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35mm Summilux ASPH lens hood questions...


Tony C.

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I've just received a new 35mm Summilux ASPH, which I will be using on my M8. I'm not thrilled with the rectangular lens hood, and have the following questions:

 

Would there be any disadvantages to replacing it with an aftermarket (46mm thread) round metal hood?

 

Why is there a cut out (upper left) section in supplied hood?

 

Does anyone use the 35mm 'lux without any hood at all? If so, what are your experiences?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Regards,

 

Tony C.

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Tony, I use the inexpensive metal screw-in hoods for all my lenses that don't come with a collapsible hood. I use them without caps.

 

The cutout is to allow you to see some of what the hood blocks in the viewfinder.

 

Hoods are recommended to cut flare from illumination at the side of the lens. They also protect the lens from damage. Highly recommended. The jury is still arm-wrestling regarding the use of filters in front of the lens.

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Presumably Leica knew what they were doing when they designed the rectangular hood. In other words, they must believe that it holds some advantage(s) over a circular design. I do do wonder why that would be the case with this particular focal length, though, and not others.

 

Also, I'm sure that Bill's explanation for the cut-out is accurate, but doesn't that design work against the whole point of the hood (i.e. helping to prevent flare)? I also still wonder how flare resistant the 35 'lux would prove without a hood.

 

A final, unrelated point on the Summilux: at this focal length, it's difficult for me to understand all the fuss about extra weight (vis-a-vis the Summicron). Compared to the Noctilux and 75 Summilux, this is light as a feather!

 

Thanks for the input, guys!

 

Regards,

 

Tony C.

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Guest guy_mancuso

Weight is something that through the years you just get used too with big DSLRS. I have and will never complain about the size or weight of a M lens. This is heaven compared to the DSLR's. LOL

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I can tell you what Leica was thinking with the rectangular hood. Since the frame is not round, using a rectangular hood, you can maximize how far it can protrude without getting into your picture. Of course, the longer the hood, the more protection it gives you from flare. Now, keep in mind, the rectangular hoods that come with certain wide lenses are made for film Ms. The M8 with its 1.33 crop factor can be used with a "tighter" round screw on hood than a film M because the lens coverage is smaller. This means that a hood that doesn't protrude in your M8 image area may very well be seen vignetting your film pictures. You'll have to try this out before you use the round hoods with film.

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Before completely idealising Leica's intent, keep in mind that many lenses ship with built-in round hood, such as the 90 Macro, 75 Lux, 75 Cron, 50 Lux Asph, 50 Cron, 50 Elmarit. The ones which are square seem to be the ones which need it the most, ie. the wides.

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I just received one off ebay for my 35 'lux. It looks fine, is vented and seems to be just as good as the older Leitz hoods designed for the Summicron and Elmar 50. Funny thing is though that it says "For Leica Summicron" on the side of it.

 

Having said all this, I haven't been able to check the vignetting issue on film yet as I'm loaning the lens to someone at the moment.

 

This is the auction number I bought if from:

 

220113963861

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tjv–

 

I'm fairly certain that your "For Leica Summicron" hood is a current Chinese product, as I saw a similar one being sold by a Chinese vendor. That doesn't mean, of course, that it won't work well. But (at least) some Chinese manufacturers are obviously not concerned about trademak infringement.

 

Regards,

 

Tony C.

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Tony,

 

May not make much difference to you, but a rectangular hood would do a better job of preventing flare from the top of the lens. This is because it can be narrower vertically (for the same depth) than horizontally, wheras the round hood needs to be of a constant (largest) diameter. However because of the crop factor, a round hood for the 50mm fov (on film) might actually block out more stray light - but could also vignette a little as mentioned above.

 

The reason I mention this is because I've noticed that the meter in my M8 is very sensitive to glare coming in from above the lens. More so it seems than my M7. I suspect it's because the sensor has been moved to the middle of the housing (I presume this was to maintain symmetry due to the reflector being changed from circle to rectangle). I'm assuming it's flaring light bouncing off the reflector rather than directly hitting the sensor - although that may be possible I guess.

 

Ideally it would be nice to see some reduced crop rectangular hoods. they could also take into account the M8 finder magnification so as to avoid unnecessary cut-outs when they don't actually block the framelines.

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Guest Walt

The screw-in hoods are a very bad idea. An important part of the purpose of a hood is to prevent lens, body lens mount and body damage from an impact.

 

When you swing your camera into a wall it is likely to hit lens first and when you drop your camera, it will usually go down lens first. Most Leica hoods, rectangular or round, as well as those from Zeiss and CV, attach to the outside of the barrel, stay in place during an impact and both absorb and transmit the force where it is best managed. A thread-mounted hood is more likely to separate on impact, transmits the force only into the very end of the barrel and is more likely to misalign at least the front element. At the very least, screw-in hoods will damage the front threads of the lens. The Leica plastic hoods are also probably capable of more energy absorbtion than a metal hood because of the characteristics of the material.

 

For flare control, the rectangular hoods are also the obvious preference on wider lenses even if they are looser than desirable with the 1.33 crop of the M8.

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I have written this post because I had problems with the hood of the Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH lens. Finally, I solved the problem, and it hadn't nothing to do with the hood itself, but with the instruction manual instead!

 

The instructions about the use of the hood in the small "Instructions" card included with the lens are wrong:

 

1) The text in English is this (p. 11): "To fit the lens hood, place the white dot on the lens hood against the white index dot on the lens and push down". This is uncorrect. The correct procedure is this: "To fit the lens hood, place the red vertical red arrow against the white index dot on the lens, press the two catches and push down. When the hood is placed, release the two catches and turn the hood's ring to the right following the direction of the horizontal red arrow".

 

2) Then, the original text says: "To remove the lens hood, simply press the two catches and pull off the hood the lens". This is uncorrect as well. The correct instruction should be like this: "To remove the lens hood, turn the hood's ring to the left and then press the two catches and pull off the hood from the lens."

 

I can read French, and the instructions are erroneous in that language too. I don't know if the problem affects the German instructions too.

 

If you follow the instructions as they are you will be unable to put in or take out the hood. Even more, you can damage the lens trying to manipulate the hood by putting a lot of pressure on it in the wrong direction!

 

Now, manipulating the hood is easy, and I like the hood.

 

I have contacted Leica and they will fix this problem with the instructions. I have suggested them to put a note in the lens' webpage.

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Guest Walt

Ruben- Glad to hear it. And these plastic hoods are a lot easier to put on if you do *not* press the two release catches at first while sliding the hood onto the lens. Push it on as far as it will easily go and then press the releases and push further until the hood clicks. Otherwise you distort the hood and it is harder to slide on. This same hood is also a more compact alternative for the 28/2.0.

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