Does one inch make a difference? A new hood for the 180mm Tele-Xenar!

Just checked out the new Heliopan 2.5" long/95mm diameter hood for

the 180mm Tele-Xenar for the Rolleiflex 6008i. Quite an improvement!

 

In the meantime, I had asked a mechanic to fabricate an extension for

the old hood, for a total of 5.5". Quite a tube. And not very

practical. But better than the short shade that Rollei supplied.

 

The new Heliopan hood is not only one inch longer, but also quite

narrow, so it's much more effective than the old 1.5" hood for the

exterior bayonet. By the way, it's only $95.- at Ctrades.com, half

of what the Rollei hood costs. It also appears to be half as thin

and half as heavy. 2.5" seems to be the right compromise between

practicality and effectiveness.

 

I remember complaining myself at length here on the forum that there

wasn't a better hood available - here we are!!! BTW - no relations

with Ctrades or with Heliopan - just sharing a solution to an issue

that had been irking me for years. This may also put an end to the

complains about this lens. It's sharp, it has good contrast, but the

hoods have been less than adequate until now...

Ninety-five dollars for a lens hood?!<br>Heliopan must have special high-power binoculars, so that they can see their customers coming from a long way off!

I've purchased a number of smaller sized Heliopan hoods in tall & normal for my Leica stuff (39mm, 43mm, 48mm, & 52mm) and all are far better than other 3rd party shades. I need a better hood for my 300mm f/4 Pentagon 95mm filter size (re-mounted for my Hasselbald 2000 FC/M). I would like one about 4" long.

 

Is the 2.5" one the TALL Heliopan? Or is it the normal?

 

Thanks!