Why so many Leica lenses on the market yet no lens hoods?

CropDusterMan · Dec 18, 2016

Not so much a rant really, just an observation...I often look online for items here and there and one pattern has presented itself in annoying fashion...Leica 28 Elmarits with missing lens hoods. What gives?

I own several Leica bodies and lenses which I use daily and keep the gear together...but why is it that you almost never see Leica 28mm Elmarits (especially Ver III) which include the hoods. Most command a decent price, but finding hoods for them are rare and when present are just under $200 US. Why can't folks keep their Sh%t together. lol.

Here's another Q...anyone had any success 3D printing them?

chip j · Dec 19, 2016

Leica hoods are the reason I dumped my Leica. I had an old rigid 50 "Cron & bought a new Leica hood for it--it was PLASTIC!. It distorted into an oval every time I tried to put it on--tried for a half-hr one time! Leica "PERFECTION" my A**!

locutus · Dec 19, 2016

Many people dont use hoods with Leica M, the issue is that most block part of your viewfinder image.

mexipike · Dec 19, 2016

I have the newer "economy" model 35 2.4 ASPH and it has a really fantastic hood. Mounts easily, made of metal and has a really great metal lens cap that slides on the hood or on the lens of you take the hood off.

Theo Sulphate · Dec 19, 2016

The newer M lenses have built-in sliding hoods. My 50/2 and 90/2.8 from the mid-1990's do.

blockend · Dec 19, 2016

Chinese eBay sellers have nicely machined, slotted metal hoods for Fuji hybrid viewfinder cameras. Is there not a Leica equivalent?

Ian Grant · Dec 19, 2016

Look at the prices Leitz lens hoods and lens caps fetch. Then as mentioned above about some don't use their lens hoods with M series Leicas then they get lost and, I've always used mine though on my Summicron. I see Leitz lens hoods for sale quite regularly so there's no shortage, but like Rolleiflex lens hoods don't expect a bargain.

Ian

darkosaric · Dec 19, 2016

blockend said:
Chinese eBay sellers have nicely machined, slotted metal hoods for Fuji hybrid viewfinder cameras. Is there not a Leica equivalent?

Yes there is - I got myself this metal lens hood and it works great:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/39mm-Vented-Lens-Hood-for-Leica-summicron-Elmar-M-35-50-/271757436733

3$ with shipping !

removed account4 · Dec 19, 2016

i have lens hoods .. but never use them.

mexipike · Dec 19, 2016

I guess another reason people may not use them is that some hoods may block the rangefinder/viewfinder window slightly in the corner.

darinwc · Dec 19, 2016

As time goes on, the little bits and doodads get lost or forgotten. Many original accessories are getting hard fine, and that means the prospectors are buying them and marking them up to obscene prices, further increasing their scarcity.

There should be replacements for many. Quality will vary.

Sirius Glass · Dec 19, 2016

locutus said:
Many people dont use hoods with Leica M, the issue is that most block part of your viewfinder image.

OK yet another reason to use SLRs.

Ai Print · Dec 19, 2016

People probably get greedy and sell the lens here, hood on eBay. I have never had a problem keeping my hoods in order but did have one for a 28 Summicron break during a World Series celebration.

Alan Gales · Dec 19, 2016

Some on here will probably tell you that Leica glass is so good that the lenses don't need hoods!

chip j · Dec 19, 2016

Leicas come w/a magic wand, ensuring greatness.

John Koehrer · Dec 19, 2016

Al Print's got it right. Use the hood to pay for part of the cost. If you bought the lens 20-30 years ago, you
didn't pay the prices you do today.
A $350. lens with hood then may be $500-$600 today without the hood. So the hood's an extra c-note in
someone's pocket.

blockend · Dec 20, 2016

John Koehrer said:
Al Print's got it right. Use the hood to pay for part of the cost. If you bought the lens 20-30 years ago, you
didn't pay the prices you do today.
A $350. lens with hood then may be $500-$600 today without the hood. So the hood's an extra c-note in
someone's pocket.

That's how it goes. Vintage bicycles sell on the same basis, as a whole a classic steel bike might be worth £1000. In parts £3000 or more. It dilutes the history of the object, but the seller is quids in.

benjiboy · Dec 20, 2016

Selling the hood separately is a way of maximizing the profit from the sale.

Marcelo Paniagua · Dec 20, 2016

darkosaric said:
Yes there is - I got myself this metal lens hood and it works great:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/39mm-Vented-Lens-Hood-for-Leica-summicron-Elmar-M-35-50-/271757436733

3$ with shipping !

+1 I do have a Leica hood for my 28mm Elmarit, the one that looks kinda like a square, because I doenst block the finder, but I use screw metal chinese hoods for my Summicron and Summilux, because the Leica snap-on hoods had been knocked off sometimes. Dont really trust them anymore.

Regards

Marcelo.

CropDusterMan · Dec 20, 2016

Personally, if there's no lens hood, I won't pay as much for the lens. It's like selling an M3
but the take-up spool is extra.

ac12 · Dec 20, 2016

If it is an estate sale, the seller does not always know how things go together. Yes some do, but many don't. So the hoods, filters, cable release, etc. get tossed into the bag of misc. stuff, and if it does not sell ... off to the dumps.
I've seen and had to deal with similar situations where a "set" was broken up, and I've had to then search for the replacement part. Which increased the final cost, sometimes more than buying a complete set to begin with.

CDM, except you can use the lens w/o the hood, you can't use the camera w/o the take-up spool. As you indicate, the lack of the hood would be a negotiating item, to get the price down.

benjiboy · Dec 24, 2016

The first thing shops do when buying in second hand equipment is separate the camera from the accessories to sell them as separate items to maximise the profitability of the sales of them, blame capitalism.

Helios 1984 · Dec 24, 2016

benjiboy said:
Selling the hood separately is a way of maximizing the profit from the sale.

Apple do the same.

Ko.Fe. · Dec 24, 2016

First of all I don' know if all Leica lens were sold by Leica with hood. ZeiCosina sells most of lenses without hood. My new Summarit-M 35 2.5 was sold without hood. 2.4 comes with hood.
Elmarit-M 28 III doesn't really need hood. In fact most of old 50 Leitz lenses don't needed it, nor 35 Summarons and 90 lenses. If optics are clean.
Honestly, I prefer small, conical hoods from e-bay. Vented ones are waste of space, IMO.

ciniframe · Dec 24, 2016

What Ko.Fe. said about compactness. I cannot see seeking out a sleek RF, either a III series or M Leica and then festooning it with a big vented hood. I have, for my M4-2 a very compact CV 35mm f2.5. I bought it used and the guy had the clip-on CV vented hood. (which is $60 by the way) I bought a 39mm, short, wide angle round metal hood with 46mm front lens cap for about $9 shipped from a e-bay vendor. What I like about it besides compactness is the lens cap on the hood, very handy. The whole rig will slip into a large cargo vest pocket.

Why so many Leica lenses on the market yet no lens hoods?

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