Four years ago I wrote on this blog about LensCoat. LensCoat are custom designed neoprene camo covers for your lenses. Many people continue to ask us on workshops why we use them, and do we recommend them. We think they work well…there is only one time we may take them off.
First, what do they do well? Foremost for us is they protect the lens, especially big telephotos, which seem to get banged up a lot. Earlier this year I sold my 600mm F4, which was covered in a LensCoat. When I took it off to sell the 600mm the lens looked practically new. Very nice job protecting the lens.
Next, have you ever shot eagles in Haines Alaska at 12 degrees for 6 hours? Everything gets cold, really cold, including that big metal lens. The LensCoat offers insulation from the cold metal. It feels good to touch and handle.
Camouflage…yes, the LensCoat breaks up the solid color of the lens which may obscure the lens when photographing wildlife. We have noticed some birds seem less spooked when you move your lens in a blind if it has camo on it.
What about rain protection? While LensCoat can offer some buffer from rain on your lens, it isn’t designed to keep your lens dry…use a rain cover. And this brings up the one time we take the lens coat off…if we are shooting in wet environments. In Costa Rica it may rain on and off for days, and your gear gets wet. Without some serious sun to dry things out, the LensCoat may hold onto and trap some moisture on the lens…it just takes longer to dry out. In these very wet conditions I tend to shoot my big telephotos without the Lenscoat, just a standard rain cover. If the lens gets wet I wipe it off. But for infrequent showers and drier conditions I leave the LensCoat on.
Yes, Cree and I like LensCoat and use them on our long lenses. We just upgraded to some new telephoto mirrorless lenses, and we went right out and bought some LensCoats.