‘F8 And Be There’: The Olympus Body-Cap ‘Lens’

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It's cute, but not that handy.
It's cute, but not that handy.

There's one camera accessory which you probably never, ever use — unless you're a professional who carries several cameras: the body cap. This protective plastic disk is most likely in the back of a closet somewhere, waiting inside the camera's box for the day you sell it and the cap is needed once again.

But Olympus thinks that it can tempt you with a fancy body cap. What's more, it thinks that you'll pay £70 for it (around $114). Behold: The 15mm ƒ8 "body cap."

It's a neat idea, and as multitasking novelties go, it's not too expensive. On a Micro Four Thirds body a 15mm lens works out to a 35mm equivalent of 30mm. That's perfect for quickly grabbing snapshots. But the maximum aperture of ƒ8? That's just plain weird. If I was going to keep a pancake-flat lens attached to my camera, I'd rather use the Pinwide pinhole "lens" for Micro Four Thirds (which — coincidentally, I already own). Still, I guess it follows the old photojournalists's adage "ƒ8 and be there."

This accessory really does have "gimmick" written all over it. However, it is at least cheap… Not that I'll be buying one.

Source: PetaPixel

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