Lens caps — eliminate fumbling
The first thing I do with my Canon or Zeiss ZF/ZE or other brand lenses is to toss the lens cap into a ziplock bag, then replace it with a Nikon center-pinch-style lens cap. Nikon makes 77/72/67/62/58/52mm sizes, and these can be used to replace most any Canon or Zeiss ZF/ZE lens cap.
The Nikon lens cap offers the best ergonomics; there is enough depth in the center-pinch-style design to make it easy and quick to attach, even with fingers stiff from cold.
The Zeiss design is too thin, which means I drop it way too often (over a cliff or down a crack or into the sand, etc). The Canon design is the side-pinch design, which makes me remove the lens hood to attach the lens cap. Both are a waste of time, I try to simplify my photo kit to what works day in and day out.
Here’s a handy list of the Nikon front lens caps, and a few rear caps as well, including the OpTech O-ring rear cap, which seals out dust and moisture exceedingly well. the only downside of the OpTech cap is that it fits in only one orientation, not three as with a standard cap. This is probably for maximum sealing. Mark the cap somehow, and this might help you attach it in the same orientation each time.
Update: readers suggest that the Sony and Tamron also offer lens caps that have a pinch design similar to Nikon, and I now recollect from my review of the Sony A900 in DAP that the lens cap design was good. So for sizes Nikon does not offer, the Sony lens caps can fill in.
