Elmar-C rubber hood: how to keep it 'fresh'?

[Blank288]

Just received my like-new Elmar-C 4/90, complete with caps and its flimsy feeling 12517 rubber hood. This seems a quite precious, hard to find accessory, so I want to keep it in as good condition as possible. Any ideas about what stuff to treat the rubber material with (or not)? Any experiences with longevity of this hood? (Quite some of my generic rubber lens hoods got cracked at their folding rims after long years of use ...)

What a light-weight lens by the way! I'll compare its performance with my old/battered vs.1 Elmarit 2,8/90 soon.

 

[Eelco Amsterdam]

silicone spray

silicone spray

silicone spray

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I may look into this lens... Ken Ford, another member of RFF, keeps raving about his C-lens. I've handled it and it's small, light and cute. Who knows... If I find one at the right price, I may venture into it.

In the meanwhile, just keep the rubber hood away from the sun and excessively dry air. Silicon is the best thing to do in this case. Have fun with it! 🙂

 

[kbg32]

It is a fantastic lens. Very sharp. Wonderful color rendition. Don't worry about the hood. I felt the same way until seeing similar, replacement hoods on ebay for cheap.

This would work, even though the threads might be slightly off.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Metal-39mm-Scre...ryZ78999QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Bill58]

I'll second Silicone, but apply CAREFULLY w/ a Q-tip only. If you get it on the lens, you've got a huge problem!

 

[Blank288]

Thanks for the hints!
I have silicone spray around here, so I'll try that one first (it kept my car door rubbers fresh too, so I considered this already).
I have some other 39mm hoods lying here which indeed appear to fit more or less. But the collapsible Elmar-C hood is the only one which shades effectively and hardly obstructs the finder view. That's why I want to enjoy it as long as possible.

Now let's see how the lens behaves on my M2!

 

[Bill58]

I spray the can into a small paper cup then dip the Q-tip in the fluid and then apply to rubber hood--but when I spray, I do it in a different room than where the lens is. I don't want any over spray or mist on my lenses.

 

[Blank288]

I spray the can into a small paper cup then dip the Q-tip in the fluid and then apply to rubber hood--but when I spray, I do it in a different room than where the lens is. I don't want any over spray or mist on my lenses.

Sure, that is what I intended. ! And of course I take the hood off the lens when applying the silicone oil (with Q-tip or rag).

Thanks anyhow!