This is not the most weighty topic that could be discussed, but yesterday I had a series of questions from a reader of Photographer’s Guide to the Panasonic Lumix LX5 who was having trouble figuring out how to attach the camera’s lens cap using the lens cap string that is included with the camera. I remember having this same problem when I purchased my first similar camera a couple of years ago, the Leica D-Lux 4 (which is similar to the Panasonic Lumix LX3). For me, and I believe for this reader, the confusion stems in part from the fact that the lens cap string that comes with the camera is actually a loop of elastic, with a patch that fastens the two ends together. It may appear that this patch is a place where you are supposed to separate the two ends of the string, and then somehow use the string, with its two loose ends, to attach the lens cap to the camera.

Actually, though, the string is meant to remain as a closed loop. First, you need to thread the loop (still doubled as a loop) through the bracket on the side of the camera (right side as the camera faces you), then thread the other end of the loop back through the open end of the loop. Then, you need to thread the loop of string through one of the small openings in the lens cap, then out the other. Now take the lens cap itself and push it through the loop that is sticking out. I ended up sending the reader a couple of photos showing the lens cap attached to the camera, and I think it was the photos that ended up helping him figure out the procedure. So, here are those two pictures, in case they help anyone else who has trouble figuring out how to attach the lens cap.