Today’s Question: On my long zoom lenses, the hoods are large and long, making it cumbersome to remove regular lens caps. Do you know of any common items that can serve as a lens hood cover, so there’s no need to have the lens cap when using hoods?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Two options that I think are worth looking at as a replacement lens cap for longer lenses are the LensCoat Hoodie Lens Caps and the Don Zeck Lens Cap.
More Detail: For long lenses it can certainly be a challenge to make use of the standard lens cap, especially if you keep the lens hood attached to your lens (either in the shooting position or reversed). I have found a couple of options over the years that provide unique alternatives to the standard lens cap for longer lenses (and even for some shorter lenses).
One solution is the Hoodie Lens Cap from LensCoat. Many of you may be familiar with LensCoat for their namesake product, which is a series of neoprene bands that fit around your lenses to provide a number of benefits. They also produce neoprene lens covers for a variety of lenses, which can be used with the lens hood attached in either position. You can find the LensCoat Hoodie Lens Caps on their website here:
http://www.lenscoat.com/hoodie-lens-caps-c-5.html
In addition, some time ago I was introduced to the unique Don Zeck Lens Cap. You will find caps that are compatible with a variety of Canon and Nikon telephoto lenses, and which can be used with or without the lens hood attached. The unique (and patented) design slides inside the shape of the lens, rather than wrapping around the outside of the lens or hood. You can get more information on the Don Zeck Lens Cap website here:
These are just a couple of options I know about. If any readers know of other great options for alternative lens caps for telephoto lenses, please let me know.