I am looking for a cap that would click into the bayonet mount of Nikon bodies, just like a lens, for my spare body when there is no lens attached. Nikon provides a soft transparent cap that snaps over the mount but it does not hold well, and I 'd rather have something dark, pretty much like the Nikon rear lens caps. Any ideas?

-- Tomas Roztocil (rozto@itsa.ucsf.edu), February 18, 2000

Answers

Nikon sells a front cap (BF-1A) for about $8.00. I have a black one but have also seen it in gray. You should be able to get it from any Nikon authorized dealer.

-- Kam Nawus (nawus@hotmail.com), February 18, 2000.

Nikon is very stingy when it comes to accessories like body caps. Every new Nikon camera comes with a useless push-on soft-plastic white body cap, and you have to fork out about $10 to buy a proper one--the BF-1A Body Cap, which is a hard black plastic cap that screws nicely onto the lens mount and locks in place. Thomas, you'll find the BF-1A in almost any decent camera shop (such as B&H), or you can order one from here: http://www.precision- camera.com/store/lenscapsnikon.htm

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), February 18, 2000.

Oops, Kam's beaten me to the answer!

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), February 18, 2000.

You can also get 3rd party body caps for about $2.50 that do the same thing.

-- Bruce Rubenstein (b_rubenstein@yahoo.com), February 18, 2000.

Has Nikon changed the design of their body caps?

My old BF something-or-others don't lock into place. Or at least they didn't, until I drilled a small detent in them.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 21, 2000.

In the UK, the 'own brand' from Jessops work well. It would surprise me if the design has changed, as the caps simply mimic an F-mount lens. Perhaps yours is worn?

-- Alan Gibson (Alan@snibgo.com), February 21, 2000.

Hey! Don't knock those white plastic body caps.

You can use them for incident light diffusers on the front of your lens.

-- The Masked Informer (green.lantern@dc.net), February 22, 2000.

The old BF-1 does NOT fit most of the newer AF Nikons - you need the BF-1A. Probably overpriced. Many third-party caps fit just as well, and are considerably cheaper.

-- Tony Gorell (anthony.gorell@eds.com), February 22, 2000.

That's right, I have one of does (old) caps, fits like a glove onto my FE but never turn till the end on the N90 nor the F4. D.K.

-- Diego K. (Heuristica@yahoo.com), February 22, 2000.

DON'T put the old style cap on an AF camera. I have both BF-1 and BF-1A for my F2 and F5 and I made the mistake of trying to put the BF-1A on my F5. All I can say is I am glad I did not twist too hard because I could have damaged something very easily. I later checked with my Nikon dealer and he confirmed that you should not use the old style cap on AF bodies.

-- Paul Ashton (prashton@focalplane.com), February 23, 2000.

Shame Nikon selling mass production injection molded ABS plastic cap cost under $0.2 for $10. I don't understand why Nikon invest different tool for producing flimsy useless white cap? Marketing???

-- happyphoto (leon_keng@yahoo.com), June 01, 2000.