[BruceBanner]

I have just received an optically great but slightly beaten up DA15. I have also bought into the Manfrotto Xume magnetic filter holder system. I have various step up rings and what not but I am still getting vignetting, mainly because a 49mm UV protector placed on the DA15 to get past the hood is the beginning of the issue. I have larger cpl and ND filters (and step up rings) than 49mm to help tackle this problem. For example on the FA43 I can use a 49-52mm step up ring and then a 52-62mm step up ring and mount the magnetic grasps and cpl filters and ND filters to boot with no vignetting. However that is 43mm... not 15mm.

If I could get a 49-62mm step up ring directly onto the DA15 then I think that would be a good start to using the CPL/ND Filters and Xume system I have, or at least be the best course of action.

Has anyone successfully removed the DA15 hood?

TIA!

Bruce

[tokyoscape]

Yes, i did.

Just remove the front metal ring.
Then the 4 screws on the upper level that attach the hood and the barrel together. Scrub the 2 corners see in the middle large image out and !!! You can remove the hood.

[garywakeling]

Yes, i did.

Just remove the front metal ring.
Then the 4 screws on the upper level that attach the hood and the barrel together. Scrub the 2 corners see in the middle large image out and !!! You can remove the hood.

Great Info, thankyou

[BruceBanner]

Yes, i did.

Just remove the front metal ring.
Then the 4 screws on the upper level that attach the hood and the barrel together. Scrub the 2 corners see in the middle large image out and !!! You can remove the hood.

Oof! Awesome! Except I can't make out much on that diagram picture lol, is it available anywhere in a larger size? hehe

[tokyoscape]

Oof! Awesome! Except I can't make out much on that diagram picture lol, is it available anywhere in a larger size? hehe

If I can find a bigger image, I will post it here. You can also try the link below; it is a bit bigger but not much.
http://tokyoscape.info/go/zz-share2public/da15/disassemble.jpg
If you can remove the metal O ring, everything will be quite simple after that. Turn it counterclockwise with a rubber or something. You will see the 4 screws below it. Remove all of them and you can pull out the hood + the hood holder part quite easy. It will come out together.
Then look at it closely you will see 2 tinny metal parts that block the hood from slide off the rail. Rub them off with a rasp or something. Don’t do too much. Just enough to free the hood. The hood can be installed back any time after that too. Then you want to put the holder, the screw and the O ring back together. Don’t forget to clean up the Hood’s holder before you put them back. Tinny metal dust can kill the lens.

Before you put things back together, you might notice another 4 screws below. They are important to keep the lens together and function. 2 screws of my 15 were loosened and the lens wobble like it is about to split apart + auto focus stopped working. That’s why I open it up in the first place. If you already go this far, I think you can make sure all the 4 screws are well tightened. For anyone with the same problem, this is the place to fix.

You can but should not do it, turn the lens group counterclockwise to entirely remove lens group. No point of doing that but it satisfies my curiosity's sake! I guess if the lens is de-centered, this might be the place to fix.

[fs999]

I used a UV filter 49mm filter and a step up ring 49-77mm where I could put an IR cut, a cpl and a ND filter without vignetting !

[fs999]

PENTAX K-5 II s • 80 ISO • Pentax DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited
Hoya Pro1 Digital CPL filter
Haida Slim PRO II MC UV-IR Cut filter
B+W ND 1000 filter

Multiple long exposure: 30, 45 & 25.64 sec


Moulin de Daudet
Fontvielle • Bouches-du-Rhône • France

[BruceBanner]

I used a UV filter 49mm filter and a step up ring 49-77mm where I could put an IR cut, a cpl and a ND filter without vignetting !

PENTAX K-5 II s • 80 ISO • Pentax DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited
Hoya Pro1 Digital CPL filter
Haida Slim PRO II MC UV-IR Cut filter
B+W ND 1000 filter

Multiple long exposure: 30, 45 & 25.64 sec


Moulin de Daudet
Fontvielle • Bouches-du-Rhône • France

Excellent shot Fred.

It might be down to the actual filters and their thickness. My specific problem is that when using the manfrotto xume system every vignette issue is magnified as you now have a magnetic adapter + magnetic filter to accomodate between lens and filters, and the problem is magnified again if then wanting to make the next filter magnetically attach to the last. I talk about it here a bit;

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

Definitely the more telephoto lenses you get away with a lot more, my feeling is with the DA15 I need to start going wide as soon as possible, hence just dump the hood.

My current filters are 52mm and 62mm. With what I currently have, with the DA 15 it would have to go; Lens > 49-52mm step up ring > Xume Adapter > Xume Filter Holder > 52mm CPL. I'm guessing even by now vignette will kick in and I haven't started with the ND yet. So it might be best to go; Lens > 49-62mm step up ring > Xume Adapter > Xume Filter Holder > 62mm CPL > etc towards a ND. I even have a 62-77mm step up ring for the last ND filter should I need it.

