Built in Hoods

I have a 50 and 90mm summicron with a built in hood. The idea as such

is OK but they get "lame" after a while, is there something I can do

about that?

 

Lame as in very easy sliding up and down if you know what I mean ...

Bit of black tape on the inside, or a generic vented hood. A guy called americaneagle sells them on the bay, certainly 39mm but don't know about 48mm. Cheap, but surprisingly strong, and they've held up to my bashing them into walls all the time.

 

Black tape might be a bit thick, thinking about it. Someone will have a better idea.

A capital idea. Yes, bash them into a wall, that should have them binding smartly.

Terence,

 

a comment that suits the name "Terence" ...... why not bang the right part of your forehead into your wall, think about it again and try to respond with a better alternative .... if you can't come up with one, bang the left side of your head and do it all over again.... if this doesn't work.... quit the idea and go to bed .... Sleep well and nice dreams :-)

Jonathan,

 

I have the same vexing issue with my 50mm summicron. I have considered, though haven't tried, a strong (i.e. small) circle of rubber band to wrap around the proximal end of the hood in its extended position. In that way it'll stay in place and be removable with no cosmetic effects to the hood.

 

Your thoughts?

 

Ron

Jonathan, some ideas <a href="http://www.nemeng.com/leica/012ba.shtml">here</a> and <a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=005foT">here</a>. (The Chinese hoods mentioned in the first link are the same ones that americaneagle sells.)<p>Terence, the only sliding hood I have is on a Nikkor 105, but I know that without a fastened hood the front element will catch on a door handle or something, or the filter ring will get dented somehow - the drawback of carrying a camera over the shoulder.

Ok, I tried the rubber band and it works perfectly. The band in question is used at our local supermarket to wrap bundles of vegetables like brocolli and asparagus. We just keep a couple around in a kitchen drawer. It is the perfect diameter for the hood and stops the hood from retracting. The only "drawback" is that it is a garish purple colour. Oh well, it is free.

 

Ron

I took my 50 Summicron to my local plumbing/hardware store and bought a black o-ring used for faucet repairs. I got one large enough to stretch over the lens body. When I use the hood, I slide it out, then roll the o-ring up against it. When I put the lens away, I roll the o-ring back against the aperture ring and retract the hood. I'm surprised how well it holds the hood in place and cost less than $0.50.

 

Rick

Black permanent Magic Marker would take care of the garish purple rubber band problem.

<i>why not bang the right part of your forehead into your wall</i></p>

 

Now upon waking from a good night's rest I see the error of my ways yesterday in responding to your "question". Anyone too cheap to do the right thing and send his expensive legendary-build-quality Leica lenses back to Leica to sort out the "lame" hoods, and too univentive to think of the one-penny tape or rubber-band solutions himself, obviously should not be presumed to have a sense of humour.

All these clever and inexpensive lens hood solutions are giving me an idea. Perhaps we can start a special thread called the "frugal leicaphile"... now there's an oxymoron.

The rubber band works perfectly until you give the hood a moderate biff, at which point it lets you down compeletly.

 

I went for a rigid hood and a good Crumpler bag that keeps most dust and rain out.

Terence ....

 

 

Now try bumping the left part of your head.....

I think it may have been Tom Abrahamssohn who wrote about drilling and tapping the hood of an early 90 Cron and adding a screw to keep it in place. I'll see if I can run back across that article. It was in the Viewfinder, likely.

Rob,--- Look it up in your LHSA DVD. It should be there.

I had the same problem with my 50mm and applied a thin strip of black gaffers tape on the hood to keep it from retracting.

It worked fine until one day I noticed that the hood was partially collapsed and the tape was wedged in the lens barrel.

I carefully pulled the hood out and removed the tape, and bought an Am. Eagle screw-in hood, which works great.

 

In theory the built in hood is a nice idea, however I'm surprised that a company with such a long history of producing well-designed products didn't anticipate this one. A simple answer would have been a slight turn when the hood is extended to lock it in place.

Which is exactly what the new 50 ASPH does. A slight turn and it's locked. Nice.