Topic: DIY Lens Cap, yes... you can do it!

[sapata]

I realized I needed a lens cap for my old brass lens when shooting the Ilford positive paper and hopefully one day to able to use them when shooting with collodion.  The original ones are made of leather and are very difficult to find... they can cost you a fortune as well.

This is my quick solution, with a bit of practice you can master doing your very own lens cap made of cardbord

You'll need:
-some thick and some thin black card, I used black mounting board and a thin 210 gsm card.
-glue and spray mount.
-cutter
-compass cutter



Take a measure of your lens and using the compass cut a circle of the exactly side of your lens, try to be as much precise you can with this since it will be your base for the whole process.





You'll end up with a pinhole in the middle but don't worry about that now, just push the card back with a tip of a pencil to cover back...



Measure the circunference of your lens and cut 3 strips using the thinner card, the width depends on the size of your lens, mine were ok with 0.9cm.



Put some glue on the edge of the circle and apply one of the strips, hold for a few minutes until it dries.





Once is dried try on the lens to see if fits, it can't be too loose, a little bit is fine as it can adjusted at the end.



We're now going for the finishing and you can be as much creative you like, I just used the backpaper of a 120 film... it can be anything you want.

Put the lens cap on the top of the paper and ith a pencil draw a circle...



and cut like in the images below:





You should end up with something like this...



Apply some spray mount and place the lens cap using the circle as reference..



fold the edges tightly...



Apply some spray mount on the other strip and cover the edge of the lens for a nice finishing...







I've placed a tiny piece of card with glue to give some extra strengh on the strip that envolves the lens..



Now is time to adjust the cap to fit nicelly on the lens... cut some pieces of 1.5 cm from the last strip and glue inside right on the edge of the cap and try again. If still loose cut another and do this untill you get a perfect fit



And here it is...





Any problems just give me a shout !

[LT]

superb - are you making them to sell?  I'll have an ilford backing paper one please

[jojonas~]

yeah, the one with numbers look great~ some kodak yellow would look sweet

[sapata]

 ... cheers guys!

Leon... just send me the size you need and I'll do it for you free of charge, I have some Ilford backpaper lying around

[Sandeha Lynch]

These look super neat, Mauricio.

[jojonas~]

sapata, if it's ok I'd like one or two? I have lost some lens caps recently and I can never seem to bother to find the perfect cap haha

I would want to pay you, or atleast give something back.

[sapata]

sapata, if it's ok I'd like one or two? I have lost some lens caps recently and I can never seem to bother to find the perfect cap haha

I would want to pay you, or atleast give something back.

That's cool jojonas... just pm me the size you want and I'll do it, you just pay for the postage 

[Diane Peterson]

You are so talented..these are wonderful!!

[Skorj]

Love these!

[Lucy Telford]

Absolutely brilliant :-)

But for what it's worth - I take the lazy way out and use a Marmite jar lid sprayed black and also the black metal lid from the cardboard tube of a Laphroaig whisky bottle.  For smaller LF lenses I have found a black plastic starch spray can lid works a treat ;-)

[Francois]

Well Mauricio, I must say I'm impressed

[sapata]

Thank you guys...

Absolutely brilliant :-)

But for what it's worth - I take the lazy way out and use a Marmite jar lid sprayed black and also the black metal lid from the cardboard tube of a Laphroaig whisky bottle.  For smaller LF lenses I have found a black plastic starch spray can lid works a treat ;-)

These are also good ideas... I also found out someone who did out of the plastic film containers!

Well Mauricio, I must say I'm impressed

Thank you Francois! ... you're the master of all contraptions I'm glad you like it!

[jojonas~]

got mine. quality work! thank you sapata

this gave me an idea for a splitzer version. thought I'd share if others are interested:
aah, ms paint~ 

[sapata]

I'm glad you like them...

This is a great idea jojonas... and great ms skills!

[Nigel]

Great job Mauricio, a really brilliant series of shots and you managed to take them with both hands in the picture! 

[sapata]

Great job Mauricio, a really brilliant series of shots and you managed to take them with both hands in the picture! 

Cheers Nigel!
Some serious levitation was required on the process

[f6point3]

Really nice job, Mauricio.  I made my own cap for a 200mm lens (M42 mount) last year; a few steps were different from yours, but the result was the same.