Lens Hood

Darryl Roberts · Oct 15, 2023

Hi,

I have a Chamonix HS-1 coming and will be out in the sunshine. What's the best way to add a lens hood, e.g. screw-on, compendium, etc.?

Advanced thanks,

Darryl

Nicholas Lindan · Oct 15, 2023

With the camera on a tripod it is easy to use the withdrawn dark slide to keep the sun off the lens. It's light, it's cheap, it works & it's always with you. I've never bothered with anything more.

Darryl Roberts · Oct 15, 2023

Thank you. I saw Chris Darnell, https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisDarnell , mention that a held-dark-slide crept into one of his images.

xkaes · Oct 15, 2023

Darryl,
There isn't any "best" way. Like everything else, everyone seems to develop a method of their own. Some, like Nicholas, just use the dark slide -- or their hand. Others use compendiums -- which are not cheap and can be cumbersome. The problem I have with both of these approaches is that it's impossible to easily know if the dark slide or compendium is covering too much or not enough. To figure that out -- you need to do this for each lens -- is to determine how much needs to be covered. That takes time and effort, and most people don't do it.
But lens shades are the cheapest way to make the biggest improvement in your results.
I have screw-in lens shades for each lens I have, but each has been checked out to make sure they are actually providing protection, but not cutting into the image.

Steve@f8 · Oct 15, 2023

Some of my best atmospheric images come from my Rollei 35 because theres no lens hood. I’m beginning to use other camera lens combinations without the hood.

xkaes · Oct 15, 2023

For "atmospheric images" on a 4x5" camera, such as Darryl's Chamonix HS-1, a separate soft-focus lens is a better approach than a smaller format. These can be bought or made:

http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/softfocus.htm

Paul Howell · Oct 15, 2023

I've used my hat in a pinch, in most cases I use slip on hoods, I have S.V, VI and VII along with Cookin (sp?) hoods with various filter size inserts. As my LF lens are wide to just long at 210 I've not been tempted to use compendium.

Chuck1 · Oct 15, 2023

The ebony device that slips into the cold shoe and holds the dark slide is very handy, though pricey and hard to find

abruzzi · Oct 15, 2023

I prefer compendium hoods, at least the ones designed for the Arca Swiss F-classic or Linhof Technikardan. The are quick and easy to use. I just adjust them until there is no sunlight falling directly on the glass, then double check the GG. I don't know what a compendium looks like on a Chamonix, or if it works as easily.

MarkS · Oct 15, 2023

I've tried compendiums on a 4x5 folding field camera- they are indeed bulky and cumbersome. The front standard design of any of them isn't friendly to that big bellows hanging off of it.
I often use the dark slide as a shade, and sometimes that has backfired on me. Most modern lenses have standard mm filter threads on the front, so the collapsible rubber hoods usually seen on 35mm SLRs may help.

guangong · Oct 15, 2023

Steve@f8 said:
Some of my best atmospheric images come from my Rollei 35 because theres no lens hood. I’m beginning to use other camera lens combinations without the hood.

The Rollei 35 was designed with lens deep set in mount without need for lens hood. However, being a belt and suspenders guy I use the Rollei 35 lens shade when using a filter.
Although there are situations where a lens hood is not needed, laws of optics sometimes demand one, so I wouldn’t make a general rule. Often a broad brim hat is sufficient.

otto.f · Oct 16, 2023

I just use a rubber hood from Heliopan or Hama, you use it for tele to wide by folding it out and in. Worth trying for your own work given the price

Philippe-Georges · Oct 16, 2023

LEE filters has a good and flexible system, a compendium actually, that adopts too all kind of lenses with attachment rings.
This bellows like 'hood' can be pulled out or pushed together according the focal length, the angle of view, and be 'twisted' according the lateral- and swing movements, like Scheimpflug, by the camera/lens.
It has slots for foil filters too.

Once you adopt that system, it can be used on all kind of cameras and its lenses if you have the right ring.
It is light and rather compact and can be taken along when photographing outdoors.
I have been using this system for ages, on the D800, Hasselblad, Linhof with Schneider and Rodenstock lenses, now I use it on my Silvestri...

See page 2 of the attached brochure.

PS: I am not affiliated to LEE nor to B&H, just trying to inform you.

Alan Edward Klein · Oct 16, 2023

Philippe-Georges said:
LEE filters has a good and flexible system, a compendium actually, that adopts too all kind of lenses with attachment rings.
This bellows like 'hood' can be pulled out or pushed together according the focal length, the angle of view, and be 'twisted' according the lateral- and swing movements, like Scheimpflug, by the camera/lens.
It has slots for foil filters too.

Once you adopt that system, it can be used on all kind of cameras and its lenses if you have the right ring.
It is light and rather compact and can be taken along when photographing outdoors.
I have been using this system for ages, on the D800, Hasselblad, Linhof with Schneider and Rodenstock lenses, now I use it on my Silvestri...

See page 2 of the attached brochure.

PS: I am not affiliated to LEE nor to B&H, just trying to inform you.

I see Lee has a number of hoods. How do you calculate which one to get?

