@lucy3 wrote:
Ahh I see, thank you so much! So it's meant to be removed, not retracted? And would you recommend removing the lens when storing it to keep it safe? Or just leaving it on?
You are welcome!
Yes, your lens is meant to be removed, but you should manually retract it by turning the Zoom Ring until the lens barrel is all the way in before stowing it away.
You will get different opinions on whether or not to leave your lens attached. My approach is changing lenses as little as possible, so I leave my lens attached and store the entire rig in my carry case. I use one lens 80% of the time, so it's no big deal, but that lens is a long one, so my case has to hold my camera with a long lens attached.
Since you have just one lens, I recommend leaving it attached. Every time you remove the lens, there is a chance that dust, lint, hair, etc. will find it's way onto the sensor array and the back element of the lens. But there are proper ways to remove lenses that will help to keep debris at bay, like keeping your camera pointed down and capping both lens and camera as quickly as possible. I would buy a camera bag or case large enough to hold your rig with lens attached, something like the LowePro Nova 180 (just an example). But there are lots of options and I have a traditional bag like the Nova and a backpack type, which I prefer for walking around in the woods and parks that I shoot in.
Something else you should consider is a "protector" type lens filter for the front of your lens, like the "Canon Protect" (just an example). The good ones are made from lens grade glass and will make it safer to clean the front lens element and protect it from scratches. Lenses have coatings and cleaning will eventually wear that away. Once again, there are lots of good brands of protecto filters to choose from, but don't go cheap, and make sure it is made from photo quality glass. All of my lenses have one even though I also have lens hoods. I just have to clean it instead of my front element.
Newton
