Typical camera body caps are so dull, right? Photography gear company Polar Pro certainly thinks so and aims to solve this problem with its new Defender Body Cap.
The Defender serves the same essential function as the standard camera body cap that ships with all interchangeable lens cameras. However, beyond protecting a camera’s sensor from dust and debris and ensuring that the lens mount stays pristine, the Defender includes storage for an AirTag or a memory card.
All four mount versions of the Defender come with inserts for CFexpress Type A memory cards and SD cards. This makes perfect sense in the case of the Defender for Sony E-mount cameras since many modern Sony mirrorless cameras use CFexpress Type A media.
However, the Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Canon EF versions of the Defender also include CFexpress Type A inserts despite Z and EOS R system cameras using CFexpress Type B cards.
Per Polar Pro, given space constraints and the larger size of CFexpress Type B cards, a suitable card insert for the Defender wasn’t possible. Photographers will need to find another way to store their extra CFe B cards, perhaps using Polar Pro’s Slate II memory card case, which holds four CFexpress Type B cards and comes in the same colorways as the Defender.
The Defender is made of 6061 aluminum, promising “superior camera body protection and exceptionally rugged aesthetic,” per Polar Pro. “This cap is guaranteed to make your camera body 10 times better,” the company promises.
Tucking an AirTag away inside a camera body cap isn’t a novel idea. The Nine Volt AirCap and Kuvrd Camera CosmoCap do the same thing. However, these solutions only work with AirTags, whereas Polar Pro incorporates swappable memory card inserts.
As for why someone would want to put an AirTag on their camera, Apple’s compact tracker can help people locate stolen or lost camera equipment, and the hidden nature of the body cap design could thwart would-be thieves. Of course, as hidden AirTag compartments become increasingly more common, ne’er-do-wells will look harder to find them on stolen goods.
The Polar Pro Defender is available now for $50, which is about the same price as the AirCap and CosmoCap. Polar Pro’s new cap is available for Sony E, Canon RF, Canon EF, and Nikon Z cameras and comes in black, forest, and desert colorways. Each Defender Body Cap ships with the cap itself plus three swappable inserts.
Image credits: Polar Pro