Semi-cheapskate lens-hood solution

[M4cr0s]

"Stole" this idea from certain other forums.

1. The original grossly overpriced original female 49 mm threads to female 49 mm threads Fuji adapter ring. (could not get hold of a 3rd party one)
2. A 49 -> 52 mm step-up ring (eBay, but had it lying around from one of those dirt-cheap step-up ring sets).
3. 52mm rangefinder-style vented hood from eBay (49mm's are also available)

Total cost came to roughly half of the original adapter ring + hood. If you get your hands on the 3rd party adapter ting options that's becoming available in a few weeks, you'll save a lot more.

I chose to sand down the 49 to 52 mm step up ring and the vented hood to get a somewhat more uniform appearance and because I knew the black finish would wear down pretty quick with my use. Still not decided if I want to polish the surface completely or keep a smooth surface with slight texture (the kind you get from P400 wet paper).

As you can see there's a slightly different tone/color to the aluminium than the body itself, courtesy of whatever surface treatment Fuji uses.

The vent of the hood aligned perfectly with the OVF.

Mac

 

[Steve M.]

Nice fix. I had a similar problem on my Konica C35 camera. W/ a lens hood screwed into it (49mm), I couldn't get my fingers into that tight space to focus very well, so I took a 49mm UV filter and popped the glass out. Screwed that into the lens, then a hood into the glassless UV adapter. Viola, plenty of room for my little fingers.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Nice one! I may try this one out and replace my gaffers tape job! 🙂

 

[M4cr0s]

The best thing with a hood on the X100 (probably familiar for rangefinder-users) is actually that you get something to grab onto. I find it simply improves ergonomics 🙂

Mac

 

[Chinasaur]

Rockwell has a cheaper solution yet... scroll down to Sunday 29-May.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/00-new-today.htm

He also seems to like the X100..a lot.

 

[Rob-F]

A clever and practical solution! Here's another idea: from time to time when I need a more compact hood than the "official" one, I visit the camera store when they have the junk filter box out. I buy a couple of filters in the right size, remove the glass, and fit either one or two empty filter rings to the lens, testing to see how many I can use before vignetting occurs.

 

[btgc]

I can't believe Fuji is calling their customers dorks....sorry, but I'm just translating price of this accessory into verbal form.

 

[M4cr0s]

I can't believe Fuji is calling their customers dorks....sorry, but I'm just translating price of this accessory into verbal form.

A lot of madness in the camera world 🙁 Look at the new Sigma SD1 9700$ initial pricing...or general Leica prices 😉

Mac

 

[btgc]

A lot of madness in the camera world 🙁 Look at the new Sigma SD1 9700$ initial pricing...or general Leica prices 😉

Mac

Stigma is researching market, maybe there's a niche of byuers sitting on bags of money so it's easy to forgive them.

Leica has entertained masses with their funny acronyms for accessories, so they too are allowed to keep prices.

If Fuji supplies EBC version of filter adapter then I'll retract my rant 🙂

 

[M4cr0s]

If Fuji supplies EBC version of filter adapter then I'll retract my rant 🙂

I refuse to buy the EBC-version unless they ad at least five more cryptic letter-combinations to the name! Like "Fuji 49mm Super DI EBC VR XRI GTI". I mean, what are we paying for? At least Tamron got it right with names such as "Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF]" - you just know you get something awesome with a name like that 😉

Mac

 

[M4cr0s]

Damnit! I fell for the tempation to polish the hood and step-up ring a little and now my camera looks like some kind of gangster-car - blingbling! 😡 I think I need to sand it down again to get a dull finish. Really lovely to touch though.

Mac

 

[greyelm]

I suppose this could be the 'anti-bling' solution


http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_210031_langId_-1_categoryId_165495

 

[slerman]

Just a little Liquid Plumbr...

Just a little Liquid Plumbr...

I took a slightly different route, immersing the Sonya connector ring and one of the 'bay's cheap hoods CAREFULLY in drain cleaner. Sodium Hydroxide dissolves the anodized finish--so any brand with that as an ingredient will do. The connector ring's black color simply vanished in seconds, which was great because I'm not sure how I could have sanded its "coined" surface. The hood, maybe because it had a seal coat or was actually painted, did not. A 3M scrubber pad removed the hood's paint pretty easily as it slowly dissolved. I followed with a fine sanding on the stubborn bits. Again, if you choose to use this method do so at your own risk. Use a glass container. Wear gloves and googles!

I chose to leave the interior black and the slightest hint of black on the outside. It looks like a lovely worn vintage hood.

 

[NaChase]

Damnit! I fell for the tempation to polish the hood and step-up ring a little and now my camera looks like some kind of gangster-car - blingbling! 😡 I think I need to sand it down again to get a dull finish. Really lovely to touch though.

