, one without, do that a few times on a roll of film.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willis Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>You might try to first clean the cap with acetone. You can find it in the drugstore. Fingernail polish remover is 100% acetone. Then use a small drop of superglue.<br />Acetone will disolve superglue, so allow it to dry compl;etely before using the glue.<br />I hope this helps.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Ingold Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>Leica lens caps don't fall off unless the Peruvian Yak fur felt liner is somehow degraded. Mine still stay firmly in place after more than 50 years. You are much more likely to lose a cap if it comes loose while dangling from a tether than if you put in your pocket or back in the bag. The flimsy plastic caps Leica provides for use with inverted lens hoods barely stay on when new. On a suggestion by Ken Rockwell, I use a Nikon or Canon snap cap in the open end of the hood. If I lose that, it's $15 not $50 (or more).</p> <p>High grade filters by B+W or Heliopan are made as precisely as elements in a lens, and have comparable coatings. While you may get some degradation, your biggest concern is veiled flaring if a bright light or even bright overcast strikes the lens. Flaring is enhanced further in a digital camera, due to mutual reflections between the shiny sensor and the filter. It's easy to check in an SLR by shading the lens with your hand or comparing the view with and without the filter. Decide for yourself if the risk of damage outweighs the loss of contrast.</p> <p>That said, I have never purchased nor used an UV filter on Leica lenses. Nikon absolutely but Leica never. The objective element is usually deep enough in the lens mount for protections, and further protected by always using an hood. Being small, Leica lenses don't stick out as much as Nikon monsters, and are more easily protected in a crowd. Loss of contrast through flare is too common to ignore. If I were in a dry, sandy climate or seashore, I would reconsider.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen_S Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>Leica tin caps don't work well with B+W ultraslim filters. Better avoid the ultra slims they don't hold snap on caps well either.<br> I'd look for alternative cheapo caps to bulk-loose smilingly. - I recall reading McCormic (spelling?) spice caps would serve that purpose. I'd be grateful to know an European alternative. - Something better than Natreen sugar substitute for the coffee. - My FED's 50mm f3.5 is protected by Bärenmarke milk container cap.<br> I don't mind the risks of losing IQ via decent UV filters in handheld photography. - My M8 wants UV+IR filters anyhow. The unhooded DR 'cron loves to flare and the mix of fastest Fuji color semi safe shutter speeds and wide open lenses focusing issues makes losses caused by filters my last concern. <br> Upon leash fastening: I'd either rely on Lohmann DuploFLEX between cap & sticky or 2 component epoxy (Uhu plus). But I think I can afford unleashed ordinary caps. - Age & "quality" related losses seem to dominate. - Yes, I do stock up from bargain bins. I guess 2 spare caps are nice to have in a vacation bag.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnegan Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>Thanks all, I'll give the glue a try or just go with a substitute cap when I shoot.<br> Edward, What kind of hood do you use, that box-like one I see occasionally on Ebay?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Ingold Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>I have an ancient hood, 12585H, an inverted cone with windows in the base. I'm leaving it in place with a 67mm Nikon snap cap in the opening. The cap was a little loose, so I built it up with a little gaffer tape.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lazzari Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 <blockquote> <p>"Then use a small drop of superglue."<em><strong> Willis S.</strong></em></p> </blockquote> <p>Sorry to say, but that's <strong>horrible advice</strong> to post here in the camera forums.<br />It may be effective, but so is a shot gun against a mosquito.</p> <p>"Crazy" or "Super Glue", (who's base is in cyanide form, consists mainly of ethyl cyanoacrylate) has <strong>very damaging</strong> fumes that out-gas even when you think it's dry. Especially with heat, it produces noxious vapors that irreversibly ruins finishes, coatings & most any material.</p> <p>In fact, we've probably all seen in movies & TV shows, the use of cyanoacrylate fumes as a forensic tool to capture latent fingerprints.<br /> Technicians absolutely hate encountering a camera or lens that has had an owner that employed it's use. I personally label them as "tampered" or "contaminated" items.<br />Which by the way, usually garner much higher repair prices; you just don't know where the damaging fumes went or ended up.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnegan Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>OK, sounds like I'll cross that off the list. Probably just getting a second lens cap to use shooting is the easiest.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel fraustbyte Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 <p>You are never ready to shoot with the lens cap on. Put it in you bag or pocket and forgetaboutit.