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Thorsten von Overgaard Lens hood


DwF

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If you look down the list of topics here, you'd find a thread on Refund Advice from Thorsten. In that thread, I supported Thurston from my own personal experience in purchasing a lens hood for the 50mm Summilux Asph BC. I applaud Thorsten for his care in designing an alternative to what Leica offered. I stand by that, Thorsten, well done! But please read below for more.

About a week later,  carrying my camera bag by the strap in hand from my car into my kitchen with a bag of groceries, the bag slipped to the floor. I'm not tall, it fell about two feet, and is a padded Domke. Although a short distance, my lens-hood took a hit and one of the the tabs that create the "venting" and hold the outer circular hood-piece to the frame that screws to the lens snapped like plastic.  Did this save my lens (a rather heavy Summilux)? Perhaps but for the price of that hood, it makes me question the construction which is nowhere close to a Leica lenshood. True, this hood is also priced at just over half what the original Leica part would cost.

I am here however, because writing to Thorsten twice, I finally received word that I would not receive a replacement for my hood.  After stressing how cheaply the hood seemed to be made, Adam, the gentleman with whom I have dealt since my original order, said he'd speak with Thorsten about this and get back to me. I've heard nothing in two or three weeks, nor do I expect to. Thorsten is out doing what he loves to do at  apertures of f1-2.  I am less concerned about the hood, which I bent back into tenuous condition to adorn my Summilux Asph. -not sure that's great advertising Thorsten but hey! It is more the apparent lack of attention to customer service that people should be wary of in ordering from the Thurston Overgaard Gallery . 

If you  read this Thorsten, I hope that you will succeed with your retail business venture but strongly recommend that you improve your communication and also consider slightly better tolerances for your lenshood. The Leica ones bend to cushion blows to lenses; we've all seen old hoods that are no longer round, but resemble the noses of prizefighters, beautiful in their own way. Those hoods don't snap like flimsy airplane plastic when you bite into your butter chicken!

David

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Sorry to hear about this David but I'm glad you posted.  Two things strike me.  First, a metal hood snapping like plastic means poor quality.  Take a look at Keith's episode in Barnack's Bar about dropping his camera and lens that was not in a bag.  His lens hood bent and probably cushioned the drop and saved his lens and camera.  If his hood had snapped it probably would have been disastrous.  The second thing that concerns me is the lack of communication from the owner who posts in this forum often.  He could have offered you his sympathy and said his hoods are not designed to absorb drops, whether in a  bag or not, and declined to give a refund or other consideration.  Business is business.  But not hearing a word in three weeks when his employee said he would get back to you is unacceptable. 

Best wishes getting your next hood.  

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It's worth saying that you can get almost identical vented metal hoods in many shapes and sizes on eBay for not much money.

That said you did drop your camera and that isn't Thorstens fault, alloy does tend to snap beyond a certain point and not just bend ( or snap when you try to bend them back), so I don't really see what the point of the complaint is? 

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16 hours ago, DwF said:

I will have a look at Keith's post.

In fairness, we are talking about a completely different style of lens hood - one solid, one vented. 

The $4 E-bay ones are excellent, albeit smaller diameter and have no filter thread. They come in a small bag, not a box, and without a nice cleaning cloth. You pays your money and takes your choice😀

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  • 8 months later...
On 2/24/2020 at 8:56 PM, DwF said:

If you look down the list of topics here, you'd find a thread on Refund Advice from Thorsten. In that thread, I supported Thurston from my own personal experience in purchasing a lens hood for the 50mm Summilux Asph BC. I applaud Thorsten for his care in designing an alternative to what Leica offered. I stand by that, Thorsten, well done! But please read below for more.

About a week later,  carrying my camera bag by the strap in hand from my car into my kitchen with a bag of groceries, the bag slipped to the floor. I'm not tall, it fell about two feet, and is a padded Domke. Although a short distance, my lens-hood took a hit and one of the the tabs that create the "venting" and hold the outer circular hood-piece to the frame that screws to the lens snapped like plastic.  Did this save my lens (a rather heavy Summilux)? Perhaps but for the price of that hood, it makes me question the construction which is nowhere close to a Leica lenshood. True, this hood is also priced at just over half what the original Leica part would cost.