Mac

Amazing! Please, please get some rhinestones and bedazzle the hell out of the rest of it!

 

[kermaier]

I've been having some "fun" trying to rig a non-OEM solution as well.

I first bought a Kalt 52mm-49mm step-down filter adapter. That screwed on nicely, but the front rim was too thick for a clamp-on hood from my CV Nokton 35/1.2 (a 52mm filter lens).

Next, I got a Bower 49mm-Series VII filter adapter, thinking to use one of my vintage Canon RF lens hoods. But the S7 thread on the adapter didn't work with the Canon hood thread. (Dunno why -- is S7 retaining ring threading not standardized?)

So I replaced the Kalt 52mm-49mm step-down ring with a Bower version. With that, I'm able to fit my Nokton 35/1.2 hood, but the ring is a bit too thin, so it's hard to position the hood without having it slip down far enough to touch the focus ring. <sigh> Though it works OK with a bit of fiddling, and the hood includes a nifty push-on cap to cover the front. Still, that combo blocks some of the OVF, and the Nokton hood weighs half as much as the rest of the camera (not really, but just sayin'...)

So now I've ordered a dome hood for the Pentax DA 40/2.8 pancake lens (49mm screw-in) and a push-on cap for the Pentax DA 21/3.2 lens, which should fit over the whole business. That combo isn't as dirt-cheap as the others, but: it's still half the cost of the Fuji OEM set; it's available now; it should be quite compact with hood and cap mounted; and it shouldn't block any of the OVF. I'll post an update and picture when it arrives. 🙂

::Ari

 

[M4cr0s]

kermaier: Now that's one way to do it! Photographers and gear nuts are inventive people when forced 😀 Looking forward to see how that combo looks like.

Update on my own combo: I've sanded down the bling-bling polish job to a more sensible dull one, #1200 grade sandpaper doing the job. I think this is the best overall way to do it if you resort to removing the paint anyway. I've actually used the camera quite a bit too and it fell into the ground one day, making a huge dent in the hood. I managed to straighten it out more or less using various tools and some more sanding 😉 The aluminium stuff these things are made of isn't the most solid substance in the world and they scratch easily too. I'm not going to bother to keep this hood "nice", it's a tool after all and marks of wear are honor badges to my opinion 😀

Mac

 

[psartman]

Mega-cheapskate compact solution

Mega-cheapskate compact solution

52-49 step-down ring, glass removed from reverse-mounted 52mm filter,thin black-core board retained by original filter retainer ring. Tested at F2 and F16, no vignetting. No macro lens bump. I found frame edges by inserting stiff clear plastic in filter ring, focus at infinity, stop down to F16, looking at screen and marking corners on plastic with Sharpie. I will replace the board with something more durable when I find the right thing (stiff cuttable black plastic?) I even found a press-on plastic Yashica cap from an old rangefinder so I can go faux-low tech. Fits (snugly) in SnapR case.

 

[slerman]

Filter in hood

Filter in hood

BTW, a 46mm filter fits snuggly inside the lens hood. Insert from the front...

 

[kermaier]

Here's my current working solution:

- Cheap 52mm-49mm step-down ring
- B+W 49mm F-Pro MRC UV-Haze filter
- Pentax SMC-DA 40/2.8 Limited 49mm screw-in dome hood
- Pentax SMCP-DA 21/3.2 AL 51mm push-on cap

Notes:

1. The filter is still too close to the lens; it bumps in macro mode. Gotta get either a deeper 49mm-49mm adapter or add an empty 49mm filter ring to my existing stack. Note, however, that if I leave out the filter, the hood alone does not interfere with macro mode.

2. The dome part of the hood pushes the cap out a bit too far, so the cap doesn't grip as securely as I'd like.

3. I started off with the XS-Pro version of the filter (which is slimmer and has newer coatings), but its mount is a touch wider than the F-Pro so the cap wouldn't fit over it. Maybe a deep plastic push on cap would, but the metal Pentax cap doesn't.

4. An alternative filter solution is to screw a 30.5mm filter into the front opening of the hood. This works (I tested it with a B+W filter), but it increases the overall length of the solution, and I'm not happy with the idea of having the filter glass out front completely unshaded from glare.

5. The 30.5mm filter could also be screwed into the rear of the hood's opening (I tried that too), but I was too nervous to test the clearance in macro mode, as the lens glass would hit the knurled rim of the filter ring if it did bump. 😱 And there's still not much shading of the filter glass.

6. I may decide to give up on the push-on cap idea, and instead go for a 30.5m snap-in cap, like from a Contax TVS (though I generally prefer push-on caps).

::Ari

Edit: Not as cheap, I realize, as some of the above solutions, but it's less than half the price of the Funi accessories, and it's more compact.

 

[andrew00]

An auto lens cap would be excellent!