Which lens hood? Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AFD

[testingname]

I'm sure there's an official Nikon brand hood, but are there any

other brands/styles out there to consider?

 

Use: keeping light rain off my UV filter when shooting in rainy

weather.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Matt

[armando_roldan]

HR-2 by Nikon..its a rubber hood. I see it now on e*bay for $3 with an average selling price of about $12

[david cunningham]

I use the Nikon HN-3 metal screw-on hood (made for the 35mm f/2). It works great and adds more protection to the front element.

[jim_gifford]

Another vote for the HN-3; I use it on my 50 1.8 AF-D, 50 1.8 AIS and 50 1.4 AIS (used it on my 35/2 AF-D also, until that one got a bad case of goopy aperture blades).

 

I just don't like clip-on hoods or lop-eared-bunny rubber hoods.

 

I'd bet the rubber hood designed for your lens will be better at shielding against flare, in the sense that its angle of exclusion more closely parallels the boundaries of the lens' field of view. The HN-3 is wide enough not to vignette on the 35mm lens so it's really wider than you need for a 50. But I like the security of a screw-in fitting and the protection of a more rigid hood.

 

Have fun,

[steve_levine]

Nikon makes an exact fit metal hood for each focal length lens,it is not a good idea to use a 35mm hood on a 50mm lens.(these lenses have vary different angles of view)These metal hoods shield your lens exactly from unwanted light,they also dent on impact when dropped which absorbs energy.This will protect the lens & camera better than a rubber hood.Remember that lenses are "light gathering" devices.They should be shielded from all uneeded light to prevent image degradation.

[joseph_verdesca]

I go with metal 52mm generic lens hoods on my 50mm lenses - they're widely available - the HN-2 is too open for me for a 50mm lens - IMHO the metal hoods add good "bump" protection (or at least better than the rubber ones).

[Guest]

I have an HN-12 metal hood, two actually, which fits on the oversized (c.60mm) front of the Nikon polarisers, so I can see the benefits of the metal hood.

 

But I prefer to do general shooting with the rubber HR-2. I can press it against glass without scratching, and just slap the hood to collapse it and put it in a pocket.

[Guest]

Roland Vink has a list of lens hoods for each Nikkor <a href="http://home.aut.ac.nz/staff/rvink/nikon2.html">here</a>.

[david_h._hartman]

<em>"I use the Nikon HN-3 metal screw-on hood (made for

the 35mm f/2). It works great and adds more protection to the

front element." --David Cunningham<br>

</em><br>

I use this lens hood on all my 50mm lenses and on the 55/3.5 and

2.8 Micro-Nikkor. A No. "G" Tupperware cup cover fits

perfectly as a lens cap.<br>

<br>

If you check carefully you can mix and match hoods. Ive

also found a few Nikon hoods that take a slight nip out of the

edge illumination. The recommended lens hood for the AF 50/1.8(D)

is an HR-2 (rubber hood). Ive found some rubber hoods also

take a slight nip out of the corner illumination and I just dont

like them anyway.<br>

<br>

You might try an HS-11 for the 50/1.8 AIS, the HS-9 for the 50/1.4 AIS will cause some clipping as it�s longer because the front element is closer to the filter threads on that lens compared to the 50/1.8 AIS and AF 50/1.8(D).<br>

<br>

Hope this helps,

[jim_gifford]

Steve wrote...

 

<<Nikon makes an exact fit metal hood for each focal length lens,it is not a good idea to use a 35mm hood on a 50mm lens.(these lenses have vary different angles of view)>>

 

But that's not the case, alas. I'd be delighted if it were.

 

For the two current autofocus 50mm AF-D Nikkors (and for their non-D series AF predecessors), the only hood Nikon recommends is a rubber one.

 

If you have either of the manual focus 50mm AIS Nikkors, Nikon will happily sell you a rubber hood or a snap-on metal hood, but not a screw-in hood that fits the filter threads.

 

I like hoods that spin onto the filter threads. Snap-on hoods just seem to have too tenuous a grip on the lens they're supposed to shield and protect.

 

The HN-3 hood is recommended for the 35/2 AF-D lens and for the 55mm Macro lens... go figure. Sauce for the 35 and 55 oughta be sauce for the 50 sittin' in the middle, yes?

 

For some Nikkor lenses, there really is no good metal hood option at all. Nikon's suggested hoods for my 24-120 and 70-300 zooms are bayonet-mount flexi plastic critters.

 

Back to the 50mm lineup for a moment... Over the years there have been many hoods for the wide variety of 50mm lens models in the Nikon F-mount. Some are rubber, some are metal and clip into place, some are metal and screw in... but for the currently available lenses you can have bouncy-bouncy or clip-n-pray.

 

THAT is why I recommend the HN-3. It will protect the lens, and it will offer some flare protection but one will have to accept that its field of view could allow a light source into the flare zone.

 

Nikon should offer a better hood option for its four current 50mm lenses, no doubt about it. But I don't want them to drop everything and fix this issue. I'd much rather have them drop everything and fix the AF teleconverter issue.

 

Have fun,

[david_h._hartman]

<em>"Snap-on hoods just seem to have too tenuous a grip

on the lens they're supposed to shield and protect." --Jim

Gifford<br>

</em><br>

I find that the snap on hoods with only one plastic release work

quite well. It helps a lot to screw them on a little after

clipping them on as if they were a screw on hood. They are

quicker to take off and slower to put on used the way I use them.

I really have no complaints about the HS-8 and HS-14 used on the

105/2.5 and 2.8.<br>

<br>

I wont touch the snap on hoods with two chrome knobs as

lose have built in intelligence. They always fall of and roll

down the sidewalk whenever attractive women are present.<br>

<br>

The HN-3 is a pretty good match for the 50/1.8 AIS and AF 50/1.8(D)

though not as good a match for the 50/1.4 AIS. The front element

on the 55/3.5, 2.8 is rather deeply recessed so a short hood is

fine when a filter is used for general photography. I take the

filter and hood off for some macro and always for use on a

bellows. The front element of the 50/1.8 AI, AIS and AF(-D) are

somewhat recessed. The front element of the 35/2.0 AI is farther

forward like the 50/1.4 AIS and the HN-3 is just a trifle too

long for the 35/2.0. The threads for reversing the hood on the HS-9

and 11 may clip a trifle.<br>

<br>

I can get pretty picky about hoods but once Im satisfied I

dont worry anymore. Im satisfied with the HN-3 for

the 50/1.8 AI/AIS and AF 50/1.8(D).<br>

<br>

Hope this helps,

[Robert W. Pillow]

The HR-2 rubber hood screws into my 50 1.8 AF.

[michaelmiller]

<p>An ancient topic, I know. But for the people that still use this I want to add my comment. I use a metal HS-11 on my Nikon 50mm. I can recommend this lens hood.</p><div></div>

[jan_de_lange1]

<p>I got a basic 52 mm metal screw on lens hood for a 50 mm Ai 1.8 long nose from <a href="http://www.ebay.de/usr/kenyan_peaberry?_trksid=p2047675.l2559">kenyan_peaberry</a> on Ebay. He's located in Hong Kong but the item arrived within 7 days in The Netherlands at no shipping cost or duties.</p>