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lens hoods

CMoore

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
6,349
Location
USA CA
Format
35mm
I do not use them a lot, but when i do it does not seem to matter what they are made of, or who made them.
I see "vintage" lens hoods, for sale, for quite a bit of money. I can buy a new hood for pretty cheap that fits a lot of lens.
I do not particularly care if they are made of Plastic, Metal, or Rubber.
Does it really "matter" if your ABC 1969 lens wears a XYZ 2013 hood.?
Thank You
 
The lens hoods that rely on a bayonet connection leave the filter rings available for filters, and allow easy switching of filters without having to deal with the filters.
You need to be careful with generic lens hoods - it can be hard to see if a lens hood vignettes until you get your film developed. This is particularly important with wider angle lenses - especially zoom lenses that include wider angle choices.
 
For large format I use a dark slide to shade the lens. Some use their hat and others use a proper shade.

As long as it works then use what you like. For 35mm I always used a cheap rubber hood.
 
MattKing said:
You need to be careful with generic lens hoods.......
Click to expand...
THAT is something (plus a thousand other "things) i Did Not know.
So far it has not been an issue...i have looked through the lens to make sure the hood is "wide" enough.
Do not own any wide zooms, or even use the zooms i DO own.
But your points (and the other members) are well taken... and interesting.
Thank You (per usual)
 
CMoore said:
So far it has not been an issue...i have looked through the lens to make sure the hood is "wide" enough.
Click to expand...
In order to make sure, you need to check at the smallest aperture available to you - which can be a bit of a challenge, as the viewfinder is quite dark.
 
Perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone.?
That is why i have never understood the so called Depth Of Field Preview.
The 5-6-7 time i have tried it, the view finder got so dark i could not hardly see what i was looking at anyway.
Then again, the darker the image gets, the more that will be in focus. Why do you need DOF Preview for f/16...most of the view will be sharp anyway, won't it.?
When the view finder is brightest, that is when you have a shallow DOF...isn't it.?
Thanks
 
CMoore said:
When the view finder is brightest, that is when you have a shallow DOF...isn't it.?
Click to expand...
Yes
CMoore said:
Why do you need DOF Preview for f/16...most of the view will be sharp anyway, won't it.?
Click to expand...
What about when "most of the view is sharp" isn't enough?
As an example, when you are at a baseball game, sitting in seats behind home plate, and trying to get both the batter at the plate and the pitcher in sharp enough focus to be able to accurately reflect the nature of the game. f/16 may not allow you to get both of them in focus - you may need to take the photo more from the side.

By the way, the depth of field preview function is helpful, but certainly not definitive. Essentially, it "gets you into the ballpark" (pun intended") but only experience and your developed and printed film tells you for sure.
 

*** It can matter. Lens hoods are designed so that their use does not compromise the lens in use, that is to say, there is no vignetting. If you put an unmatched XYZ 123 lens hood on a lens that takes an entirely different or specialty hood, you are not doing yourself any favours. A great many OEM lens hoods are now up against the considerably cheaper identical products made by third party manufacturers (e.g. JJC). One notable difference is that the cheaper Chinese-made lens hoods fracture much easier (personal experience) than OEM hoods. An experience like that would give most people pause to really consider if it was worth saving a few dollars to get an el cheapo thinking it will be just as good, but likely not as robust.
***
 
At often nearly 1/10th of the cost, I think it is quite worth the risk. I would simply replace it with another cheap hood. A metal hood normally does not fracture, unless it is seriously defective.
 

With a sheet film camera or a DSLR, look at the focusing screen through the front of the lens to check for lens hood vignetting. If the hood does not cut into the view of the screen corners, no vignetting.
 
I only use one lens hood,my coped left hand around the lens to block light sources;works well and I usually have it with me.
 
I think I should expand on my initial response of "Nope".

If the generic hood has the correct mount (bayonet, screw-in, slip-on, clamp, etc.) for the lens, and it is made for the focal length needed, it should work fine without vignetting, leading me to my answer of nope.

Now, if you intend to use the hood for protection, as well as flare reduction, then it may matter. But only the material it's made of will be the determining factor in that case.

I think folks that buy the 'original vintage' hoods do so because either they don't trust generics (which is fine), or want to maintain the original look of their equipment. From my personal experiences, and I have all sorts of hoods, there really is no functional difference as long as the hood is designed correctly for the lens it is being used on.
 
10-4.....i understood the spirit of your original answer.
Excepting a Special/Unique lens or circumstance, any hood will do.....or hand.
Thanks Again
 

I've seen them separate from the filter ring too.

I used made in Japan, inexpensive rubber hoods for 35mm but they were purchased back in the 80's when quality meant something. You are correct in that you do have to watch what you are buying today.
 
I use both, my peferance is to use manufacturers lens hood for wides that match the lens, I matched hoods for Pentax, Konica, and Miranda 28 and 24mm lens, they use work better. My Sigma SA lens all came with hoods, I have found that hoods Minolta A lens are not much more that generic hoods. Over the years I have used brand named hoods such as Petri such as Petri 135 hood on other lens. Many of my Konica's and Miranda have build in hoods.
 
MattKing said:
In order to make sure, you need to check at the smallest aperture available to you - which can be a bit of a challenge, as the viewfinder is quite dark.
Click to expand...
I learn something new everyday! I am more familiar with "optical" vegnetting caused when using camera movements on a view camera -- in this case the amount of vignetting is reduced or eliminated by closing down the lens. In other words, if there is no optical vignetting wide open, there will be none showing up when closing the lens down (assuming no source for mechanical vignetting).

I do not use lens hoods enough. When out in the open sun I use the darkslide (or hat) method, or by creating a hood of sorts with the darkcloth (the the darkslide on top of the bellows and sticking slightly over the lens to help form the 'hood'), I need to remind myself to use it in overcast conditions when one needs a lens hood almost as much as in the sun. In a diffuse lighting situation, light is hitting the lens from all directions and a little shading goes a long way to reduce flare.
 
One thing not mentioned directly is "collector value". If someone with deep pockets has a lens that
was only made in 100 units($$$$$) and doesn't have the hood to fill out his set, a couple
hundred bucks or more may be inconsequential to them.
 
Alan Gales said:
I've seen them separate from the filter ring too.

I used made in Japan, inexpensive rubber hoods for 35mm but they were purchased back in the 80's when quality meant something. You are correct in that you do have to watch what you are buying today.
Click to expand...

Yes, way-back-when, when quality did indeed mean something. Now it's often a game of Russian roulette buying cheap stuff that one assumes will do the trick, only to fail or break at the most inconvenient moment!

Metal hoods can actually impart severe damage to the front filter threads because they do not absorb or dissipate impact as well as plastic or rubber. I've known some collectors to scour the world for the metal hoods in the worst possible condition, even ex-war use as a sort of trophy. Ugh! All those bumps and scrapes and crinkles are not so easily covered up with a dose or 16 of Kitten carnauba wax...
 
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