LensCoat LCHMBK Hoodie Medium (Black)

I bought this Hoodie for one main reason - regular use of Nikon's supplied cap for the 14-24 will damage the built-in hood. Nikon's cap is poorly designed, similar to the cap for the 16mm fisheye. Not the end of the world, but for a $2K lens, not really acceptable either.I want to start by saying that this product should be fine for most uses (i.e. on removable lens hoods for lenses that take screw filters, or even on larger telephoto lenses). For the 14-24, it's not great because although the neoprene boot fits tightly around the built-in hood, the front protective disc is actually too small and fits inside the inner diameter of the hood. This means that with pressure or impact, there's nothing stopping the Hoodie from caving in and touching the front element. Even at 24mm, the front element comes pretty close to the top of the hood on this lens - at 14mm it's pretty well flush.I bought the medium based on LensCoat's guidelines on their site and favourable reviews from other 14-24 owners. Why not get the next size up? I thought of that and admittedly I haven't tried the large on this lens, but I suspect that even if the protective disc was sufficiently large to cover the hood's outer diameter, the neoprene boot would most likely fit looser than the medium, which wouldn't be any good either. The medium size stretches to fit pretty snugly, which is good.Given that the large probably isn't going to be much better, I've chosen to keep this Hoodie and modify it. I've cut two circular pieces of mat board exactly 4" in diameter and inserted them in the Hoodie, then placed the supplied disc inside the sleeve on top of the mat board. I find expanding the diameter in front allows the Hoodie to be braced against the end of the lens' built-in hood, thus eliminating the aforementioned "caving" issue. I plan to replace the mat board with a piece of hard plastic - just wanted to make sure that the neoprene stretched enough to accommodate it, which it did.Once I get the plastic disc inside this thing, I think it should be ready to take out in the field. This drawback isn't the fault of the designers - it's really only an issue for this specific lens because of how bulbous the front element is. Maybe they could include an extra larger disc or even just sell separate discs of different sizes (they may - haven't checked). The included disc is OK, but not great - just thin plastic glued to a thicker piece of neoprene similar to the bottom of a mousepad.Some other thoughts - it's easy to get off but definitely not easy to put on with one hand. The Nikon cap beats it in this regard. The Hoodie requires some stretching to get it on - easier if you have two free hands. Also, there is a weak point along the side of the hoodie near the front, as most lens hoods are petal type and have cutaways for the corners of your sensor. Anything pointy in your bag could pierce this area and compromise the Hoodie - not at all likely, but possible. Some beefier neoprene near the front would help with this risk.Hate to be critical, but the design could use a few refinements. Most people are going to be happy with this thing, though.

J'adore au lieu du cap d'origine sur mon Nikon AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8. Hautement recommandé pour cet objectif.

Use the on photo shoots. Easily slide on and off and offer protection for the lens.

I bought two of these, using the manufacturer's chart for sizing. The medium fits the lens I bought it for well. The small that I bought is a bit loose on the lens I bought it for, so sizing is important. The great thing about these is that they are unlikely to fall off or get knocked off the lens. The cushion in the base of the hoodie protects your lens much better than a plastic lens cap. I think I'm less likely to lose this than I would a plastic cap, but it isn't quite so easy to slip into my hip pocket quickly.

Thanks to the previous reviewers, this Hoodie now protects the bulbous front element of my 14-24mm. It also fit the lens hood (HB-40) of the 24-70mm F/2.8 in case you wanted to know. Pricey for sure - but so's the glass. Having the Hoodie allows me to keep the glass covered in dusty environments, yet pops off easily -- and stores folded in half (with the stiffener removed). More convenient than putting the original cap in my back pocket.