Does anybody on the list shoot without there hoods on the following lenses, 21,35,50,90 I do realise on bright days and IN very bright lights they are useful, but are the leica M series glass so prone to flare, it seems the shade on the Leica are a fixed fitting and not to be taken off, is this really the case, I cannot remember having the shades on full time on the F5 outfit as i have on my M Systems.

Just curious, it might save me a couple cans of film from the dreaded streak !!!!

Regards Paul

-- Paul (longrange@swipnet.se), March 05, 2002

Answers

On my M Leicas I use my hoods for protection as well as flare resistance. In some environments, I press my hooded lens into my abdomen when a potential for degrading the cleanliness of my front element comes up quickly... like a sudden dust cloud or rain. For the record, all of my Nikkors also have the appropriate metal hoods for the same reasons.

One factor in my decision, (not to start another debate), is that I never use UV filters, so the only thing between my front element and a finger smudge is that hood.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), March 05, 2002.

I can only speak for the 35 (3rd gen.) with removable hood, which in my case is always on. I have no filter fitted so it protects the lens and saves me faffing around with lens caps. I can see no advantage to *not* fitting it.

It is also the older large round metal type which gives a sort of protective 'bumper' (fender?) to the front of the camera.

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), March 05, 2002.

I use the hood primarily as impact protection for the lens. Beyond that I imagine they help prevent flare to a small degree, but the newer Leica primes seem pretty immune to flare. I always used hoods on my Nikon zooms, as they were a necessity to prevent unwanted flare. On wideangle lenses, I find that filters greatly increase the propensity to flare (especially with Nikon and to a certain degree with Leica), so I regularly use a hood when a filter is in place. BTW, flare is one of the reasons I avoid using "protective" UV or skylight filters on my lenses, and only use filters when I need them to balance or modify the light.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 05, 2002.

Any good subtitute for 35mmASPH rectangular hood? I have a vented hood mounted on my 50mm'cron, it came with my lens when bought used. I know the metal 12585 is also good for 35/2, but wondering anything more affordable, c'mon, it's just a hood and I like to see the edge as well...

Thanks.

-- Fred Ouyang (yo54@columbia.edu), March 05, 2002.

I use the hood for protective and flare prevention purposes. Like all lenses, this has always been the case for me and most serious shooting others I would assume.

-- Kristian (leicashot@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002.

I doubt if I've shot more than six pictures out of a probable six thousand or more, in forty years, without the lens hood. Without it, I would feel that I'm taking less than the best picture I can.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), March 05, 2002.

Lens flare exists with every lens in every image. It is caused by lights rays entering the lens that are outside of the image field. A good hood reduces this significantly. The only question is how much flare you will tolerate. Granted in subdued light the flare level is "in the noise" and matters little. But, as noted above, the hood protects the front element and allows a degree of comfort for going filter-less. Filters increase the flare potential of a lens due to additiona reflective and refractive surfaces. So, I keep a hood on all three of my Leica lenses, use no filters or lens caps. The lenses are always ready, and produce their lowest flare levels in every image I take. That feels good to me.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), March 05, 2002.

there are some lenses that need it more than others, for example a super angulon 21/4 M that I used to have didnīt had one and never though it needed one, canīt say the same of my 50/2 D.R. , I wander about a 50īlux, does it needs a shade, more or less?

35/2.8 M has been another one good without, not 90/4 collapsible (4 elements)

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002.

I don't use a hood with my 50 DR-Summicron, primarily because it didn't come with one and I haven't tracked down one for it. I also like the very compact size without the hood. It's so scuffed up already that protection isn't that big a worry.

I always use the hoods on my other lenses.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 06, 2002.

I always use a lens hood, as I always use a UV filter and feel it should be shaded. On a couple of the Leica lenses the so-called hood is just the mount protrusion past the deep-set front element which is unfortunate but not insurmountable. On the v.1 Tri-Elmar, thanks to Leica's cost-cutting use of the same front piece from the 21ASPH and 24ASPH, the shade for those lenses fits the Tri-Elmar. On my 60 Macro-R I use a plastic 55mm Olympus hood I picked up for $1.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 06, 2002.

21: never use the hood - if I want a camera THAT big I'll use a 4x5 - and the hood is so thin it only protects about 5 more degrees than no hood. Same for the 28 (although you didn't ask).

35: intermittent use - I can't cap my pre-ASPH's plastic hood - but it also has very little impact in the viewfinder.

50: I don't use the focal length.

90: I HAVE to with the Summicron - else it covers the aperture ring! With the flare-prone TE I always have the metal hood available for any pictures pointed near the sun.

With the 75-200 and 400 R lenses I use them all the time - the lenses are already big, and those long tele hoods actually provide a usable amount of shade.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), March 06, 2002.

My 21A, 2/35A, and 2/50 always wear hoods. Also upon storage in the bag. They never wear UV filters. I never worry about flare or UV light. The hoods for me, personally, are a bumper-protection (thanks, Giles). Also, if rain, snow, sand, dust, then tummy-press (like Al). Yes, my 2/50 being an LP (which stands for last penultimate) means that its hood has those two big cavities and thus even a tummy-press here isn't going to prevent any real drizzle. But it is going to prevent more bumping/scratching than any current 2/50-type hood.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), March 06, 2002.

I am also a "tummy-presser"!

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), March 06, 2002.

I've just bought a UV filter for my 28mm Summicron because I want less intrusion by the hood in my .58 viewfinder. I prefer flatlight photography but I'll drop the filter if I experience flare problems. BTW, I found out it's best to unscrew the (Leica) filter with 3 fingers rather than 2 - otherwise it can be very difficult to get off.

-- Peter Mackay (pm@novonordisk.com), March 06, 2002.