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Williams Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 <p>There should be plenty of choice in the sub-$5 range for lens caps in common sizes like E39 on ebay, etc. I would find a leash far too irritating to use - the cap goes in my pocket or the bag. Whether to use a UV or other protection filter routinely is one of those questions on which there will never be a consensus! Where I live, there's a lot of wind-blown grit and dirt that a lens hood won't block, so I generally prefer to clean a filter rather than a front element. But I tend to remove it in challenging conditions (e.g. shooting a night with lights in the frame). You might want to look at these tests:</p> <p>http://www.lenstip.com/113.1-article-UV_filters_test_Introduction.html<br> http://www.lenstip.com/120.1-article-UV_filters_test_-_supplement.html</p> <p>Their overall ranking includes UV absorbance ratings, which you probably don't care about, but the sample images under various lighting conditions give a good idea of how much flare to expect. Multi-coated filters from Hoya and B+W perform very well (note that both companies also make uncoated filters, so check the specs). Two other things to consider are ease of cleaning and the ring material. The B+W MRC and XS-Pro ranges and the Hoya HD range have coatings that are designed to be easy to clean. Others (like Hoya Pro-1 and their standard SHMC) are much harder to get dirt off without smearing. B+W use brass for their rings (less likely to bind to the lens threads) and Hoya use aluminium (more likely to get stuck on the lens, though Hoya claim that it's better to use a softer metal that deforms under impact when knocked rather than transmitting the shock to the lens).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnegan Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 <p>Thanks for all that information, very nice of you. I'll likely do the same scene with and without UV Filter. And repeat for different lighting. They do ease the mind. If I can't see any telling-difference I'll use the filter.</p> <p>It's usually not a difference of opinion, to use or not to use a UV Filter and the opinion is usually YES. Leica is the first I know where there seems to be a significant difference in opinion.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnegan Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 <p>PS: I ordered a lens shade, silver- aluminum, windows, kind of curved like a parentheses. $5. Right now the lens does not sit far back: collapsible Summicron 50. Once the shade gets here I'll feel better if decide to forgo the Filter. The advantage of the collapsible is less weight because it's small. But the glass I've been told is soft which argues for a filter. Aside from a weird impact mark, I think IN the glass on the rear element, pin-hole size, the lens is almost pristine, no scratches. That mark does not effect any photo in 8x10. Nor can I see anything on the negative.</p> <p>The only problem the camera/lens have is very thin hair or fibre in the patch looking through the finder. I know that could be hair-like fracture of the prism and the seller, a very honest guy, said he didn't notice it prior to shipping and it's impossible not to see. So means it happened during shipping. It doesn't interfere with sighting now, but a crack would be bad news indeed.</p> <p>I'm getting it CLAd soon, Sherry Krauter, and she can tell me. I sincerely hope it's a hair. Getting a new prism would be a sore task for a 1955 camera.... </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Williams Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 <blockquote> <p>It's usually not a difference of opinion, to use or not to use a UV Filter and the opinion is usually YES. Leica is the first I know where there seems to be a significant difference in opinion.</p> </blockquote> <p>Then you've been lucky to miss these threads up till now! The question seems to have come up every few weeks on pretty much all the photo forums I've used, and unanimous opinions one way or the other are very much the exception rather than the rule. But there's no point in looking at more than a couple, as exactly the same arguments are made every single time :-)</p> <p>http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00bAKI<br> http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00XWqw</p> <p>Next up:<br> Canon vs Nikon - which is best?<br> Is photography art?<br> Colour or black and white?</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_elwing Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 <p>I have only rarely used UV filter on collapsible Summicron since purchase & front element polishing in 1986; first via paranoia, then bad weather or sea spray.<br> The age appropriate deep edged chromed cap is excellent dust and abrasion protection when on, and wants to fall off more easily when any Leitz or non Leitz filter is on.<br> Most of the time, no lens hood either, and cap mostly off for the picture. It's my preferred user, all the time. With careful cleaning every once in a while, & bit of blower brush, I can't see any evidence of damage, visually or in pictures. I suppose I might be more careful if the front coating was still there?<br> I would advise to buy the odd extra sturdy Leitz lens cap in case of loss when one comes up. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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