I just checked B&H's website. Now it says that it is being "released in limited quantities". I would assume that since I placed my order the same day they were announced, I would be part of that group who received them first. But it looks like I was wrong.
Probably going to just cancel my order and ask for a refund. At this point I think one of the two following possibilities have occurred:
1. This was simply a publicity stunt by Canon and they don't actually have any caps produced.
2. B&H probably received a limited quantity and sent them out to their VIP customers, completely disregarding those of us who rushed to place our orders on day one of the announcement.
snegron7 wrote:
I just checked B&H's website. Now it says that it is being "released in limited quantities". I would assume that since I placed my order the same day they were announced, I would be part of that group who received them first. But it looks like I was wrong.
Probably going to just cancel my order and ask for a refund. At this point I think one of the two following possibilities have occurred:
1. This was simply a publicity stunt by Canon and they don't actually have any caps produced.
2. B&H probably received a limited quantity and sent them out to their VIP customers, completely disregarding those of us who rushed to place our orders on day one of the announcement.
Did you place your order at 00:00:01 on the announcement day? If not, then it's quite possible there are many others ahead of you and B&H is indeed initially only receiving limited quantities.
This isn't the first time that complaints have been posted about 'day of announcement' orders through B&H that haven't been fulfilled while others, who ordered elsewhere, have received the product. IIRC this happened with a number of recent lens releases. The general consensus seems to be that Canon USA doesn't allocate B&H a disproportionately greater amount of initial release inventory relative to other Canon dealers. It appears that Canon prioritizes fairly uniform initial national distribution so that all regions and dealers are able to at least fulfill some of their pre-orders. The going theory is that it may actually be beneficial to place such orders with smaller, regional shops that likely have shorter pre-order waiting lists, than to join a massive waiting list at B&H or Adorama. That is, unless you're Stan and place your order right at 00:00:01, or whenever the moment occurs that pre-orders can be placed.
rscheffler wrote:
Did you place your order at 00:00:01 on the announcement day? If not, then it's quite possible there are many others ahead of you and B&H is indeed initially only receiving limited quantities.
This isn't the first time that complaints have been posted about 'day of announcement' orders through B&H that haven't been fulfilled while others, who ordered elsewhere, have received the product. IIRC this happened with a number of recent lens releases. The general consensus seems to be that Canon USA doesn't allocate B&H a disproportionately greater amount of initial release inventory relative to other Canon dealers. It appears that Canon prioritizes fairly uniform initial national distribution so that all regions and dealers are able to at least fulfill some of their pre-orders. The going theory is that it may actually be beneficial to place such orders with smaller, regional shops that likely have shorter pre-order waiting lists, than to join a massive waiting list at B&H or Adorama. That is, unless you're Stan and place your order right at 00:00:01, or whenever the moment occurs that pre-orders can be placed. ...Show more →
I've spoken with a local brick and mortar camera shop in the past and they told me that the bigger distributors (like B&H and Adorama) get new merchandise first, as opposed to smaller authorized dealers like themselves.
snegron7 wrote:
I've spoken with a local brick and mortar camera shop in the past and they told me that the bigger distributors (like B&H and Adorama) get new merchandise first, as opposed to smaller authorized dealers like themselves.
I ordered from canon. If anyone gets it first, you think they wood.
I finally decided to take an engineering approach to the problem. I've confirmed it is possible to:
1.) Modify an RF back cap so that it fits both RF and EF lenses, in all three orientations
2.) Modify an EF back cap to the same effect as (1)
This is possible while still retaining (some of) all three tabs. I'll post specifics in the next day or so. Bottom line, if you have extra EF or RF caps, they can be made into "universal, multi-orientation" caps with nothing but a good sharp pocket knife and a few minutes time.
This is the first of two posts on modifying Canon caps, and refers to modifying the stock RF back cap. Refer to this image:
The arrow in the above image shows the location of the single stop on the RF back cap. The large tab is to lower right of the stop, and this is the one we need to modify. The following image shows the modified tab:
What we need to do is remove approx. 40% of the tab length on the long tab from the left, and 30% from the right. We do not need to modify the other two tabs.
Once an RF back cap is modified in this way, it will fit in any of the three orientations. It will also fit an EF lens, in any orientation!
I used a pocket knife to skive away the tab, working in small steps from the end inward. it took about 2 or 3 minutes to modify one cap.
This is the second post on Canon back cap modification, and deals with modifying a stock EF back cap. Refer to the image below:
The EF cap has thee stops (arrows). What we need to do is to remove about 60% of the tab width on all three tabs. Importantly, we need to remove the material from the end of the tab opposite the stop. Once all three tabs are modified, the cap will fit an RF lens in any orientation. It will still function as normal on an EF lens.
I canceled my order today. I gave up on waiting for Canon to make them and ship them to B&H. Complete waste of time. I at least hope I'll get my money back; not that it was much, but it's about the principle.
So, hopefully by me removing myself from the waiting list, one of you lucky folks might get your RF II lens dust caps 74 months earlier instead of 398 months from now (if, in fact, Canon actually does manufacture them).
It's still only July. Most likely they are outsourced and delivery may be a bit delayed, but after a while only the II will be produced for all Canon RF lenses.
I'm in Tokyo now and decided to hunt for the elusive RF II Lens Dust Cap. Popular camera stores here in Tokyo don't have them yet; some store employees weren't even aware that it was an actual thing. When I explained it to one of the employees at Bic Camera she was thrilled at the concept! 😀
I'm now narrowing down my opinion that this was all a marketing test by Canon to see if they would sell or not. They are probably just in the "marketing idea stage" at this point.
takowasa wrote:
Mine showed up yesterday from B&H.
Lucky you! I'm currently in Tokyo right now and I went to yet another Yodobashi Camera, this time a huge one at Ikebukero. Staff advised they have heard the rumors but haven't actually received any. None in inventory at any store here in Tokyo.
takowasa wrote:
Mine showed up yesterday from B&H.
I went ahead and placed an order from B&H....their site says available 8/21, but based on previous estimates, that may be dubious, but I figured I'd better get in line.
But these are standard RF caps and have the same issue that the stock original Canon rear caps have - that is, they only go on in one specific orientation. The new caps have a modified design that goes on in any orientation, just like the EF lens caps did (and pretty much every other major camera mount). I've modified stock RF caps based on the earlier suggestions in this thread (and one of the JJC caps) and the modified caps work OK, but they can sometimes be a little finicky to get off in some positions.
Jman13 wrote:
But these are standard RF caps and have the same issue that the stock original Canon rear caps have - that is, they only go on in one specific orientation. The new caps have a modified design that goes on in any orientation, just like the EF lens caps did (and pretty much every other major camera mount). I've modified stock RF caps based on the earlier suggestions in this thread (and one of the JJC caps) and the modified caps work OK, but they can sometimes be a little finicky to get off in some positions.
I see the definite advantage of working like the EF caps. I took a fine point silver Sharpie marker and marked the alignment mark on the caps. So they still are not as easy to use as legacy EF caps, but they are quicker to align than the stock RF caps. And now I have a spare cap to go in multiple bags, long before the more expensive Canon version becomes available.
