Greetings! I have a dumb question I need some help with. I have a 50mm Summicron, second to the latest design, with the separate lens hood. This hood can be reversed on the lens for compact carry, but the lens cap will not fit on the shade. Is there a separate lens cap designed to fit on the reversed hood? Thanks for your help!

-- Bob Kramer (bobkramer@coopercarry.com), January 04, 2002

Answers

Bob: Not so dumb a question. I don't know of a separate lens cap to fit on the hood but I have made lens caps or rather hood caps for several lenses. Here is the method. Take an old mouse pad and glue up 2 or three thicknesses. Then glue a thin piece of leather or similar material with some thickness to the neoprene. Finally trace the outline of the lens cap on the sandwich and cut out with a sharp razor knofe or similar. Make the fit a tight one i.e. cutting the neoprene full so that you have to push it into the lens hood. The leather allows you to pull it out easily. Try it you'll like it. Lewis

-- Lewis Lauring (eyeye@citlink.net), January 04, 2002.

When you put the lens hood on reversed, the needed cap is a 14033 to fit over the "base" of the reversed hood and therefore cover or "cap" your lens.

-- Peter J. Hanlon (peter.hanlon@3web.net), January 04, 2002.

...and still available new from Leica.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), January 04, 2002.

I have lost more lens caps than I care to admit, and at leica prices it is like having some sort of idiot TAX. I would love to make a cap but your description has left me slightly confused......[35/2 summicron with hood on.]

-- Richard (richard@designblue.co.uk), January 04, 2002.

If you use a 39 mm threaded cap, you can reverse the shade with the cap in place. Threaded caps are also harder to loose and are cheap to replace if they are lost.

-- Robert Marvin (marvbej@earthlink.net), January 04, 2002.

Richard; My method is designed to make caps for the lens hoods rather than for the lens. I store the lenses in my camera bag with the lens hood in place, the lens is protected with the home made hood caps. The hood caps can be made round,square,oblong or whatever. Hope this helps, Lewis

-- Lewis Lauring (eyeye@citlink.net), January 04, 2002.

Of course, another solution is to use the 35mm Summicron hood with hood cap on the 50. Works perfectly for me. You have to shop around to get the hood+cap at a good price.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), January 04, 2002.

Hi Bob!

Believe it or not, I recently asked myself exactly the same question (I think). I.e. where's the right cap for my penultimate M 2/50 (11819)? I don't see any need or even use in putting the cap (14033) on when the hood is on backwards. I also don't see any need or use in putting the hood itself (12538) on backwards on the lens. If I use my hood on my 2/50 (and I do) then I leave it on whether the lens is on or off my M6 and in its bag or not. Just like my 2/35 A and my 21 A.

That's why I (too) was looking for a cap for the hood up front and on forwards.

I just got back a nice reply from Leica in Solms here which states that, no, there has never existed a cap for the up front forward part of this 2/50's hood. The reason is that this hood has it's two large openings along the side, so that a cap up front isn't going to be much help in protection against dirt and dust.

Okay, my 2/35's hood has no side openings, and my 21's hood has only one small corner opening, so that these caps are protective. I guess that means that a better 2/50 hood cap would first necessitate a better 2/50 hood. But that apparently has also never been issued.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), January 08, 2002.

Thanks guys! I appreciate your help on this. I didn't really think much about a hood cap for this lens until I got a 35mm asph 'cron, and really got used to just putting the cap on the hood. Anyway, thanks again for the info.

-- Bob Kramer (bobkramer@coopercarry.com), January 08, 2002.