Hi, While it's nice to be though of as being right, I'm not quite sure what I was right about. Perhaps that metal lens hoods offer better protection in a fall? I'm not sure I agree with that premise. A fall is a pretty random act, and numerous things - surface upon which the object is dropped, angle, speed, weight of object, resiliency of the object, to name a few, all play a part in the resultant damage. While I ~believe~ that a screwed in (on?) metal hood offers the most protection, there have been those who swear they were lucky because their camera had a rubber hood, or that a plastic hood might better absorb shock.
Regardless, I like such hoods because they seem more stable on the camera than plastic clip-on hoods, and the threads allow for more varied filter use (although these days filters are rarely on my lenses), and because, with few exceptions, I find the look and feel of rubber hoods to be cheap and flimsy, for the most part. However, I've a gorgeous Vivitar rubber hood here that is just wonderful - the rubber is firm, the attaching ring is strong, and the hood is of a good size for the lenses for which it was designed. Over the past couple of years I've accumulated a number of round metal hoods that are of a diameter that accept the yellow plastic lids from Hershey's syrup cans, Jelly Belly cans, and other such containers. These caps slip over the lens hood, affording protection to the lens while allowing the hood to remain in place. The caps are an inexpensive alternative to more expensive caps that essentially do the same thing. For those who may find my description a bit vague, you can see such a setup here: http://home.earthlink.net/~sbelinkoff/cancap.jpg Shel Belinkoff "People that hate cats will come back as mice in their next life." > [Original Message] > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 9/9/2004 5:08:38 PM > Subject: Lens hoods (was: Why did this lens sell for so much???) > > David, > > Shel is absolutely right for a number of reasons. > > Ask about my family vacation to Washington DC with 3 little kids. I was completely surprised to find a parking space on the street and got out of the car to drop my Super Program from chest height directly on the A50/1.4 lens (thought I had the strap around my neck)! The whole thing landed on the concrete sidewalk, but on the metal lens hood. It was pretty well destroyed, but the camera and lens are still fine today. > > I don't use the plastic clip-on hoods if I can avoid them. > > Regards, Bob S. > > Shel wrote: > Those plastic clip on hoods may work, but they lack the beauty and craftsmanship of the all metal Takumar hoods. They are like a clip-on bow tie vs a silk cravat or a hand painted Countess Mara tie. Dave, if you've never seen the dedicated Tak 35mm hood, or the one for the 20mm lens, or some of the other early, all metal beauties, you don't know what you're missing. A great lens deserves a great lens hood <vbg>
