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11-29-2008, 09:50 AM   #1
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Anyone use rubber lens hoods beside me?

All,
I just received a DA-300mm lens which i;m really impressed with, but it came with this really long lens hard plastic hood. it doesn't store well with the lens so it wastes a lot of volume in my camera backpack.

http://www.adorama.com/LNH77.html?searchinfo=rubber%20lens%20hood&item_no=1

I bought one of these rubber lens hoods from adorama for my 50mm lens a few months back, and really like it. Has a hard plastic threaded inner core that screws into the lens filter area, and also provides a duplicate set of female threads so you still use a filter. The hard plastic core has soft rubber hood molded around it that flips out when in use, and then folds back for storage. really a nice design and cheap as well.

I'm really thinking of getting one of these rubber hoods for my 300 as well. dosen't look like it may provide as much light protection as the hard plastic, but a lot easier to store.

Any negative observations about these hoods?


Last edited by philbaum; 11-29-2008 at 09:58 AM.
11-29-2008, 10:21 AM   #2
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I presently just use two rubber hoods, one is a non-collapsible one for my Mamiya, the other is a Hama-style sorta monstrosity that I use on my big ol' 35-105, usually for inclement weather. (It's nicknamed 'the front porch' and is actually pretty imposing. Also, because it's so big around, it's actually kind of a pain to stow in my bags. Rubber hoods just tend to add diameter, which adds up pretty quickly on a bigger thread size. Here, I'll show you.

This is the usual metal one:



(doing bad Crocodile Dundee impression. Lens shade? That's not a lens shade)





And this is the 'Front Porch.' (Now that's a lens shade)

Yeah, it gets people's attention when that rig is pointed at them, but it is pretty nice for walking around.

After posting this, an old idea came to mind, which I had for this big old beast of a telephoto zoom I have (It's a big old Formula 5 75-205 steady 3.5. Scored very cheaply on Ebay on a lark, and as a stopgap, but I came around to really like it. It's so obscure I've named it 'Googleproof,' though, if anyone knows about these. Anyway, the salient point being, it's so large, and has only a screw thread on the front, I had been about to resort to an odd plan to get necessary hoodage on there (Another solution came along, so I didn't actually try this, but here it is

Basically, the idea was that I could get a pretty straight metal hood on Ebay, and I was going to get one of these, disregarding the thread size, but rather so it'd be just big enough to put reversed over the front of the lens with a bit of camera back foam or tape stuck inside to prevent scratching and rattling when so stored: then attach it with a step ring to make it fit up, thus basically having a custom hood.

Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 11-29-2008 at 10:40 AM. Reason: Additional idea. :)
11-29-2008, 10:24 AM   #3
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Hey Phil,

I’ve had and used both in the past. Over time I abandoned the rubber in favour of the plastic or metal. I found the rubber ones tended to tear in places where they commonly folded. This was no big deal as they were inexpensive but a pain none-the-less. It is true the hard plastic hood can be a annoying to store. That being said they provide a bit more protection than collapsible rubber. You have a major investment in that DA *300 and if the hood offers any protection at all it seems prudent to use it. Furthermore the DA hood will be designed to provide optimal protection from stray light for this particular lens. Can the same be said of an after market rubber one? Vignetting might be a problem if it doesn't fit properly. My killer blow, if it can be called that, is the hard plastic hoods just look better. After all you have a killer lens in that DA *300 and you might as well enjoy the massive bragging rights that come with it.

Tom G
11-29-2008, 10:36 AM   #4
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I try to get metal hoods (tin cans) where I can, cos the rubber versions I've found are never really deep enough to be truely effective on the longer lenses with narrow angles of view.

But hey that's just me.

11-29-2008, 11:03 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by philbaum Quote
I'm really thinking of getting one of these rubber hoods for my 300 as well. dosen't look like it may provide as much light protection as the hard plastic, but a lot easier to store.
You could block more stray light by going to a dedicated rubber tele hood such as a B&W 930.

A 3-way rubber hood (such as a Hama Tele-matic) would also block more light than the generic hood, but it takes longer to fully unfold and the filter thread is larger (e.g. the 67mm hood takes a 72mm filter) so you might want to carry an additional lens cap.

Last edited by troyz; 11-29-2008 at 11:10 AM.
11-30-2008, 09:04 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by troyz Quote
A 3-way rubber hood (such as a Hama Tele-matic) would also block more light than the generic hood, but it takes longer to fully unfold and the filter thread is larger (e.g. the 67mm hood takes a 72mm filter) so you might want to carry an additional lens cap.
That could actually, by happenstance, turn out to be darn handy for me. 72mm is my 'big' filter size, and a hood with built in step ring wouldn't be the worst thing ever for me, depending what I come up with for zoomage. Is there any sort of listing out there what combinations of these are out there?
11-30-2008, 12:07 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ratmagiclady Quote
Is there any sort of listing out there what combinations of these are out there?
I never found a comprehensive listing; however, the 3-way rubber hoods are relatively easy to find retail (sometimes in house-brand packaging) so you could just check the fit of your filters in-store.

Using the hood as a step-up ring should work okay for something like a 72mm yellow filter. I wouldn't suggest it for a UV filter (because there will be times when you want the protection but not the hood) or for a polarizer (too difficult to rotate inside the hood).

11-30-2008, 12:50 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by troyz Quote
I never found a comprehensive listing; however, the 3-way rubber hoods are relatively easy to find retail (sometimes in house-brand packaging) so you could just check the fit of your filters in-store.

Using the hood as a step-up ring should work okay for something like a 72mm yellow filter. I wouldn't suggest it for a UV filter (because there will be times when you want the protection but not the hood) or for a polarizer (too difficult to rotate inside the hood).
It's cool: as described above, sometimes I don't mind having a couple of different hoods, particularly for odd lenses, (like the one pictured above: it goes wide-to-tele, has a pretty hard-to-find stock hood, and vignettes easily, so the little metal hood and one filter are the usual arrangement, but it doesn't actually cover much, so the big rubber one goes on when circumstances require or allow. )

I expect it might be a similar circumstance when I get hold of a zoom for my digital, but I haven't actually chosen one yet. Good to have options like that, though. I fuss with enough step rings as it is.
12-01-2008, 04:02 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by 8540tomg Quote
Hey Phil,

I’ve had and used both in the past. Over time I abandoned the rubber in favour of the plastic or metal. I found the rubber ones tended to tear in places where they commonly folded. This was no big deal as they were inexpensive but a pain none-the-less. It is true the hard plastic hood can be a annoying to store. That being said they provide a bit more protection than collapsible rubber. You have a major investment in that DA *300 and if the hood offers any protection at all it seems prudent to use it. Furthermore the DA hood will be designed to provide optimal protection from stray light for this particular lens. Can the same be said of an after market rubber one? Vignetting might be a problem if it doesn't fit properly. My killer blow, if it can be called that, is the hard plastic hoods just look better. After all you have a killer lens in that DA *300 and you might as well enjoy the massive bragging rights that come with it.

Tom G
Thanks for all the coments from everyone, what a knowledgeable group!

The DA 300mm lens is a great lens and I'm delighted to have it, however, the plastic hood, although sturdy, does not fit tightly with lens body and has only a short twist of about 1/2" to bayonet it on. Its already fallen off the lens once, in the parking lot. I know where a certain owl is and i want a lens hood that won't impede me getting the camera shooting next time i see it. I'm definitely looking for that 3 part rubber hood. This was my last attempt to shoot it:


Last edited by philbaum; 12-01-2008 at 04:18 PM. Reason: add image
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