We’d guess there aren’t many people reading this who’ve never lost a lens cap, or never struggled to find one when they needed it.
Well, it looks like Canon might just have solved this problem. It’s early days yet, but the eagle-eyed folks at Canon Watch have spotted a patent application by the firm for a lens cap that might just be impossible to lose
The patent number is 2019-113645, and it effectively works as a lens cap and a lens hood simultaneously, with its four sections opening and closing without the cap being removed from the lens.
A quote from the patent reads as follows:
“The present invention works as a lens hood function at the time of shooting and as a lens protection function at the time of non-shooting, thus eliminating the need for lens cap attachment / removal and barrier opening / closing operations.”
Interesting stuff! We’re definitely excited at the prospect of a lens cap that can’t fall off and disappear down the bottom of a bag, or get misplaced while shooting. This is only a patent application at this stage, so it isn’t clear when or even if this cap is going to go into production, however given the reaction from the community already, we’d say Canon likely has a winner on its hands here.
Canon isn’t the first manufacturer to try and solve the lens cap problem – the Kuvrd Universal Lens Cap is still going strong, a year and a half after its Kickstarter campaign. It would definitely be good, however, for a major manufacturer like Canon to start including a solution like this on its lenses as standard. We can dream, can’t we?
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