Where do all the lens caps go? Making your own.

[Eric Woodbury]

I just bought a lens from KEH. I love the lens, but KEH didn't get the caps when they got it and therefore, I didn't get any caps. Somewhere in this world there must be a drawer full of lens caps and I'm wondering where it is. This is not the first lens I've purchased without getting caps. Who's got them?

The lens is a bit of an odd size in the back and I can't find a replacement yet. Do you have a tricky way to make your own caps? I'd like to see what others have done for making their own replacement caps.

[Keith Pitman]

There's a Nikkor cap that fell out of my pocket near a windmill on the eastern plains of Colorado. Can't remember exactly where, but I remember losing it.

I made one lens cap from the cap on an aspirn bottle. I whittled it down a little with a utility knife. It was still on it when I sold it.

You can find a lot of slip on caps in various sizes at B&H. I think Kaiser is the brand.

I have most of my lenses stepped to 67mm to standardize filters and use snap caps on them. Get better quality snap caps if you go this route (Nikkor is a good brand); the cheap ones don't stay on.

[IanG]

There's a cheap lens cap off my Tessar somewhere between the stonework of the seats in an ancient Greco-Roman amphitheatre :D

Some archaeologist might find it in s few centuries.

Ian

[AJ Edmondson]

I think they are like the socks that disappear in the dryer... Steve Grimes made really nice ones (Delrin I think) and they were not terribly expensive. I think the folks who took over from him still make them. Google SK Grimes.

[AJ Edmondson]

I was wrong... they are plastic but are nice nonetheless. Prices are up from when I bought mine (start at $25).

[IanMazursky]

AJ's right, they are like socks. I finally got fed up with losing them in my bags or on the ground that i bought a bunch of those cap keepers.
I know its not "Professional looking" but i have not lost a cap since.
The front and rear caps have a little string that attached to a loop of elastic and that goes around the front element of the lens.
When i put the lens board in the camera, they dangle out of the way. Its magic, no more lost caps!

[David Karp]

I think they are in an alternate universe populated by lens caps and cable releases.

[Jim Graves]

... and in that alternate universe there is an ongoing thread wondering where all the lenses and cameras have gone. A quick inventory of my shelves would answer that question for them ... and I think there are more than a few on this Forum who are contributing to their missing items list.

[AJ Edmondson]

Amen Brother Jim... I recently did an "inventory" and am amazed at the quantity of LF "stuff" I have accumulated over the last forty-five years! Truth is, I had much more fun back during those years when I had one 4x5, five film holders, one lens and - more often than not - was shooting outdated film from the base property disposal yard! "I'm still ignorant so what happened to all that bliss?"

[EdWorkman]

There is a tiny atoll in the south pacific where lens caps form the basis of the local monetary system- seashells remain in use for change.

[dazedgonebye]

So, anyone find the rear cap for my super angulon 90mm f8?
I didn't lose it, it came that way.

[BarryS]

Caps? Meh! There's a special circle in hell for the flange hoarders.

[Bob Salomon]

Kaiser supplies a tremendous range of caps in sizes up to 120mm. Any camera store can order them for you.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Eric, you can guess what I do if I need an oddball size.....

When at Sea World in San Diego, I saw quite a few caps at the bottom of the manatee habitat pool. I'll bet they are staying there.

[Eric Woodbury]

Jeffrey, how nice to hear from you. I think of you when I drive by your shop every Thursday after I drop the kids at dance and I'm on my way to the quaffery. I hope you are well.

[Nathan Potter]

Didn't someone suggest visiting the supermarket to find a plastic jar cover the right size, then just buy up $3.00 jars of something for a lens cap song?

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Paul Ewins]

So maybe we need an article on what peanut butter fits a 120 Super Angulon etc.

[AJ Edmondson]

Not a bad theory Ed... they are probably worth more than our currency!

[nikon_sam]

I know where these lens caps are...at the last camera show I attended there was a lady who had two or three boxes full of lens caps under her table...unfortunately none of the caps in there were the ones I was looking for...but I'm sure yours was...

On another note I once found a Canon lens cap (52mm) but I refuse to use it on any of my Nikon glass...am I a snob???

[Archphoto]

It would be so nice if you guy's would state the size of lenscap you need and where you guy's live........

