Lens Hood With Slot

[rpcrowe]

I have this image of a very interesting lens hood. This hood is a PH-RBA 52mm for one of the Olympus lenses it has a slot cut into the bottom of the hood to facilitate the rotation of a CPL filter. The slot can be closed when you don't need to rotate the filter.



I did a Google search for "Lens Hood with Slot" and for "PH-RBA" The latter lead me to a site called Mania Cool but the only slotted hood was for that Olympus lens with a 52mm filter size.

I emailed the company and asked if they know of any slotted hoods for my 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses.

Does anyone of my CiC friends know of a source for slotted hoods.

This seems like a pretty good idea and if there are none available it might behoove a fledgling business person with a China connection to have some fabricated.

[Inkanyezi]

Quick hacksaw job will do the trick.

In fact, you seldom need hood on the underside, but then of course, depending on how the camera is held, the bottom could point just any direction. I think it can be a good help when using a polariser if you are not familiar with the built in lens shade we all have and how to use it. In the studio, I never have a lens hood, but use flags to block unwanted light toward the camera. Outdoors, I use my left hand mostly, but there are occasions when I use something else. A beanie will work fine, or just the shadow of a tree trunk or anything else in the environment.

The main feature of the lens hood is not stopping stray light, but protecting your lens front element from unwanted mechanical contact with objects, so it makes a lot of sense to have one on the lens, and the cutout is practical for rotating a polariser or other variable filter.

[jeeperman]

My Sony 70-400g came with a hood of this sort. It has a sliding door at the bottm and works a treat to twist my polarizer. So far this is the only lens it is offeed on from sony. I had not seen another similar until your post.

[Mike Buckley]

This is a really great idea. I only have a problem with rotating the polarizer on one of my lenses but my wife always has a problem rotating it on the one lens that she uses. I would instantly buy a hood made like this if it was the size of my wife's lens (it isn't).

The main feature of the lens hood is not stopping stray light, but protecting your lens front element from unwanted mechanical contact with objects

I disagree, Urban. If I weren't concerned about flare, I would never use a hood.

[rpcrowe]

I agree with both Mike and Urban... I always use lens hoods to protect both from flare and from damage. I fell one time with a camera and my 70-200mm f/4L lens (don't remember if it was my IS or previous non-IS model) hanging around my neck. The lens hit the cement hood first. This was a round screw-in hood and it was totally demolished. The good thing is that the lens wasn't scratched.

I have some friends with manufacturing contacts in China, unfortunately, they sell the neat (and not so neat) items that are advertised on late night TV. I don't know if they would be interested in branching out to photo gear or even if this item would sell.

[Mike Buckley]

I don't know if they would be interested in branching out to photo gear or even if this item would sell.

It has been 20 minutes since you wrote that post, Richard. You haven't asked them yet?

[ktuli]

I have a Tamron 180mm macro lens that actually has an entire rotating ring on the lens that is designed to let you rotate the filter threads while the hood is on. So you're not rotating the CPL so much as you're rotating the end of the lens with the CPL on it. Just another interesting way to solve this problem...

As for modifying your current hoods, I think a Dremel would be the perfect tool for the job.

- Bill

[MrB]

These PH-RBA slotted bayonet-fit lens hoods are made for and supplied with current Pentax lenses. E.g. My Pentax 18-55 WR, 50-200 WR, and 18-135 WR each came with one of the appropriate size and shape in the box. There are several different hoods, and they all have codes beginning with PH-RB, so it is possible that PH = Pentax Hood. Cheap copies can be found by entering the code into an ebay search - just add a different letter at the end for the different hoods, e.g. PH-RBD.

Cheers.
Philip

[jcuknz]

The main feature of the lens hood is not stopping stray light, but protecting your lens front element from unwanted mechanical contact with objects, so it makes a lot of sense to have one on the lens, .

That is my excuse for having one

Just realised the photo I pirated from Panasonic for my avatar doesn't show a lenshood

[Hero]

The main feature of the lens hood is not stopping stray light, but protecting your lens front element from unwanted mechanical contact with objects, so it makes a lot of sense to have one on the lens, and the cutout is practical for rotating a polariser or other variable filter.

I use mine to keep the noses of our dogs from smutching the glass. They seem to prefer to sniff the edge of the hood instead of the front element

[Ross]

It is very very convenient for adjustment CPL. But it seems destroy the funtion of lens hood.

[jeeperman]

Ross, it really does not hamper the function. I thought it would and was glad that my opening has a slide door. However I tend to forget to close it at times and there is no issue. Being the opening is at the bottom it is in shadow anyway. If you had a reflection shinning up from below it might be an issue but I think you would be hard pressed to find a sittuation where it had a negetive effect.