Keep the lens caps on while in the field?

Just a matter of technique and convenience. When you carry a bag with several lenses that you think you will have to switch to quickly, do you keep the front and rear lens caps on each of them, or leave both off so you don't have to bother unscrewing and rescrewing during a lens change?

Do you worry about getting them dirty if you leave them bare front and back?

i leave them capped, front and rear.

If I'm regularly changing lenses I'll leave the front cap off but put the rear cap on. Aside from keeping the rear element clean I figure I'm also keeping the mount from possibly getting dinged up.

^Ditto. Back cap to keep rear element clean and minimize risk of anything transferring from the rear element to the sensor. Front element usually stays off, but hoods are on if I got space for em.

darosk wrote in post #14833873
^Ditto. Back cap to keep rear element clean and minimize risk of anything transferring from the rear element to the sensor. Front element usually stays off, but hoods are on if I got space for em.

Yep. I always use hoods and that means that the front element isn't even touching the bottom of the bag.

Capped, front and rear - though I could see using a hood instead of the front cap if I had the room to accomodate them, which I don't.

If I'm actually carrying the bag around, then the caps will be on both ends. If I am pretty much shooting from one place, so the bag is just lying on the ground, then I may drop uncapped lenses in there and carry on shooting. I generally minimise the need for rapid swapping by carrying two (or three) bodies with different lenses on. So, at an airshow for example, I might have the 10-22 on my crop and the 24-105L on my 5D in the morning for the flightline walk / static park, then switch to a combo with the 300 2.8L and 100-400L fitted for the afternoon air display.

I may decide that I want a shorter fast prime on at some time during the morning, for some shallow DOF shots, in which case I will switch one of the bodies over for a while. I will leave the caps off, if I plan to take the shots and then swap the lens back, put the caps on if I am going to leave it on for a while and wander around.

I don't baby my gear though, and if it comes down to getting the shots or putting the caps on, then I get the shots and worry about the gear later.

tvphotog wrote in post #14833421
do you keep the front and rear lens caps on each of them, or leave both off so you don't have to bother unscrewing and rescrewing during a lens change?

Rear only, never bothered with using front caps.

Wayne

Usually rear only with the front protected by hood and filter.

Unless the bag is sitting there without the intent of being moved, can I assume those of you who state that you keep the rear cap on but not the front are all talking about a situation where there is a hood and/or filter in place?

BigSky wrote in post #14835750
Unless the bag is sitting there without the intent of being moved, can I assume those of you who state that you keep the rear cap on but not the front are all talking about a situation where there is a hood and/or filter in place?

For me yes, hood is always on and in shooting position.
Most of my lenses are in the bag like this (ready to shoot). Other than a little more dust on the front element what harm could happen?

Both front and back on, except if hood on then no front cap.

Kinda' depends. Usually I will be going between the 24-70 and the 70-200. The 70-200 hood is really deep so I'm not worried about it picking up lint, dust, dirt from the bottom of the bag, but I have to be careful about it being so long that the lens can fall out of the bag. Besides getting my hand inside there to remove the stupid Canon cap is a PITA. But the 24-70's hood is very shallow, so I'm more likely to put it on when putting the lens in the bag.

crn3371 wrote in post #14833859
If I'm regularly changing lenses I'll leave the front cap off but put the rear cap on. Aside from keeping the rear element clean I figure I'm also keeping the mount from possibly getting dinged up.

Same here. I keep lens hoods on when swapping lenses at a shoot and my bags sre clean and free of other parts or debris in the lens compartments. so the lens element never actually touching anything when I put it in the bag lens-down with the rear cap on.

the front element at least can be cleaned easily as long as you don't scratch it. The rear on most lenses are a little more open and present too much opportunity for dust to get into areas you can't easily clean.

Although, in casual observation of some pros shooting events, I have seen a number of photogs who would set down the lenses with no caps front or rear. I'm assuming most of these people are CPS members who just send the lenses in for regular cleaning? I'm too paranoid to leave a lens sitting out with no rear caps.