XL- Larger Anti-Reflection Portable, Flexible, Cuts Glare from Camera Lens

Works great for shooting through glass... I leave in Seattle and shoot landscapes and this Lenskirt XL is the perfect fix for glare... The suction cups will clean if you use warm/hot water instead of saliva.

I'd bet the most common question for anyone considering the Lenskirt XL is whether or not they even need the larger size. Before talking about the product in general, I will address the size question: Standard or XL?I've tested both sizes side by side. I was surprised to discover that the XL size is a standard Lenskirt with an extra 2.5" of material on the end. All of the angles are the same. Because of this, it seems more accurate to describe the XL as "deeper" rather than "wider". Put another way, while the XL version creates a larger area of reflection-free glass, it leaves your lens farther away from it. I could get my lens up against the glass with the standard size. I could not with the XL. Because of this, I felt like the standard size allowed me to shoot at a wider variety of angles than the XL. This is the opposite of what I expected.So what is the advantage of the XL? Well, it does create a larger area of reflection-free glass. In my testing, I was using a lens, primarily an RF 24-105mm F4L with hood, that was not long enough at 24mm to get up against the glass when using the XL. If it had been long enough, then I would have benefited from the XL's larger working area. There may be other advantages as well. In the end, I only kept the standard size Lenskirt. It was a much easier decision than I had expected.Regardless of size, when it comes to shooting through a window without capturing reflections from the window glass, there are a number of solutions. None of them are perfect.One approach is to position your lens up against the glass and wrap a jacket around the end of it to block out any room light that might cause reflections. This technique can work but it is awkward. Obtaining a light seal can be difficult, and It leaves the photographer with only one hand to operate the camera. The best thing about it is that it is free.Large diameter silicone lens hoods have become popular in recent years but they have their own problems. In theory, this design allows the hood to create a seal against the window to block out all room light while being flexible enough to aim a camera up or down or sideways without breaking the seal. But this approach has problems too. First, the hole through which the end of the lens is designed to fit is usually so small that users are left wondering if they are going to damage their lens or rip the silicone hood trying to attach it. Both can happen. Second, these silicone hoods tend to be floppy. The result is that only one hand is available for controlling the camera because the other one is required to hold the hood against the glass. Third, once a silicone hood is stretched tightly over the front of a lens, any ring that gets covered becomes difficult if not impossible to use. Zoom lenses with extending barrels can be a problem. And Canon's RF lenses are particularly problematic because their control rings, usually positioned at the end of the lens, are almost always covered. Although I own more than one of these silicone lens hoods, the hassle of using them keeps them in a drawer instead of my bag.This brings us to the Lenskirt. The Lenskirt is lightweight—lighter than a silicone hood (or your jacket)—and folds flat. It is not small enough to fit in a pants pocket. It might fit in a large jacket pocket. It will definitely fit in just about any bag. In use, it is shaped like a cinema camera matte box. There is a suction cup attached to each of its four corners which allows the user to position it on the window before attaching a camera to it. The Lenskirt is unique in this way. The approach frees up both hands to use for shooting.The front of the Lenskirt is constructed of flexible foam covered in a lightweight Cordura-like fabric. The foam provides enough structure to give the Lenskirt its shape but not so much to prevent it from being folded. The back of the Lenskirt is made of a cotton-like black cloth with an opening that can be tightened around the front of a lens using an elastic cord—similar to the way some teleprompters work. Unlike a silicone hood, there is no fight to insert a lens, regardless of diameter, into the Lenskirt. However, tightening it down around a lens with one hand while the other holds the camera takes some practice.Once the front of the Lenskirt is attached to the glass and the back is tightened around the user's lens, he or she is left with a largely but not completely dark environment. There is some light leakage along the edges which slightly reduces the area of reflection-free glass available to shoot through. This is the primary reason why I would describe the Lenskirt solution as imperfect despite it being my preferred solution.TechniqueThe soft black cloth used at the back of the Lenskirt allows the user to tilt and/or shift the camera up, down, left, right, and even into the Lenskirt to best utilize the area of reflection-free glass created by it. I found that a good approach is to position the end of the lens as close to the surface of the glass as possible. Doing so creates the greatest latitude for angling the camera without experiencing physical vignetting from the Lenskirt.I've read some reviews that specifically complain about the suction cups—either they're hard to get off or they get lost or they don't stick as well as they should. My own experience is that they work fine. I've left a Lenskirt attached to a window in my home and it stayed there indefinitely. Each suction cup has a little tab on it to aid in its removal. I make a point of positioning these tabs so they are sticking out when I attach the Lenskirt to glass. This makes removing them trivial. I never "rip" the Lenskirt off of the glass.The Bottom LineEvery solution for shooting through glass is imperfect in some way. I find the Lenskirt to be the best choice. It's the easiest to use and its drawbacks are minimal. It eliminates reflections with the least amount of hassle.

I was hesitant to spend the money on this. This lens skirt paid off after my first trip. I went to a skyscraper observatory and had crystal clear images with no light pollution.

Not long after I bought this product, one of the suction cups and the peg that retained it fell out. Despite multiple emails to Lenskirt asking if I could BUY a replacement, I have not gotten a reply.The product would be great with better quality control and any customer service at all!

Works perfectly for my Sony A7riii, Sony 70-200 and Sony 24-70 lenses.

Bought this as my first lens skirt and even though it has a great size to reflect glare, it does have some minor issues that I wish I could overcome. The suction cups on the edges are strong enough to stick to surfaces, but sometimes too strong that it comes off the skirt itself when removing it. The drawstring around the lens just hangs there and sometimes it will get a bit loose when using manual zoom.

Finally I was able to put this into used when I went to Tokyo. Trying to take picture of Tokyo Tower and the city through a a window. People using flash to take a picture through a window glass in a dark room (brilliant lol).

Works extremely well and keeps the glare away.