lens shades

[jim_jasutis2]

With 35mm I have always used a lense shade outdoors. Of course the lens shade never got in the way of the lense controls. When I see photographs of large format photographers in books and magazines, I seldom, if ever, see them using any kind of lense shade. I would like to get this forums concensus on the use of compendium hoods, or any other lense shade for that matter, with large format photography. Thank you----JimJ

[john_henderson1]

I think this forum will tell you that it is 100% required.

 

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Some LF photographers will shade the lens with a hat or darkslide as

they take the picture, and may explain why you don't see an attached

shade on some cameras, but I, and others here, will tell you that you

can have problems with extraneous light besides just the direct

sunlight, and a full shade should be used.

[doug_paramore]

Jim: A good lens shade can do more to improve your pictures than just

about any other accessory. Internal lens flare from lack of a shade

can degrade both color and black and white images, as you know from

your 35mm shooting. Many lenses get a bad rap for poor contrast when

all that is needed is a lens shade. Many LF shooters pull the

focusing cloth forward to use as a lens shade. I have done that

myself and it works pretty good, but a proper shade is better. You

have to be careful when using a lot of movements not to let the shade

cut off the corners of the image. A square shade works much better.

We have all see photos of Saint Ansel using his hat as a shade, but

most of the photos of him show a proper lens shade.

 

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Regards,

[bruce_wehman]

Jim,

I'll probably stir the pot a little on this one but:

I very seldom use an actual lens shade when I am shooting B&W. I kind

of look at the reflection on the surface of the lens and position the

dark slide to block out the more glaring hot areas .....when the

camera is pointed down I don't worry about shading at all simply

because the ground is more uniform and doesn't usually have hot spots.

I have yet to see any evidence of flare in side by side tests (with

and without a lens shade). B&W can often use a little boost in the

shadow areas, anyway.

 

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Color however, is a different story, especially when shooting hand-

held because not only does flare affect shadow density it also

affects saturation and compensating for these defects after the fact

is difficult - even more difficult than holding the camera in one

hand and the dark slide in the other.

 

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Good shooting,

[michael_chmilar]

For a convenient, hands-free lens shade, check out the Ebony lens

shade clip: http://www.ebonycamera.com/acc.html

 

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The clip slides into the flash shoe. You attach the ground-glass

protector to the clip, and use it as a shade. The flash shoe has to be

on the front standard.

 

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Badger Graphic stocks the clip.

[emil_salek1]

I am convinced that using an appropriate lens shade, preferably a

compendium, to prevent off-axis light from hitting the lens, very

positively influences the colour saturation, contrast and therefore

the apparent sharpness. Normal and apochromatic lenses are corrected

only for in-axis rays, so off-axis rays have negative influence on

above mentioned parameters. (Only spherochromatic lenses are

corrected for off-axis rays and I never heard about any LF

spherochromatic lens for a common mortal.) At least the theory says,

paradoxally enough, that beside situations in which any strong and

directed light source hits the lens, using a lens shade is very

important in diffused light (i.e. fog), because then the light rays

hit the lens in the same proportion from all directions.

I like using a compendium either on my Wista 45 or Toyo 810 and try

to extend it to the maximum (it is too short with long lenses anyway

and I will perhaps make masks like Hasselblad does). Once I have

focussed, I stop down the lens to the working aperture, control the

edges of the picture on the ground glass with the loupe while playing

with the compendium until it is about to appear in the picture. I

push than the compendium back, but only as little as necessary to

move it out of the picture but achieve maximum shading effect.

An alternative to the compendium is for instance the Cokin modular

hood that I was using for quite a while. Once you determined how many

elements are needed for each of your lenses, it works quite well. But

it is plastic and can generate reflections in some conditions, so you

would perhaps like to cover it inside with black, non reflecting

fabric. It also another inconvenient, it is rigid and cannot be

oriented like a compendium when you use front standard movements. If

you use long lenses, you can also make a kind of longer square

cardboard of plastic tube that fits aroung the Cokin modules and you

slide it on them it forward or backward like a zoom to achieve

maximum shading effect.

Properly shading the lens can be quite a bit of work. I cannot say

that the effect is always striking but I like doing it to ensure that

I did everything to make the best picture possible, technically

speaking.

[mark_windom]

Apparently I'm in the minority...I never use a lens shade. It's just

one more piece of equipment to add weight to the backpack and cause

further frustration when trying to deal with all the other nuances of

LF photography.

 

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I do, however, use my hat or dark slide to "shade" the lens from the

sun. I have never noticed a problem with the final result using

these methods.

 

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Go Mariners!

[pete_andrews]

Another vote for the strategically placed darkslide. The problem with

compendium hoods is that there's basically nowhere to hang them on a

folding view camera, and if you use camera movements (the whole point

of LF surely) then you have to adjust the hood as well. Any fixed hood

that crops the image circle closely enough to be of use, will vignette

as soon as any rise, fall, or cross are applied.

[andreas_carl]

Pete's answer made me think: the image circle of LF lenses is so much

larger compared to MF and small format lenses, even when taking

negative size into account. Where does all this extra light go to?

Unless it is completely absorbed by the bellows it would somehow make

it's way onto the film?! For that reason, shouldn't lens shading be

much more important in LF than in smaller format photography?

[paul_owen]

Lens shading is important, but until a manufacturer produces one at a

reasonable price, I'll make do with a piece of black card. Paul

[david_clark4]

Hi Jim, I used to rely the strategic positioning of my dark slide to

block unwanted sun and reflections, and I have the negs to demonstrate

that technique. You can see the corner of the dark slide, hat, or

whatever I was using that day in the neg. Save your self a lot of

frustration and spring for a decent shade. Best, David

[lloyd_chambers]

I can't claim to have lots of large format experience, having shot

only a few hundred sheets of 4 X 5, but I haven't seen any noticeable

issue with lens flare in any shots I've taken.

 

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It sure would be nice if all the compendium shade folks would post a

with and without picture to back up their claims.

[alan_cecil1]

I have found that overcast days are best for shooting LF...less

contrast, less flare.