Lens shades on field cameras

[paul_coppin]

Greetings all,

As I add toys to my Tachihara woodfield, I find that I'm a little stumped as to a good approach for a lens shade on the Tachi - what do field shooters typically use? The Tachi doesn't have provision for the attachment of a compendium, and although my local dealer has some "wide angle" lens shades for 35mm (they seem awfully short to do any good), I'm also not sure if they will accomodate the 70-75 deg view angle of LF lenses. Any suggestions?

[mark_windom]

My advice, which others will disagree with, is don't bother with a

lens shade. I use my hat or the dark slide to shade the lens and

have never noticed a problem.

[bob_finley]

I just use a couple of sizes of rubber lense shades on my Linhof IV

and help them along with my hat or hand or body etc. They aren't

perfect and don't often work well with much rise or shift but are

better than bare lens and hat. A compendium would work better but I

have enough to carry and fiddle with.

[doremus_scudder1]

Calumet makes a nifty little 3x3 inch clip-on filter holder with 2

barn doors that fold out. It is shirt pocket size and fits lenses up

to 67mm filter size. The barn doors are adjustable for use with any

focal length/movement combination. The only drawback: only two sides

are shaded, but it works well enough for 90% of flary situations.

Regards, ;^D)

[joe johnson photos]

I use the Cokin P-size filter holder for split neutral density

filters, the occasional polarizing filter and 81b warmer. Cokin also

sells hard plastic, stackable lens shades for this filter holder. I

find it to work nicely at a low cost. Be sure to look/test for

vignetting with wide angles lenses. jj

[paul_owen]

Paul, Try this for size before spending big bucks on a Lee hood. Get

yourself some matt black matting/mounting board (cheap and for this

it doesn't even need to be archivally stable - joke!). Cut two

squares from the board, approx 6 to 8 inches square. Place them back

to back, black surface facing out and stick (use double sided tape).

Then take strips of black electricians/gaffer tape and run these

along the four edges. Voila...a lens shade! Fits easily into a pocket

in your bag/pack and one side is also the perfect place to stick

memos re:ASA settings, filter factors etc . If you find it doesn't

suit then you could always spend a few hundred dollars on the Lee

system (probably the best there is) regards Paul

[walter_glover]

A cap or dark slide held to shade the front of the lens, as

mentioned above, is a fine solution since there is no additional

bits stuck onto the lens to catch wind, etc.

 

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Compendiums can take quite a buffetting and vibrate out front of

the lens. The Cokin, Lee, Sinar and other stckable shades

general fail by reflecting light from the surface opposite the light

source back into the lens, causing another source of flare to be

shielded byt guess what? A cap or darkslide held to shade the

lens-chade.

 

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Cheap, portable and effective ... cap or darkslide.

 

<p>

 

WG

[marcus_leonard]

Paul --

 

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On my Rodenstock Sironar /150mm I use a metal hood, 49mm. It is a

generic Japanese product, bought at B&H for 9.95. They don't have it

listed in their catalogue, perhaps they list it online. I am sure if

you call them they know what you mean. I use the same brand, but

larger on my Contax 35mm, I considered it a great find.

[dan n.]

Paul...an idea... I shoot in both format MF et LF... I manage to use a

lens shade for both (I hate to carry duplicate..)... so... I bought a

screw-in adapter for my LF lenses in order to use my Hassy lens shade

(adjsutable for different lenses and fold flat)... it works for

me...hope this help...

[david_goldfarb]

Another variation on the darkslide theme is (if you have enough

bellows extension and time to set this up) to position the darkslide

so it hangs about halfway over the front standard (being careful to

avoid vignetting), and drape the darkcloth over it so that it holds

the darkslide in place and also shields the sides of the lens. If you

try this, also be sure to check that the darkcloth isn't causing the

bellows to sag and impinge on the image area.

[william_marderness1]

I use my dark cloth to shade the lens.

[armin_seeholzer]

Hi Paul

 

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I use almost 35 mm lens shades but only on the 300mm a normal one on

the others always a wide one, but up to now I did`nt find one for my

Nikon f 4,5 90mm on thad I do it with the darkslide.

Would be a good test if it is still needed for the todays MC lenses!

God light and interesting shadows to all!

[stephen_vaughan3]

Hi Paul,

Robert White's in the UK sell a gadget called a 'Wiggly Worm' - a

flexible 'arm' that can be attached to the front standard. A piece of

card can then be attached at the other end. This allows you to flex

the shade into the optimum position, without any danger of vignetting.

Lee system is good, but in my case (86mm filter thread on a 240mm

lens) no wide angle filter ring is available, and the standard ring

causes vignetting minimum movements.

[paul_owen]

Paul, Re: the "wiggly worm", I've got one but don't use it - nice

idea but the weight of the "flag" pulls the arm down! A good idea

would be similar to the flarebuster (Gran View I think) but instead

of attaching the arm to a cold shoe or to the front standard, with

the arm attached to a thin plate that sits between the camera bed and

tripod head - nice and sturdy and would allow you to position the

flag anywhere! Regards Paul

[arthur_gottschalk]

I use only wide-angle lenses on my Ebony SW45. I'm considering the

Lee holder and screw-in adapter rings with the wide-angle compendium

shade. If anyone uses this system I'd like to hear about it.

[michael_alpert1]

Paul, in your question you do not state which lens you are using (is it

a Rodenstock 35mm? or does 35mm refer to 35mm cameras?), so I will

offer a suggestion that may and may not be helpful. I am not sure if

your Tachihara has an accessory shoe on top of the front standard. If

it does, Ebony makes a lens shade clip that will work quickly and well-

-at least with moderately-wide or longer lenses. (Super-wide lenses

really will not handle lens shades of any kind, especially if you are

using a center filter, since the filter will occupy the small space

that would otherwise be designated for a shade.) Anyway, the Ebony clip

is attached to the camera shoe and rotates on a little ball head. All

you need to do is attach a darkslide, a piece of cardboard, or black

plastic to the clip. For longer-than-super-wide lenses, it is very

useful.

[paul_coppin]

First off, thank you all for the many and varied responses - I see

that one really is only limited by one's creativity here. To the last

response ,Michael, the 35mm reference was to so-called wideangle

screw-in shades offered for 35mm camera systems. I don't think I could

get a 35mm LF lens in the Tachi (or be able to hold it up!). No, I

have a variety of lenses from 90-240mm. The Tachihara does not have

any attachment points (at least so defined) on the front standard. I

did notice that Adorama has advertized(magazine)a compendium as an

accessory, but its not on their web site. I have the Cokin system in A

and P, but have found vignetting on my MF system to be problem at

times and so assumed it would likely be worse on the LF. The Cokin

X-pro might be better, if there is something in that kit. At any rate,

you all have given me lots of alternatives, so thank you for that!

[brian_ellis3]

There is a common misconception about lens shades, which is why some

people think that your hand or a dark slide or a hat or something

else like that will work just as well. The time when you need a lens

shade is not just when direct sun light is striking the lens (which

is when your hand or a dark slide will work fine). When you really

need a lens shade is when you're photographing in bright but diffused

light. In that situation extraneous light is striking the lens from

all sides and your hand or a dark slide or something like that won't

work very well. You need a lens shade. I used the Lee system with a

Tachihara and it worked well. The only thing I didn't like was the

cost of the Lee polarizer - $150 or so.