I am here however, because writing to Thorsten twice, I finally received word that I would not receive a replacement for my hood.  After stressing how cheaply the hood seemed to be made, Adam, the gentleman with whom I have dealt since my original order, said he'd speak with Thorsten about this and get back to me. I've heard nothing in two or three weeks, nor do I expect to. Thorsten is out doing what he loves to do at  apertures of f1-2.  I am less concerned about the hood, which I bent back into tenuous condition to adorn my Summilux Asph. -not sure that's great advertising Thorsten but hey! It is more the apparent lack of attention to customer service that people should be wary of in ordering from the Thurston Overgaard Gallery . 

If you  read this Thorsten, I hope that you will succeed with your retail business venture but strongly recommend that you improve your communication and also consider slightly better tolerances for your lenshood. The Leica ones bend to cushion blows to lenses; we've all seen old hoods that are no longer round, but resemble the noses of prizefighters, beautiful in their own way. Those hoods don't snap like flimsy airplane plastic when you bite into your butter chicken!

David

You can open a PayPal dispute and explain that this appears to not be as advertised 

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Thank you, at this point I am just enjoying my lens with my new old stock Leica hood. I suppose one could argue that if the hood he if offering is good in the sense that it cushions the impact  if the camera is dropped and saves damage to the lens. Of course he should mention that (use of cheap plastic). I think folks here are wise to his "quality line" of products, at least on this forum.

David

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a couple of the ebay hoods and the quality is surprisingly high, at least superficially. Whether they would survive impacts like the dented Leitz hood that came with my secondhand Summilux has presumably done remains to be seen (or hopefully not!). I paid about $25 for a Heavystar hood, replica SNHOO and cap for the Summitar. They did come in a box, but plain cardboard rather than Overgaard's stylish black with red ribbon, and I had to buy my own lens cloth. Other members have noted that the quality of the Overgaard hoods, shipped from Hong Kong, seems similar to the ebay hoods. I suppose that the Overgaard hoods allow access to the filter threads when mounted (or add secondary threads), but I see that (e.g.) some ebay sellers have copies of the 12504, complete with locking tabs and provision for mounting series 7 filters, for $43. Simpler vented hoods that just use the filter threads start at under $5. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 2/24/2020 at 8:56 PM, DwF said:

If you look down the list of topics here, you'd find a thread on Refund Advice from Thorsten. In that thread, I supported Thurston from my own personal experience in purchasing a lens hood for the 50mm Summilux Asph BC. I applaud Thorsten for his care in designing an alternative to what Leica offered. I stand by that, Thorsten, well done! But please read below for more.

About a week later,  carrying my camera bag by the strap in hand from my car into my kitchen with a bag of groceries, the bag slipped to the floor. I'm not tall, it fell about two feet, and is a padded Domke. Although a short distance, my lens-hood took a hit and one of the the tabs that create the "venting" and hold the outer circular hood-piece to the frame that screws to the lens snapped like plastic.  Did this save my lens (a rather heavy Summilux)? Perhaps but for the price of that hood, it makes me question the construction which is nowhere close to a Leica lenshood. True, this hood is also priced at just over half what the original Leica part would cost.

I am here however, because writing to Thorsten twice, I finally received word that I would not receive a replacement for my hood.  After stressing how cheaply the hood seemed to be made, Adam, the gentleman with whom I have dealt since my original order, said he'd speak with Thorsten about this and get back to me. I've heard nothing in two or three weeks, nor do I expect to. Thorsten is out doing what he loves to do at  apertures of f1-2.  I am less concerned about the hood, which I bent back into tenuous condition to adorn my Summilux Asph. -not sure that's great advertising Thorsten but hey! It is more the apparent lack of attention to customer service that people should be wary of in ordering from the Thurston Overgaard Gallery . 

If you  read this Thorsten, I hope that you will succeed with your retail business venture but strongly recommend that you improve your communication and also consider slightly better tolerances for your lenshood. The Leica ones bend to cushion blows to lenses; we've all seen old hoods that are no longer round, but resemble the noses of prizefighters, beautiful in their own way. Those hoods don't snap like flimsy airplane plastic when you bite into your butter chicken!

David

I ordered a second E39 shade over a month ago. I was told 15-30 days from date of order for delivery. Now it is well over a month, and neither Adam nor the third party manufacturer know when it will ship. The vendor/manufacturer said that she never even received the order. I'm asking for a refund. Zero confidence - Never again

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  • 3 months later...
On 12/22/2020 at 8:10 AM, bherman01545 said:

I ordered a second E39 shade over a month ago. I was told 15-30 days from date of order for delivery. Now it is well over a month, and neither Adam nor the third party manufacturer know when it will ship. The vendor/manufacturer said that she never even received the order. I'm asking for a refund. Zero confidence - Never again

I'm waiting for my order to ship. Did you receive a refund?

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