I don’t know about you, but when I spend $8000 on a camera, you’d think it would come with something to cover the exposed contacts in the flash hot shoe. I mean, you don’t want to run about getting dust and grime on the contacts, causing problems triggering the flash or remote, right. For some reason, Canon doesn’t seem to want to include a little piece of plastic for that purpose.
When I was making a B&H Photo order recently, I thought I’d look for something to fill that need. Lo and behold, Nikon sells a plastic hot shoe protector. I assume it’s just a spare version of the ones they include with their cameras. However, they fit into Canon hot shoes just fine.
Anyways, it’s only about $2, and you might just want to add a couple onto your next order to help keep your camera in top shape. Here’s the B&H link:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/207371-USA/Nikon_4731_BS_1_Hot_Shoe_Cover.html
The last time I had one on my camera was about 10 years ago. That one got lost; and all newer cameras I got never had one included – however I never had any problem with the flash.
Saying that I must note that I don’t photograph in desert or other very dusty/dirty locations.
I haven’t had any problems either. It’s just one of those things that always bothered me, seeing those contacts exposed.