In that way we could measure our peanutbutter and Nutella lids and see if we had a match........

Many of the "old" camera stores, the real ones I know from the past had a big box with all kinds of sizes waiting for a lens to fit onto......... Long time ago though

Peter

[Tracy Storer]

When in need, I make my own, from acetal plastic (which Delrin is) like the ones you get from SKG. I make them on the mini-lathe bought from Harbor Freight tools.
Lenscaps are WAY easier than making missing flanges.
For a prized lens, the SKG caps are totally worth it if you can't make your own, but if you've got a shelf full of lenses in need, it can add up fast. Heck, even the expense of buying materials to make your own can mount up.

WARNING: The mini-lathe is just the beginning, you will need tooling and accessories, and lots of "stock", (raw materials for making "stuff"), and before you know it, you'll decide you need a bigger lathe.....
and a milling machine...
and a bigger shop.

[Robert Oliver]

when you find the missing lens caps... see if you can find the missing extension rail for my B&J 8x10.... I bet all of the missing extension rails for all old cameras are in the same place.

[svlindbe]

Wagner Lungov posted a very nice tutorial about making leather lenscaps.

http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

Sometimes one may find caps on things like pill boxes or food containers that fit a lens, perhaps after some finetuning. The bottom of some plastic bottles or boxes may also do the trick. They don't look so great, but may be covered with tape or fabric.

Svein Lindberg

[Heroique]

Yesterday, I was on a search for a (rear) push-on lens cap to fit 40.5mm threads.

I’ve noticed that most push-on lens caps are 2mm larger than the threads they’re meant to cover. And I’ve always been skeptical about finding a 42.5mm push-on cap for my rear 40.5mm threads. But I had some luck…

Down at Glazer’s in Seattle, they had a drawer full of new Kaiser caps, whose German quality I appreciate. Most of them are about $8 each.

I didn’t see any 42.5mm caps. (And it didn’t appear that Kaiser made any caps in ½ mm increments.) But I did find a 42mm cap – 1.5 mm larger than my 40.5 rear threads.

Heck, I think I prefer the slightly tighter fit! :D

[dazedgonebye]

I found all the lens caps!

They're in a big bin over at Ritz Collectible Cameras in Phoenix. I took 2 home the other day.

[Len Eselson]

You can find lens caps and other such goodies at the Filer Connection. Their prices are reasonable. The Catalog is at http://www.2filter.com/prices/catalog.html

Len Eselson

[Gene McCluney]

You can find lens caps and other such goodies at the Filer Connection. Their prices are reasonable. The Catalog is at http://www.2filter.com/prices/catalog.html

Len Eselson

I looked thru all their pages, and I don't see lens CAPS available anywhere.

[Phil O.]

I was able to use a slip-on Mamiya RB cap for the rear element of my 300mm Caltar-S II. A nice tight fit. It measures about 83mm inside diameter.

Hey, I'm not proud! Handsome is as handsome does, as the saying goes.

[Stephen Willard]

B&H Photo has hundreds of lens caps of every size imaginable. Every time I either lost one or needed one I have been able to find a lens cap there. The caps are in units of mm and you need to use the outside dimension of the lens to match the cap you need. If by some rare chance they do not have one that fits perfectly, you get a cap that is slightly larger and use a piece of gorilla tape to take up the slack on one end of the cap.

You may have to order two to get the right fit. My loupe measured 40.5mm so I ordered a 40mm and a 41mm cap. The 40mm fit the best. I keep the 41mm as a spare with some gorilla tape to take up the slack.

Hope this helps...

[Terence McDonagh]

For my 19" Apo Artar I made a custom cap out of the bottom 1.5" of a Coca Cola can, with a layer of 2-ply mat board fit inside. A perfect, snug fit. A little electrical tape on the rim holds the mat board in and hides the sharp edge of the metal.

[timparkin]

If you use lee filter adapters on all of your lenses, Green and Black's or Haagen Daas Ice Cream lids work exceptially wll.. I prefer the slighly large inside diamater of Green and Blacks so that I can pad them with a bit of Gaffer tape for a dust tight friction fit..

http://www.timparkin.co.uk/blog/764021813161088786

Tim