Jeff Coatney
09-11-2008, 02:21 AM
I love our 300mm lens. It is fantastic. However, the front element lens cap is not holding up it's end of the bargain. First of all, we don't use the lens all that much, so it took awhile to notice this particular issue. I post it here to alert others to check and make sure it is not happening to you.
The Problem: The lens cap is an injection-molded piece of plastic that is quite pliable and doesn't keep it's shape that well. In fact, when you place the open end on a flat surface, the center of the front disc droops a bit. With an injection-molded part this is quite common. However, the front element glass on the lens is very close to the edge of the barrel. I doubt there's more than 3 or 4 millimeters between the front element glass and the lens cap. They're making contact. There is a foggy section on the front element glass, dead center, from the lens cap and the glass touching. We baby this thing, so it's not how we're handling it. When the cap is placed over the front of the lens, it makes contact.
What the hell am I supposed to do about this one? Anyone have any ideas? Is there a way to clean/repair the front element? Is there a better lens cap option? Is the lens damaged? Can it be fixed? I have many questions and no answers. Please, help me.
The Problem: The lens cap is an injection-molded piece of plastic that is quite pliable and doesn't keep it's shape that well. In fact, when you place the open end on a flat surface, the center of the front disc droops a bit. With an injection-molded part this is quite common. However, the front element glass on the lens is very close to the edge of the barrel. I doubt there's more than 3 or 4 millimeters between the front element glass and the lens cap. They're making contact. There is a foggy section on the front element glass, dead center, from the lens cap and the glass touching. We baby this thing, so it's not how we're handling it. When the cap is placed over the front of the lens, it makes contact.
What the hell am I supposed to do about this one? Anyone have any ideas? Is there a way to clean/repair the front element? Is there a better lens cap option? Is the lens damaged? Can it be fixed? I have many questions and no answers. Please, help me.