Philippe-Georges · Oct 16, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
I see Lee has a number of hoods. How do you calculate which one to get?

I didn't really calculate, well actually yes I did, I simply calculated what was in my purse and bought the cheapest, which did the job perfectly!
It fitted the Super-Angulon 65mm till the Symmar 240mm on my 4"x5" without vignetting, and as well as the Distagon 50 till the S-Planar 120 on the Hasselblad, and still does...

abruzzi · Oct 16, 2023

one thing to remember about hoods on LF cameras, is that while they may be out of frame when you test them, its possible that they are cutting off some of the image circle if you end up using movements. That one of the reasons the compendium hoods are popular--one because they can be adjustedto block as much or as little as you need, and two, becuase you gan reduce internal flare by blocking light that is allowed in by a large image circle, without affecting that parts of the image that land on the film.

AnselMortensen · Oct 16, 2023

I use a 'confoundium' shade on my Toyo/ Omega 45D occasionally..
But mostly I use the dark slide.

Philippe-Georges · Oct 16, 2023

AnselMortensen said:
I use a 'confoundium' shade on my Toyo/ Omega 45D occasionally..
But mostly I use the dark slide.

I tried the 'dark slide trick', and with the hat à la Ansel A., too, but most of the time it vignetted.
I might be not that handy...

The Lee can be 'pointed' up, down and side wards, in any way you want.

xkaes · Oct 16, 2023

abruzzi said:
one thing to remember about hoods on LF cameras, is that while they may be out of frame when you test them, its possible that they are cutting off some of the image circle if you end up using movements.

Exactly why lens shades need to be tested for each lens -- and for how much movement the lens is likely to be subjected to.

I'll add that blocking out the sunlight on the front of the lens is not optimal. It's better than no shade at all, but a lot of extraneous light hits the front of the lens even when the sun is no where in sight. Simply avoiding vignetting does not mean that you have the best "shade" coverage/protection.

grahamp · Oct 16, 2023

I have two options for the view camera. One is an SRB compendium that slots into my Cokin holder. Playing with the extension and the slot position gives some flexibility. It really comes into its own where there are bright sources adjacent to the image area. Light and compact.

the other option is the stackable solid ‘hood’ bits for the Cokin. They work fairly well for avoiding direct sunlight, but do not allow a lot of movement.

You can be reasonably safe using a dark slide if you check the angle that lets you see the shutter through the front element. Since the only way to be sure is to expose film (my arms are not long enough to check the ground glass!), I only do it when a better solution is not available.

I admit to being lazy sometimes.

Doremus Scudder · Oct 16, 2023

Darryl Roberts said:
Thank you. I saw Chris Darnell, https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisDarnell , mention that a held-dark-slide crept into one of his images.

Philippe-Georges said:
I tried the 'dark slide trick', and with the hat à la Ansel A., too, but most of the time it vignetted.
I might be not that handy...

The Lee can be 'pointed' up, down and side wards, in any way you want.

If the sun is not in the image you want, holding the dark slide (or hat, or whatever) in a position where the shadow it casts just barely covers the front lens element and no more will ensure that you don't get an edge of the slide in the image area.

The best solution is a compendium that you can rack in and out to just past the point where it vignettes, but there's not a really good compendium that I've found for working in the field. They're big and bulky.

The best compromise I've found is an old Voss filter holder with barn doors. Search eBay for Voss filter holder and you'll turn up a few. They only have two doors, but they fit lenses with filter sizes up to 67mm, are lightweight and can hold a gel or resin filter too.

The same caveat applies about positioning the doors so that you don't vignette

Best,

Doremus

DREW WILEY · Oct 16, 2023

Since one of the reasons for using a view camera to begin with is optional movements, that means an adjustable compendium hood is preferable. Or you could rig up a little adjustable "flag" style clip holder, and use a spare darkslide or something like that as a positional shade. I have both these options.

Incidentally, you do not need Lee's filter holder in order to use their adjustable compendium shades, just the appropriate filter thread adapter.

xkaes · Oct 16, 2023

SHIFT lenses on SLRs are wide-angle lenses, and some (most?) have special screw-in lens shades designed for them. The Minolta 35mm Shift comes to my mind. It has the same depth as the normal 35mm lens shade, but it's wider at the front to allow for the shifting and rise/fall that the lens allows. A similar approach is what I use for my 4x5 lenses, but I'll admit that most of my movements are tilts and swings -- which be worse than shifting re: lens shades.

Philippe-Georges · Oct 23, 2023

Just to show what I was trying to say about that LEE thing...

Alan Edward Klein · Oct 23, 2023

xkaes said:
Exactly why lens shades need to be tested for each lens -- and for how much movement the lens is likely to be subjected to.

I'll add that blocking out the sunlight on the front of the lens is not optimal. It's better than no shade at all, but a lot of extraneous light hits the front of the lens even when the sun is no where in sight. Simply avoiding vignetting does not mean that you have the best "shade" coverage/protection.

How important is it then if you use coated lens especially multi coated lenses? And/or multi coated filters?

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