mark_goldman

For follk still looking for this, I am still making them. I wanted to share an email I just got from a customer. This is verbatim:

Mark:

The lens hood screw saddle arrived today, and it took me less than 10 minutes to make the repair – including the time it took me to find a teeny screwdriver and several minutes on my hands and knees looking for a little screw I dropped on the carpet. Works perfectly! Precisely made. And I can tell it’s a good piece of metal, one I trust to go the distance. The price not only is fair, especially considering the amount of machining undoubtedly involved in making this piece, but it’s a bargain relative to the alternative – finding a used lens hood with an OEM part that also is destined to fail. If I ran Nikon, I’d start equipping all new lenses/hoods with hood-screw saddles made by you.

Thanks for the quick delivery. And thanks for being the kind of guy who sees a problem and steps up to solve it.

Best,

Steve

<p>Andre, Glad that you got the piece and are another satisfied customer. Thanks for posting the nice comments on my Nikon Lens Hood Screw replacement. I appreciate it.</p>

<p>Andre - Thanks for your post. I have a machine shop which is part of my motorcycle business. If you think you could find a machinist to create the part for less than $40 each, let me know. The process I have to go through to create these parts for photographers involves 12 separate steps and several precision machines. The cost of metal and the time it takes to make them are what drives the selling price. I have very little profit margin in these. I have sold over a hundred of these, all with 5 year guarantees, and have had no returns. </p>

<p>As many of you have experienced, the big knurled screw that holds the lens hood to the lens of our big NIKON glass, strips and we are forced to resort to all kinds of crazy fixes like gaffers tape, bungee cords, rubber bands, etc. Pretty neat for a lens that costs thousands of dollars.<br>

<br /> Well I have created a permanent fix for the problem and one that comes with a 5-year guarantee that the screw will not strip or fail. The cost is $46 for one or $80 for two. Please add $6.00 for USPS shipping in the US. <br>

You will get a new saddle and replacement screws and I am throwing in the correct size screw driver so you can do the repair yourself. Comes with complete instructions.<br /> <br /> You can order directly from my website (www.goldminephotos.com). If you would like to make a purchase, you can paypal it directly at: http://goldman.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Nikon-Lens-Hood-Screw-Replacement/G0000wtkaxATFiN4/I0000Zje4_JiwHAs <br /> Click on the BUY IMAGE link and you can select quantities of 1 or 2.<br /> <br /> You can also pay by check made out to Goldminephotos.<br /> <br /> You can send a check to:<br /> Goldminephotos<br /> 1706 Merrifields Drive<br /> Silver Spring, MD. 20906-1250<br /> <br /> As soon as I get the check, I will mail the kit out to you which includes the new piece and the correct size screwdriver to install it.<br /> <br /> Thanks very much. I have been using my prototype for a year with no issues at all.</p>