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Archive 2012 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck

  
 
DaveyDonut
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


Just figured I'd pass my experience on... I wanted to get all the "updated" LC-XX lens caps with the double pinch action for all of my lenses. I had great luck with the rear lens caps on eBay... got a bunch of knockoffs from China for like $.99 that are identical to OEM. So I figured the front lens cap would be good too. I bought 10 of them for the various lenses. The odd thing here is that EVERYONE has left positive feedback for these $1.70 ebay lens caps, like the ones I bought here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/260832870014 I am literally the only one who has left negative feedback due to quality issues. I don't get it, because they suck.

First, the symptoms: They never seem to fit on well... it's hard to get them to hold at all, and they fall off all the time. I'd have my lenses in my bag and when I'd come to pull them out the cap had fallen off. I'd be just walking along with the camera around my neck and the cap would fall off a lens. Don't even think of barely touching it to anything, cause it'll surely fall off (and has). The "action" on the pinch is terrible. Not smooth at all, and binds up all the time. They are also a lighter shade than OEM, and look terrible mounted on the black lens.

Since the eBay seller got upset when I left negative feedback I decided to take a photo and send it to her. Upon further inspection, you can see why (sorry for the blurry photo.. hand held with a 105mm macro lens and it's dark out):



An OEM Nikon 52mm cap is on top, and cheap eBay one is on the bottom. The things to note:

1. The Nikon threads are real threads. They actually curve (have an angle), to match the curvature of the real threads on the lens. They mate much better due to this. eBay "threads" are just parallel, perpendicular ridges, not actually threads that rotate up. Thus they do not mate well with the real threads of the lens. This is probably the biggest problem with having them fall off.
2. The Nikon cap has THREE sets of threads, eBay only has two. This allows the the lens cap to just have more contact area with the threads.
3. The threads on eBay cap aren't as deep. They are more rounded, not as sharp, making them not bite into the threads on the lens as well.
4. Difficult to see, but you'll notice the bottom lens cap is a slightly different shade. The top lens cap (OEM) is much more "black"

Generally I've had great luck with these cheap Chinese stuffs on ebay (flashlights, rear lens caps, step up/down rings, chargers, batteries, etc), but these are terrible. And BTW, I will STILL buy the Pixel grip for the D800E once my body arrives. :-) Anyway, just thought I'd pass the info along...

David




Jul 19, 2012 at 08:54 PM
JaKo
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


Does the $1.70 cap include free shipping to US?


Jul 19, 2012 at 09:18 PM
DaveyDonut
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


Yes it does. So did the $.99 rear lens caps... amazing, isn't it?


Jul 19, 2012 at 09:57 PM
Pinarello65
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


I ordered a couple of those and they turned up in a standard envelope, which had been through the postal service sorting machine and smashed them into a thousand pieces. They were very brittle compared to the genuine ones. They sent replacements in a padded bag but they're still junk!


Jul 20, 2012 at 04:52 AM
si_film
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


A neutral feedback would have been more appropriate. Negative feedback should be reserved for when you get screwed and seller doesn't provide remedy. This is why ebay is starting to stink, some buyers leave negative feedback for the most minor issue.

I once got a negative feedback because I didn't ship my item within 2 days... the guy bought it at 3pm on a friday and I didn't ship till monday (which was next businesses day).. that negative crap showed on my account for a year.



Jul 20, 2012 at 05:16 AM
Steve Perry
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


Umm...

Are you kidding me? You paid $1.70 for a lens cap, shipped free, and you're actually complaining / surprised that it isn't as good as the nikon cap? Then you left the poor seller (who made basically nothing on the transaction) negative feedback?

REALLY?!?

You remind me of the guy who was looking at a 10 year old car I had for sale and complaining that there was a tiny spot of rust and so wasn't like brand new anymore...




Jul 20, 2012 at 08:00 AM
sjms
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


oh boy


Jul 20, 2012 at 08:54 AM
davenfl
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


You are truly "out to lunch".


Jul 20, 2012 at 09:04 AM
euua
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


+10000

davenfl wrote:
You are truly "out to lunch".




Jul 20, 2012 at 09:07 AM
Taoguy
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


Everyday after i think I have heard everything, someone comes along and tops it. Unbelievable! If the seller sold/offered them free , free shipping, and free returns w/ lifetime free replacements, I'm betting there would have been some unhappy takers. Gotta wonder what to expect for less than $2?


Jul 20, 2012 at 09:52 AM
DaveyDonut
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


Well that's an interesting set of replies. If someone is marketing something as same quality as OEM quality then I expect it to be that. Yeah, it's cheap, that's why I bought it instead of OEM. If it said, "The quality of these isn't very good, and the treads don't really hold onto the lens as well as OEM," then I'd have reset my expectations. My point was simply they were not OEM quality yet described as such. The rear lens caps that are equally as cheap are OEM quality (as stated).

Just trying to pass along info for others considering such a purchase.

David



Jul 20, 2012 at 10:57 AM
pdp123
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


I'd cut the guy a break here guys. He did come across less complaining and more just the facts in his post (to me anyway). I understand the knee jerk responses but he took the time to explain the difference with the quality of the items in case someone would be thinking they'd found such a great bargain with the cheap caps.


Jul 20, 2012 at 11:54 AM
sjms
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


if its too good to be true it usually is.


