Posted by Rene Pirolt on September 20, 2007 at 4:32 PM
Just curious if any of you LF folks keep your cable releases permanently attached to your lenses or if you take them off.
For years I have kept them permanently mounted on the lens, then carefully wrapped the cable around the front element, and placed each lens in a separate lens-wrap.
Last year, one of my cable attachments was somehow bent while in my camera backpack. Luckily it did not break or strip the threads on the cable release socket on the lens, but bent and broke the thread on the cable (probably because I used cheap cables!). Because of this, I no longer leave the cables attached.
Has anyone ever damaged the cable release socket on the lens because they leave the cables on?
Does anyone use the angled release adapters made by Toyo-View?
I only carry one or two cable releases, and always more lenses than that
I'm afraid of bending the release or stripping the threads ala your story
Downside: I occasionally lose a cable release and that's a 15-30$ dumbass charge for me.
FWIW,
-D
Posted by Mark Stahlke on September 20, 2007 at 4:53 PM
I tried leaving the cable release attached to a lens once. Now I have a lens with partially stripped cable release socket threads. I won't make that mistake twice.
Posted by Tony Bouchard on September 20, 2007 at 5:05 PM
I always leave the cable releases on. Too cold to screw on a cable release in the morning.
Posted by Brent Doerzman on September 20, 2007 at 5:18 PM
I'm with Tony, I always leave mine on. Major pain to put on every time, especially when light is changing fast, or its chilly! I've been lucky so far I guess. I have busted the threads on a release once, but never had problem with the lens part. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Posted by Jack Brauer on September 20, 2007 at 5:27 PM
I keep them on. Setting up the 4x5 is slow enough as it is... last thing I need to do is waste time screwing in a cable release. However, my lenses each have a little cubby hole in my LowePro Omni camera case, so I think they are protected pretty well (knock on wood).
Posted by Rich Long on September 20, 2007 at 11:54 PM
Leave mine on, wrapped loosely around the front element, and inside a Gnass Gear case. No problems yet, but I can see the potential.
Posted by Brett Deacon on September 21, 2007 at 1:26 AM
Hi Rene. After dropping a cable release off a cliff over Laker Superior I decided to keep one attached to every lens for convenience sake. I bought a cheap off-brand one and screwed it onto my 75mm lens. Speaking of screwed, the cloth somehow detached from the screw and now I have the screw casing stuck deep inside in the lens threads and no ability to remove it or screw in a new one.
Posted by Scott Bacon on September 21, 2007 at 10:13 AM
I leave 'em on. Always have. Never had a problem (but I can see the possibility).
Brett, I bet a good shutter repair tech could fix that cable release socket for you, without a lot of expense. Carol at Flutot's Camera Repair does great work and provides excellent service.
Posted by Rene Pirolt on September 21, 2007 at 11:03 AM
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Seems like most everyone keeps their cables on (score is 2:6 excluding me!) I guess, I’ll invest in a decent lens case rather than using the soft wraps, and put the cables back on. It’s definitely been tedious putting the cables on and then taking them off every time….especially with my big paws!
Posted by Rick Dunn on September 22, 2007 at 4:53 PM
I take them off when I'm done shooting. I've had one break and got lucky in that I had a Leatherman so that I could extract the tip from my shutter release. It takes me a few extra seconds to set things up, but it's negligible compared to the 10 minutes it takes me to meter....
Discussion
10 repliesFor years I have kept them permanently mounted on the lens, then carefully wrapped the cable around the front element, and placed each lens in a separate lens-wrap.
Last year, one of my cable attachments was somehow bent while in my camera backpack. Luckily it did not break or strip the threads on the cable release socket on the lens, but bent and broke the thread on the cable (probably because I used cheap cables!). Because of this, I no longer leave the cables attached.
Has anyone ever damaged the cable release socket on the lens because they leave the cables on?
Does anyone use the angled release adapters made by Toyo-View?
I always leave mine off...Two reasons:
I only carry one or two cable releases, and always more lenses than that
I'm afraid of bending the release or stripping the threads ala your story
Downside: I occasionally lose a cable release and that's a 15-30$ dumbass charge for me.
FWIW,
-D
Brett, I bet a good shutter repair tech could fix that cable release socket for you, without a lot of expense. Carol at Flutot's Camera Repair does great work and provides excellent service.