Ah-Keong said:I was thinking why don't use a waterproof cloth like material and wear it like a sock.
Great point! By the way, awesome gear you have!
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Ah-Keong said:I was thinking why don't use a waterproof cloth like material and wear it like a sock.
davidcarlyon said:ahsanford said:Just a first glance look at this thing:
11) Takes 2 hands to put it on and remove it, judging by the video
eosuser1234 said:Even they take a patent on something like this, it will be mass produced in China by some chinese factory and sold on cheap sites for 1/10 of the price. The cost of this is very little after the molds are made. A factory who can make the mold themselves, can put them out for pennies.
Who knows, maybe the factories will make knock off versions with Canon and Nikon printed on the tops, like they already do for plastic injection molded lens caps.
As much as I applaud them for making this, cheap photo accessories are a dime a dozen these days.
arthurbikemad said:Will this fit a 500/4? (I know the size but wanted to ask anyway!), also could someone do a drop test of a 500 and 600mm for me please?? :-*
unfocused said:Big nod and hats off to KUVRD.
We've been piling on the abuse and I give them credit for being good-natured about it. A welcome contrast to a certain other filter maker who took great offense at the comments on this forum.
When this hits the streets I may buy one simply because they are good sports.
Jester said:Does anybody else feel that the bounce in the second GIF looks very odd and should be way higher, even if you factor in some energy loss from the (thin) layer of rubber which cushions the fall? I'm trying hard not to put on my tinfoil hat here, but I can't shake off the feeling that either this was shot in a high gravity environment of about 2G (lol), or the image has simply been tampered with.
*ducks and runs*
ahsanford said:To the KUVRD designer/spox here, first and foremost, thanks for coming on. I design products for a living myself (in a very different field), and I fully appreciate what it means to face a peanut gallery of skeptics / potential customers, and we all appreciate you answering questions here.
That said, I've aggregated a list of pros/cons for this from this thread that may or may not be true pros or true cons. It's a hip shot of why this idea might be great and why it might not be.
Unless I am missing a crushing unmet need that is not enumerated here, the Cons are both far more numerous and impactful than the Pros unless you are a very niche need shooter (e.g. guy/gal who changes lenses... while paddling on an ocean Kayak? Color Run reportage specialist? Gallagher's personal performance photog? Pro paintball shooter?).
Please whittle down my misconceptions on the Cons list, for they can't all be so. I'm sure you vetted some of these potential drawbacks to either minimize/mitigate/eliminate their impact. Please share that experience here to start to thaw this skeptic (and others here, I'm sure) into a potential customer.
But without a systematic rebuttal of this quickly spitballed list of glaring downsides, one would logically come to the conclusion that this idea is simultaneously slower / less efficient / less effective than the bush league plastic caps that do not have this rap sheet of potential concerns. In short, the big sexy killer app with your idea undoes 6-8 things that we count on that plastic caps address perfectly well today.
Thx
- A
KUVRD said:Hey, thanks for reaching out!
KUVRD said:Anyways, with that said, to respond to your CONS:
Two hands required to put it on. You’re right. It does take two hands to put the ULC on… about a 5 second delay from putting on a Traditional Lens Cap… the reason we don’t see this as a CON is because whenever someone is putting on a lens cap on a lens is either at the end of the photoshoot, when you’re packing everything up, you’re switching lenses or you’re just quickly taking one or two photos and then putting the ULC back on.
Peeling it off exposes the inside / glass-facing side of it, and that material will surely collect more lint/dust than a hard plastic cap surface. This is user-error, not a product error. I’ve shot at Monument Valley, Banff, Jasper and Glacier National Parks and BURIED lenses in dirt and sand. These lenses are STILL used today with no internal damage because I simply wash the ULC off with water before putting them back onto the lenses.
Stickier than plastic caps = Can’t clean it with air. When I used to use traditional lens cap and clean them with air, the only way I did it was by blowing on it, which just replaces what was on the traditional lens cap with bacteria and my spit so naturally I follow up with wiping it off with my shirt sleeve... which times collected dust and lint. I haven’t clocked the time to do that, but my gut feels it would take just as long as running the ULC under some water and then drying it off.
More Flexible than plastic caps = could flex and touch glass elements. Yes, you’re right. It COULD flex to then possibly touch glass elements. You’re right. Again, I can’t rebuttal assumptions and possible case scenarios. So yes, in some cases, the elasticity of the ULC might actually touch the glass elements.
KUVRD said:Externally focusing lenses with protruding inner barrels (85 f/1.2L II, 50 f/1.4, etc.) may get a pre-load/push from using this… We’ve tested this on other such camera lenses like this and this hasn’t been the case… but even if it was, I don’t understand what the issue is… Would you mind clarifying the “CON” that would come from this?
neuroanatomist said:KUVRD said:Anyways, with that said, to respond to your CONS:
Thanks for responding in detail. Unfortunately, it seems to me that a few of your responses ignore common real-world use cases. For example...
