1. Some of the tapes I used leave a white sticky residue on the surface upon removal, does this happen to your tapes too?
NO, there will be no irritating sticky residues left on the surface. This is because the adhesive used is a special kind of rubber instead of glue chemicals. Minor leftovers on the surface, if any, can be easily removed by re-applying the removed tapes on the surface.
" The adhesive used is a high quality synthetic rubber which leaves little or no residue when removed, in contrast to duct tape. " - Direct quote from Wikipedia.
2. " Sorry for the newbie question, but why would a person gaffer their lens and flash? "
Gaffering adds an additional layer of thin cloth tape on the surface of your camera equipment.
The basic purpose is for protection. I gaffered my 70-200 VR so the beautiful paint on the metal body won't be scratched off if my darling lens every happen to meet any sharp item or surface during shooting and handling. It's ideal for plastic lens hood too which can be easily scratched.
It also gives you better grip, the cloth surface have more friction compare to the original surface of the lens / body.A camouflage gaffered lens is less observable in the forest and it's almost a must for all nature lovers.
With your equipments well gaffered, they gain higher resale values when you decide to let go.
There will be no residue or sticky thingy left on the lens upon removal of the tape.
3. So, how did you get started with this gaffering service?
Initially just wanted to find a way of protecting my own lenses, I started gaffering my own equipments in 2005. Very soon I realised my good handcrafting skills and saw a need of this service in the market.
In early 2006 I started to provide gaffering service to local photographers here in Singapore. My service also expands from camera lenses to camera bodies, tripods and camera flashes.
