A Few Words about Lens Caps


I buy lens caps by the two- or three-pack because I lose so many. They fall off the lens while stored in the camera bag. They fall off while stored on the shelf. They fall off – and then down through the drain grate – while walking down the street. They fall off – and then roll into a bottomless canyon – while hiking through the mountains. They fall off – and then into the ocean – while on a whale-watching tour. Lens caps should be sold by the bag like cookies.

Not only do I lose lens caps, I break them. If a lens cap falls onto rock, concrete or asphalt, the plastic shatters or cracks. If the plastic survives the plummet, the locking mechanism is damaged.

Part of my problem may be related to my choice of camera system. I switched to Olympus micro four thirds cameras soon after they were introduced by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008 because of the smaller size and weight. The kit-lens zooms and the early primes came with clip-on lens caps. When I attached third-party lens hoods (which Olympus did not include with the lenses), I could not use the lens caps. So, I switched to center-pinch lens caps. These were still a challenge with the small-diameter lenses.

A Lumix center-pinch lens cap on a lens with hood. These caps from Olympus competitor Panasonic tend to be better at gripping the filter threads on a lens than those center-pinch lens caps that come with the Olympus M.Zuiko lenses in my opinion.

Over the years, I have replaced the smaller Olympus lenses with the Olympus Pro line or Panasonic MFT lenses. Olympus provides center-pinch caps (and hoods) with these more expensive lenses. However, the grip of the Olympus center-pinch caps is not very forceful. When I have to replace one of these lens caps, I tend to buy a Panasonic Lumix cap if available or a third-party cap made by Sensei.

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