If I can find a bigger image, I will post it here. You can also try the link below; it is a bit bigger but not much.
http://tokyoscape.info/go/zz-share2public/da15/disassemble.jpg
If you can remove the metal O ring, everything will be quite simple after that. Turn it counterclockwise with a rubber or something. You will see the 4 screws below it. Remove all of them and you can pull out the hood + the hood holder part quite easy. It will come out together.
Then look at it closely you will see 2 tinny metal parts that block the hood from slide off the rail. Rub them off with a rasp or something. Don’t do too much. Just enough to free the hood. The hood can be installed back any time after that too. Then you want to put the holder, the screw and the O ring back together. Don’t forget to clean up the Hood’s holder before you put them back. Tinny metal dust can kill the lens.

Before you put things back together, you might notice another 4 screws below. They are important to keep the lens together and function. 2 screws of my 15 were loosened and the lens wobble like it is about to split apart + auto focus stopped working. That’s why I open it up in the first place. If you already go this far, I think you can make sure all the 4 screws are well tightened. For anyone with the same problem, this is the place to fix.

You can but should not do it, turn the lens group counterclockwise to entirely remove lens group. No point of doing that but it satisfies my curiosity's sake! I guess if the lens is de-centered, this might be the place to fix.

Thanks, sounds pretty straight forward, I'll give it a bash tomorrow. (I just can't read some of the small text in the image is all).

Any pics of what yours looks like without the hood?

[fs999]

Excellent shot Fred.

It might be down to the actual filters and their thickness. My specific problem is that when using the manfrotto xume system every vignette issue is magnified as you now have a magnetic adapter + magnetic filter to accomodate between lens and filters, and the problem is magnified again if then wanting to make the next filter magnetically attach to the last. I talk about it here a bit;

Thank you !
Another problem you could encounter is with astrotracer, either module for K-5 or inside for K-3 or K-1, I don't know how strong the magnet is, but it could disturb it...

[BruceBanner]

Thank you !
Another problem you could encounter is with astrotracer, either module for K-5 or inside for K-3 or K-1, I don't know how strong the magnet is, but it could disturb it...

Ahh... ok, thanks for the heads up, that's something that never occurred to me. I don't think I'd use any filter for astro however, I mean I haven't thus far. I think perhaps there are some specialised ones that try to deal with light pollution? I honestly dunno... now you got me wondering.. what filters might be used in Astro and why...

[fs999]

Ahh... ok, thanks for the heads up, that's something that never occurred to me. I don't think I'd use any filter for astro however, I mean I haven't thus far. I think perhaps there are some specialised ones that try to deal with light pollution? I honestly dunno... now you got me wondering.. what filters might be used in Astro and why...

Clear Sky or Clear Night to remove light pollution...

[BruceBanner]

Clear Sky or Clear Night to remove light pollution...

Ok, must look into that next time I am thinking about Astro, it's probably the genre I am least practised in.

---------- Post added 11-01-19 at 06:38 AM ----------

Clear Sky or Clear Night to remove light pollution...

How 'stiff' is your focus ring on your DA15 copy? Mine feels pretty loose I have to say, like compared to the FA ltds and HD DA 20-40 my used copy of this DA15 I received yesterday does feel pretty loose..

[fs999]

How 'stiff' is your focus ring on your DA15 copy? Mine feels pretty loose I have to say, like compared to the FA ltds and HD DA 20-40 my used copy of this DA15 I received yesterday does feel pretty loose..

Mine is ok, but I feel a little bit of the gear when I turn the ring...
I must say I haven't used it a lot since 2016...

[Kevin B123]

what filters might be used in Astro and why...

Get a Hoya RA 54 red intensifier filter, it cuts down on sodium street lighting.
See:
Hoya Red Intensifier Review: An Affordable Light Pollution Filter for Astrophotography – Lonely Speck

Also there are plenty of huge resources out there:
Nightscape Photography with Digital Cameras, Clarkvision.com
Astrophotography 101: A Lesson Series on Photographing the Milky Way – Lonely Speck

[tokyoscape]

Any pics of what yours looks like without the hood?

I couldn't find a larger image or photo of the lens without the hood. I sold it a while ago.
Speak from my memory, the lens looks and function the same after hood is removed. You'll see small gap where the hood used to be. If you don't feel like scrubbing the metal hood holder part, it is possible to not put both hood and the holder back to the lens too. The lens still can function as normal but I can't remember if I can put a filter on the lens.

I see you mentioned loose focus ring. Try to tighten the 3 screws below the hood's holder and see if it helps. From what I can recall, when 2 screws on my 15 fall out, focus ring and lens barrel were like they are about to let one another go when camera try to auto focus. Tighten the screws back in and the focus ring feel as good as new. So check out that part, it might help.
Here are the old photo I have from when I post the lens for sale.
http://tokyoscape.info/go/zz-share2public/da15/disassemble2.jpg