[Marktax]

The plastic bayonet mount of the hood experiences more friction over time, with wear roughening contact surfaces. Removing mine, it was stuck enough to twist the extension tubes OFF TRACK from the helicals inside the lens. I couldn't retract the lens shorter than about 70mm, and the operation was very stiff from 70mm to 300. Finally I simply forced the zoom to retract with a very hard turn. Somehow the zoom action jumped back on track and returned to normal without breaking anything, but it was a scary moment. I suggest that you grip the longest extension tube firmly when adding or removing the hood so as to not torque the inner workings.

[Bertrand3000]

Did you try to remove the hood with the lens not in retracted position?

[Marktax]

Did you try to remove the hood with the lens not in retracted position?

Yes, I wanted to put on a CPL quickly. But now I will do it ONLY extended, gripping the extended barrel firmly. I don't want to apply torque into the lens body at all.

[BigMackCam]

It's always been a habit of mine to fully retract a zoom lens before fitting or removing the hood, to avoid any torsional stress and ensure there's no unevenness of pressure on internal hardware. Has this been your approach, or do you fit and remove the hood with the lens extended?

[Marktax]

BigMackCam - My NORMAL approach was to put the hood on retracted, but it definitely became less smooth as time passed, and in this case I was in a hurry to get a CPL on the lens. I actually had first noticed the wear issue with my Q7 06 lens hood, which was a difficult on off from the very beginning.

The amazing thing is that after jumping it off track, I overcame it in the opposite direction with no permanent damage.

[mikesbike]

Hmm. I've never had any such issue with my DA 55-300mm HD WR version (screw-driven). I do have the little 18-50mm RE lens, nice for ultra-compact carrying, but it seems to be overall more vulnerable, in need of extra care with its RE retraction system.