Jul 20, 2012 at 12:36 PM
RKH
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


At the risk of being ostracized, some people with really high post counts just enjoy seeing their name up in lights and letting people know their learned opinions, whether it be good, bad or ugly.
I'm guilty of buying the cheap chinese junk every once in awhile and have actually bought lens caps that are impossible to tell from OEM and work well. I don't remember from who though.
As far as the OP, did you try to work with the chinese to get your money back or just knee jerk give them a negative feedback?



Jul 20, 2012 at 01:27 PM
S Dilworth
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


Looking at the seller's negative feedback, it appears that DaveyDonut didn't just give the seller bad feedback once, but five times. That's pretty harsh, especially since big Chinese sellers trip over themselves to fix any problems, even when the problems are not in any way their fault (I'm always amazed at the grace with which they do this. Their products are usually terrible, but their customer service is exemplary).

The seller does say "the quality is as good as the original ones," much like every seller of every cheap third-party accessory in the world. I understand DaveyDonut believes this legitimises his feedback, and perhaps in the real world it would. But on eBay, negative feedback is fatal. If someone has feedback below about 99.9%, I don't even bother looking. That's how eBay works.

Besides, only the naive would believe that a third-party item would equal OEM quality at one-fifth the price. Newsflash: the forthcoming Pixel grip isn't really going to be as good as a MB-D12, no matter what the ads say. Nothing about it will be similar in quality to the Nikon. Not even close! There.



Jul 20, 2012 at 01:48 PM
S Dilworth
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


To be fair, if you were the seller and you started a thread here, I'd lambast you for describing a junk item as "as good as the original ones."

But let's be honest: the seller would have refunded every penny if you'd asked, and you would now have five free caps to bring to your nearest ABS recycling plant. That would probably be a better outcome for both seller and buyer.

You're not going to convince the world to stop trying to find an amazing deal on a ten-dollar item. People will continue to chance their luck, and occasionally even imagine themselves to have found a bargain. As for me, I'll continue to be baffled by people who try to pinch pennies while throwing several grand at a camera. I've never found a bargain. The fake rear caps? I've seen lots of them, and they're horrible compared to the LF-4, which is itself inferior in quality to the now-discontinued LF-1.



Jul 20, 2012 at 02:01 PM
DaveyDonut
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


There were five items (different sizes) I bought, hence the 5 feedbacks. I'm surprised by all this negativity. A feedback system does not work if people do not report proper feedback. When products suck on Amazon people write negative reviews of them. I guess sometimes they get lambasted too. If someone else had posted my feedback before I bought I wouldn't have wasted the sellers time in buying them (and I DID search the feedback for this part before I bought). THAT's the feedback system working. You know, writing honest feedback about the quality of an item.

Yes, I was offered a refund and I did not take it. I could have taken it and walked along my jolly way, and pulled my feedback. But just as I was doing in posting this thread here, I wanted to alert other potential buyers of problems. That's worth $15 to me. Apparently that's offensive to everyone here. Boggles my mind.

David



Jul 20, 2012 at 02:29 PM
S Dilworth
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


But everyone who cares, knows that astonishingly cheap copies of OEM products are rubbish. We don't need product-reviews-as-negative-feedback to tell us this. Only those who don't care about quality think they're getting a bargain (and I suppose they are. Lucky them).

Meanwhile, this particular seller is stuck with your negative feedback for the next year (or forever? I can't remember), despite selling exactly the same rubbish as her competitors, and offering the same full refunds to anyone who murmurs.

You're right about eBay's feedback system: it's broken. The fear of retaliation is so great that negative reviews are only given in dire circumstances. It's against this backdrop that your behaviour is seen as an aberration by the eBay users above. Normal eBay protocol is to accept a refund and move on, especially for a $1.50 lens cap with free shipping from China.

You sound like a reasonable man, though, and I do understand your sentiment.

Amazon's reviews are very different, since they're reviews of products rather than sellers, and there's no possibility of retaliation. Carefully parsed, they're a treasure trove of product information, the like of which we never had elsewhere.



Jul 20, 2012 at 02:52 PM
M635_Guy
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


What part of "you get what you pay for" do people not understand?

That has nothing to do with China. Guess what? The world's most reliable PC's are built there. China will manufacture to any quality and engineering level you're willing to pay for.

As far as the feedback, I think a negative feedback when you were offered a full refund is BS. What were your real expectations for $1.70 You got one of the bad ones, they offered you your money. I'd say a Neutral rating would have been more appropriate. If the thing cost $10, maybe I'd feel different...



Jul 20, 2012 at 02:59 PM
DaveyDonut
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Why $1.70 Chinese LC-XX eBay lens caps suck


blah blah blah... What I want is what the listing was for, "This high quality center snap on lens cap is produced by the third party, but the quality is as good as the original ones." That's false advertising. What part of that do you not understand? Yes, it was less money, that's why I bought it. I have bought MANY items like this from China on eBay and they WERE as good as what I'd pay much more for in the US (most of this stuff is made there, obviously). Didn't I say that already? Oh yeah... repeat. I told her if she could get me what I ordered (OEM quality) I'd revert my feedback.

You all make good points, you just do so like assholes. eBay needs a system where you can review products and sellers separately. However, this seller is misrepresenting this item's quality... so perhaps it's one in the same, in this case. If she stopped selling this item, or mentioned it's true quality in the listing, I'd also change my feedback. I'll offer that suggestion to her.

David



Jul 20, 2012 at 03:06 PM
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