Lens cap and hood for Minolta Autocord

[loquax ludens]

I have a Minolta Autocord that lacks a lens cap and a hood for the taking lens.

I believe the Autocord, like most TLRs, takes bay 1 accessories, so I should be able to use any bay 1 lens hood with my Autocord. Or is some other type of hood needed?

What about the lens cap? Minolta Autocord lens caps are rare on ebay unless they happen to come with a camera, and when they do show up, they tend to be expensive, even for caps in poor cosmetic condition. Are there other lens caps that will fit the Autocord, or am I better off buying one of those rare Minolta caps, or a "parts" camera with a cap?

EDIT: I really should have proofed this better before submitting. It's a hood, not a hoot.

 

[jpberger]

Yes- it uses bay 1 accessories. Also search for "bay30" which is the Yashica version of the same thing and often cheaper. You can't use a lens cap and a lens hood at the same time, and with a TLR you really want a lens hood at all times, so the lenscap is really a bit of a PITA. I'd just leave a UV filter on the lens if you are worried about it.

 

[loquax ludens]

Thank you for the bay30 tip.

I mainly want a lens cap for when I'm storing the camera in my bag, or while not actively using the camera. Take off the hood, put on the cap to protect the taking and viewing lens glass.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Here's a cheap one that is nicely made-
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plastic-Twi...661?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ebf063cd5
Any typical Bay I cap will work on the Autocord. There are minor variations between brands on the thickness of the bayonet flange and such but all in all they are interchangeable between models. I think I've shaved back a couple of areas on the one linked to for one camera. Simple, cheap, effective.

The cheapest seller of a hood is this-
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Lens-Ho...049?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3356a899a1
Thjis mounts on the internal bayonet so you can't use it with filters. Perfectly usable plastic hood. If you keep placing bids at a certain limit, some day you can win a metal external mounting hood on ebay for a reasonable price.

 

[loquax ludens]

I wonder how effective that plastic one would be, Dan. Have you tried it? It looks like it's a press fit, whereas the original ones attached more positively. On the Autocord, for example, the original cap is hinged, and it attaches positively to the viewing lens bayonet. It has to be turned 90 degrees to put it on or take it off. On my Rolleicord, the lens cap is not hinged, but there is a sliding catch in the middle that locks it on.

The hoods look good.

 

[Dan Daniel]

The lens cap works fine. It sort of 'clips' into place. It has both an inner ring and outer ring to 'grab' the bayonet flange from both sides. And fits an Autocord well. I ended up scraping away some of the plastic in some areas to make removal easier. It actually is more effective than a couplpe of Minolta and Yashica hinged caps that I have since the bottom section often unclips on my hinged caps.

 

[loquax ludens]

Thank you, Dan. I'll get that plastic cap and hood from ebay then. Cheap and effective is hard to argue with.

Also I see that a moderator fixed my typo in the thread title from "hoot" to "hood", so thank you for that!