Two hands required to put it on. You’re right. It does take two hands to put the ULC on… about a 5 second delay from putting on a Traditional Lens Cap… the reason we don’t see this as a CON is because whenever someone is putting on a lens cap on a lens is either at the end of the photoshoot, when you’re packing everything up, you’re switching lenses or you’re just quickly taking one or two photos and then putting the ULC back on.
When switching lenses in an active shoot, the difference between less than a second to slap a traditional lens cap on vs. the extra 5 seconds apply a ULC can matter...a lot. Especially since it requires two hands to put on the ULC, meaning I’d have to set the camera down. Normally, I can ‘fully’ swap lenses in 3-4 seconds (one mounted lens and a second lens with both caps on and hood reversed to the second lens mounted with hood in place and prior lens with both caps on and hood reversed), and the camera never leaves my hand. The ULC would least triple that time.
Peeling it off exposes the inside / glass-facing side of it, and that material will surely collect more lint/dust than a hard plastic cap surface. This is user-error, not a product error. I’ve shot at Monument Valley, Banff, Jasper and Glacier National Parks and BURIED lenses in dirt and sand. These lenses are STILL used today with no internal damage because I simply wash the ULC off with water before putting them back onto the lenses.
How much time does that add to switching lenses? I’m guessing a lot more than 5 seconds...
Stickier than plastic caps = Can’t clean it with air. When I used to use traditional lens cap and clean them with air, the only way I did it was by blowing on it, which just replaces what was on the traditional lens cap with bacteria and my spit so naturally I follow up with wiping it off with my shirt sleeve... which times collected dust and lint. I haven’t clocked the time to do that, but my gut feels it would take just as long as running the ULC under some water and then drying it off.
Your gut is really, really wrong on this one. A wipe of the inner surface of a traditional lens cap on a shirt sleeve can’t take more than a second, or two if you want to be really thorough. If you honestly believe that you can rinse and dry the interior of a cylindrical piece of silicone/rubber in 1-2 seconds, you’re deluding yourself in the extreme. It would take longer than that just to get water running over the silicone (unless you were standing in a thunderstorm or under a waterfall...in which case, drying it would be somewhat problematic).
More Flexible than plastic caps = could flex and touch glass elements. Yes, you’re right. It COULD flex to then possibly touch glass elements. You’re right. Again, I can’t rebuttal assumptions and possible case scenarios. So yes, in some cases, the elasticity of the ULC might actually touch the glass elements.
In some cases...it might actually? Although some lenses have recessed front elements, for most lenses, the front element is fairly close to the filter threads (which are generally the front-most part of the lens). With those typical lenses, any mild, focused pressure on the front of the covered lens would certainly result in the ULC contacting the glass. In some cases, like the 11-24 and TS-E 17 (which you earlier suggested was a suitable lens for the ULC), the front element is bulbous and would be in continual contact with the ULC. Moreover, if there is a front filter on a lens, the distance between the glass and the front of the filter mount is usually less than a millimeter, and in that case, contact of the ULC with the filter would be frequent or continuous. Far different than a traditional, rigid lens cap.
KUVRD said:Does not coexist with hoods at all; no reversing hoods possible, more space in bag wasted on hood storage. For all the photographers who use hoods, this is not an issue. This is NOT a CON. It still stretches over a lens hood in reverse or when it’s locked into place at the end of lens. You are right that it does not work if you put the ULC on first and THEN the lens hood. It will not grab onto the filter ring. But, you can still put the lens hood over the ULC. It just wouldn’t be locked into place. Meaning it would not take up more space.
KUVRD said:Will likely reposition / alter your variable ND or CPL ring orientation each time you use it. NEVER in my life have I ever heard of a photographer who literally pulls out their camera and just takes a shot…. Photographers are ALWAYS adjusting knobs, camera settings, lenses etc. because of light, subject proximity, motion, etc. In addition, we’ve stretched a Universal Lens Cap onto a lens, moved it around and then taken it off 115 times in a row, check periodically to see if the focusing ring or zoom ring change and the end result was that the focus ring was off focus by a few degrees. NOT enough of a PRO or a CON to place it on one side or the other.
KUVRD said:Masks the true size/shape of the lens in your bag, making lenses harder to identify. haha, okay this was kind of a funny one. I don’t know about you, but I know of only three people that have more than 5 lenses…
KUVRD said:Hey! I don't want you to think I'm not going to respond... I'm just heading out to lunch with the wife and then have to run a couple of errands and finish a couple of meetings... After all that, I WILL RESPOND!
slclick said:I think he found us after I gave him a heads up on FB that there's a tough crowd here for him to check out. Who knew it would turn into such a market research love fest!