When I used to shoot with my full frame Nikon cameras, I would often have issues with my zoom lens grips coming loose. And I’ve talked to several photographers with the same problem.

Back then, I used to send in my lenses for repair, wait a few days, and they’d come back looking like new. If that had happened now, though, I would have a much simpler solution — use a band.it.

Seemingly enough, this is exactly why band.its were created in the first place. Instead of dealing with shipping and waiting for a week without a lens, you could simply put a new ring on it, that was made to come off if desired. It’s an ideal solution when you’re in the midst of your busy season, when you don’t have a chance to deal with getting a loaner lens.

Great Solution for Large Lenses

I tested out two versions of the band.it — one for my Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 zoom lens, and another for my Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 zoom lens.

Lumix 12-35 with Band.It

But I quickly realized that it just wasn’t practical on the small 12-35mm lens. While it worked, I had to put my lens hood elsewhere because of the bulk of the band.it.

With the 40-150mm, it made much more sense. It was a significantly larger lens, but it still got in the way of putting down Olympus’ unique sliding lens hood.

Olympus 40-150 with Band.It

All this being said, I’m confident that, with larger, full-frame lenses, this issue wouldn’t be as prevalent. For my old Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 full frame lens, it’s likely that the band.it wouldn’t have gotten in the way of me storing the lens hood. Still, with smaller lenses, and prime lenses, it might be more bulk than what it’s worth.

The Lens Hood Issue

This is really my only qualm with the band.it system, is that it gets in the way of lens hoods on smaller lenses. That said, you don’t have to store your lenses with band.its on all the time — they’re meant to easily slide on and off. And in that case, maybe it’s not such a big deal.

Lumix 12-35 with Band.It and Lens Hood

For photographers who consistently use one lens for each shoot, this probably isn’t a big deal. As an event photographer, however, I find myself switching between two or three lenses over the course of a shoot. And in that case, I have to store my lens hoods in a different compartment that I might not have space for.

Conclusion

While the band.it system isn’t perfect, I can say that the rings are made very well. Each band.it ring is made from a rubber material that is extremely durable — I was able to stretch and twist it without any impact.

However, I’d like to see a version that isn’t quite so bulky. They’re perfect for hefty full-frame telephoto lenses, but it looks laughable on a tiny micro four-thirds lens.

All this said, if you have a lens with a loose zoom ring, band.its are really a great, affordable solution to fixing the problem.

See band.it at Photo Plus Expo in New York City

If you are in New York this October 26-28, 2017 take some time to visit band.it at their booth #268 at the Javits Center.

Check out more about band.its at camerabandit.com.