Anyone have a suggestion for a rubber hood for aerial photography (to remove reflections from the windows) that does not suck?
I bought the ULH Go and it is a disappointing floppy mess that is nearly impossible to position properly, especially if you are in a cramped helicopter or a bush plane.
Is Lenskirt the only game in town worth the money?
What filter size and focal lengths? If you can find the long discontinued Mamiya 77mm rubber hood, it was very well made and definitely not floppy. It was good on a 70-200 and might be usable with 50mm before vignetting.
I've used Hoya rubber hoods (58mm & 77mm) for many years, for mostly photography in aquariums, but also from aloft. Unfortunately, they seem to be discontinued, too.
As mentioned above, the Mamiya rubber hoods are very well constructed. The Mamiya No. 1 and No. 2 77mm rubber hoods, and others, are available on ebay.
Indeed, Mamiya made more than one rubber hood and I was referring to the No. 2, which is suitable for a normal or telephoto lens. A downside I've found with these, of which I have two, is that after ~20 years, the repeated flexing of the material when you collapse/extend it, is taking some toll. And with one of mine the hood pulls off the mounting ring when transitioning between collapsed/extended. It's a simple matter to fit the rubber end of the hood back into the exterior groove of the ring, and it will stay mounted as long as it isn't aggressively handled. Point being that used ones might not be functionally optimal given their age. They also become very rigid in cold temperatures, therefore in these conditions it's best to leave it extended.
While this might not be a solution for this application, I recall some photographers used flexible PVC plumbing connectors, for example when the NBA mandated that all lenses had to have rubber hoods, on lenses like 300/2.8, etc., that otherwise didn't have rubber hood options or even filter threads.
GroovyGeek wrote:
I bought the ULH Go and it is a disappointing floppy mess that is nearly impossible to position properly, especially if you are in a cramped helicopter or a bush plane.
Your post reminded me that I've intended to get something like this for a while. Ordered this one which seems to have decent reviews (better than the ULH anyway). -
The Mamiya No. 1 hood is for lenses around 90mm on the RB67 (6x7 format). That would be about 45mm in full frame. Since you would need to use a 67-77mm step up ring on your lens, you might get by at 35mm without vignetting.
That looks pretty decent. I'm not sure what the benefit is of being able to extend it backwards over the lens??
Also not sure why it's specifically not Canon RF lens compatible.
I run a 82mm adapter ring on all my non-SWA lenses because I carry a set of 82mm CPL and ND filters. The 3 positions and 82mm ring should allow me to comfortably cover the wntire 24-200mm range.
Looks good. It is very similar to the Hoya, which lets you get a good light seal even when you're at an angle to the glass; one side of the hood partially collapses, but it holds a more-or-less round shape at the front edge.
rscheffler wrote:
That looks pretty decent. I'm not sure what the benefit is of being able to extend it backwards over the lens??
Also not sure why it's specifically not Canon RF lens compatible.
Just a guess, but the RF lens control ring at the front might be a problem.
rscheffler wrote:
That looks pretty decent. I'm not sure what the benefit is of being able to extend it backwards over the lens??
Also not sure why it's specifically not Canon RF lens compatible.
jeffbuzz wrote:
Just a guess, but the RF lens control ring at the front might be a problem.
That was my thought, but you don't need to use the control ring. At least I rarely use it, so would not be an issue for me. A handful of RF lenses also have the ring closer to the body, IIRC.
I tried several of the silicone collapsible rubber hoods from Amazon. All work well enough if you are shooting through a flat surface straight ahead. All are completely useless if you need to angle the lens or the glass surface is curved, as it often is on a helicopter.
Guess I will have to spring for a Lenskirt. There are several listed for sale on depop for under $25 in case anyone is looking.
EB-1 wrote:
I always used the threaded hoods, but they deterioprated over time and were tossed.
I don't like those kind that will mess with the controls.
If you have the means to have a helicopter then maybe find someone to create a better mount for one of the adjustable hoods.
EBH
Uhhh... shooting from a helicopter does not mean I have a helicopter
jcolwell wrote:
Looks good. It is very similar to the Hoya, which lets you get a good light seal even when you're at an angle to the glass; one side of the hood partially collapses, but it holds a more-or-less round shape at the front edge.
It is a floppy mess. The silicone is very thin and does not seal at an angle. On the plus side a hood of this size on an 82mm step-up ring does not vignette past 35mm... which shooting perpendicular to the glass... which is almost never the case in a heli.
GroovyGeek wrote:
It is a floppy mess. The silicone is very thin and does not seal at an angle. On the plus side a hood of this size on an 82mm step-up ring does not vignette past 35mm... which shooting perpendicular to the glass... which is almost never the case in a heli.
Too bad. The Hoya is quite stiff, and holds its shape well.
