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11-12-2009, 09:53 PM - 1 Like   #16
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how important is a hot shoe cover anyway?

11-15-2009, 06:12 AM   #17
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Let me relate my experience with hot shoe covers. I usually lose 1 cover every year and I had 4 cameras that had missing covers. Fortuneately I saved one of the original Pentax covers in the box.

I bought a dozen of these:

DealExtreme: $1.65 Universal Protective Case for Digital SLR Camera Hot Shoes

One dozen made them $1.00 a piece almost as cheap as buying 1 from Pentax as DE is shipped free. Now note that they fit as is but not exactly like the Pentax ones, a couple of minutes with an X-Acto knife and they matched the Pentax ones exactly, now I have a spare plastic bag with extras just in case I lose them all. Now if I could only find the screw on PC port covers cheap!

Last edited by WheresWaldo; 11-15-2009 at 11:07 AM.
11-15-2009, 07:12 AM   #18
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I used to keep the hot shoe cover on my camera all the time, but once I got my external flash, it just became too much of a pain taking the cover off and actually finding a secure place to put it to use the flash, and then having to find it and put it back on when I took the flash off. Now I just go without
11-15-2009, 07:23 AM - 1 Like   #19
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XD mine is long gone... maybe in the wood somewhere. Never even thought of getting a new one as I am sure I will loss it with in a day.

11-15-2009, 07:45 AM - 1 Like   #20
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A quick workaround is to use use one of the keys from an old laptop's keyboard and trim to fit.
06-09-2010, 11:35 AM   #21
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Well, I ordered some of the BS-1 covers and they are *close* but not exact. If you look closely at the Pentax hot shoe, the little leaf spring that comes down on the left side of the shoe doesn't get touched by the Pentax hot shoe cover. In addition, there is a little tab on Pentax cameras. Sure, other covers *kinda* fit, with some fiddling, but the Pentax one is the best for Pentax cameras.

I wish the genuine covers still existed.

06-09-2010, 12:33 PM   #22
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I bought a couple of these as replacements. The unit is made out of a softer plastic/rubber. The level is not glued into the cover, so when the cover is on the camera, the bottom of the level is sitting on top of the center pin. It is also easy to notch out the cover with a fingernail file if you want a tight fit at the front. $4.80 to $6, mostly with free shipping.



Hot Shoe Spirit Level Cover Protector items - ebay

Thank you
Russell

06-09-2010, 01:03 PM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by knoxploration Quote
I must humbly apologize. The one time I don't take time to double-check my facts, I misremember. I was thinking of the sync socket cover. Ignore me, please - I'll edit my earlier post to correct it so nobody is misled.

Doi!
I am pretty sure Pentax openly says that the PC Sync socket without the cap is still designed to be weather proof. At least that's what they say in the manual and on their brochure.

Right from the brochure/manual:

PC Socket
The K-7 conveniently includes a PC socket for shooting with stu- dio lights. The K-7 remains weather and dust sealed when the PC socket cap is removed, and it even contains protective circuitry to prevent damage due to the high voltages of professional studio lighting equipment. The K-7 is at home in the studio just as much as it is in the field.

Sorry off topic... I just don't want misinformation going out there. Its okay, we make mistakes. I am not trying to harass you or anything.

Last edited by kalison; 06-09-2010 at 01:12 PM.
06-10-2010, 11:14 AM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by kalison Quote
Sorry off topic... I just don't want misinformation going out there. Its okay, we make mistakes. I am not trying to harass you or anything.
No harassment taken, don't worry. We do indeed all make mistakes, and as you'll see earlier in this thread, I'm always happy to fess up to my own mistakes. This one wasn't mine, though.

Direct from the K-7 owners' manual, emphasis mine (http://www.pentaximaging.com/pdf/K-7_e_web.pdf):

QuoteQuote:
The contact of the X-sync socket is not dust-proof and water-resistant. Attach the provided Sync socket 2P cap when not in use.
I think the quote you found is probably meant to imply that it is still weather- and dust-sealed when there's something other than the cap connected to it (ie. a sync cable), and mine states that it definitely isn't dust and water-proof with nothing attached. Unfortunately with the chosen wording, the two statements do seem to directly contradict each other though, and unless Pentax confirms either way, we can't be 100% sure whether the socket is waterproof without anything attached.

My opinion is "better safe than sorry", though - it certainly doesn't hurt to keep the cap on just to be on the safe side. ;-)
06-10-2010, 11:32 AM   #25
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You're probably right. I just was thinking that's what they meant a few hours after I posted it.
06-10-2010, 11:46 AM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by Alfisti Quote
My question is, do they fit? Surely nikon/canon/pentax use different hot shoe covers??
Why? The dimensions of the hotshoe are standardized, have been for many decades. What will fit one, will fit any one.
06-10-2010, 12:09 PM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by alohadave Quote
Why? The dimensions of the hotshoe are standardized, have been for many decades. What will fit one, will fit any one.
They're close, but they're not exactly the same. My Pentax cap leaves a gap at the front of the hot shoe on a Canon DSLR, with the locking pin hole still visible beneath. I don't have a Canon shoe cover, but if it doesn't leave a gap (which seems likely), then it would stick out the rear of my K-7 hot shoe. It would also likely lack the small notch that's cut out of the lower front of the Pentax cap, to match the small protrusion on the camera itself.
06-10-2010, 12:54 PM - 1 Like   #28
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I think we're getting a little anal here boys and girls:

It's just a piece of plastic to cover the contacts.
06-10-2010, 01:55 PM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by Russell-Evans Quote
I bought a couple of these as replacements. The unit is made out of a softer plastic/rubber. The level is not glued into the cover, so when the cover is on the camera, the bottom of the level is sitting on top of the center pin. It is also easy to notch out the cover with a fingernail file if you want a tight fit at the front. $4.80 to $6, mostly with free shipping.



Hot Shoe Spirit Level Cover Protector items - ebay

Thank you
Russell
Heehee. Hey, you got one. I was wondering if anyone would mention these: I thought they were cute, possibly occasionally even useful, and was thinking I would try one the last time I sent to Hong Kong for something. I had a fit of frugality at the last moment, though, and didn't end up going for it. Since then, I was wondering how they are.

I guess you can be sure it's level to the shoe cause the level is touching the plate?

I don't actually generally care to keep covers on most cameras, never have, but I suppose they're convenient. I'm not really worried about the loss of weather-sealing, but the cover sure is easier to wipe off than a hot shoe, anyway, so I haven't bothered to remove the cover from the K20d very often.

.
06-10-2010, 03:19 PM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ratmagiclady Quote
I'm not really worried about the loss of weather-sealing, but the cover sure is easier to wipe off than a hot shoe, anyway, so I haven't bothered to remove the cover from the K20d very often.
Fortunately, there's no loss of sealing by removing the hot shoe cover -- just the PC sync connector cover. The hot shoe cover is there solely to prevent dirt and minor knocks against the hot shoe connectors, and for cosmetic reasons.
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