Alf Beharie wrote:
I can tell you what I did...I removed the glass from a 67mm skylight filter and epoxied it onto the front of the lens:
As you can see its very neat and wont devalue the lens.
This left me free to use my generic 67mm rubber hood (the same one I used on my Tokina 17mm f3.5 RMC) and of course comparatively cheap and easy to come by 67mm filters:
All you need to fit a Lee system (I use Cokin P, BTW) is a 67mm Lee adapter ring and your in business.
I'm not sure that it won't devalue the lens, though! (well, maybe it will make it worth more?)
Can the stock hood still be used? - i.e. will it fit over the filter ring?
Yes it will. As you can see from the last pic, the filter body is exactly the same diameter as the front barrel of the lens.
Cableaddict wrote:
Also, I take it that with your P-holder, fully loaded, there is no vignetting? (This is throwing the holder further forward, after all.)
I cant promise that you wont have a vignetting problems on a FF DSLR as I'm using one with a 1.7x crop but as Cokin P filters are big enough to use on the front of 72mm filter thread lenses, possibly even 77mm filter thread lenses, there's a fairly good chance you should'nt have any vignetting problems.
Alf Beharie wrote:
I cant promise that you wont have a vignetting problems on a FF DSLR as I'm using one with a 1.7x crop....
Thanks. That makes it a tough call, as the Lee system is recommended down to exactly 17mm.
-But I'm thinking this should work, because their ratings are VERY conservative.
Also, I could sand-down the filter ring first, so it's as thin as possible. The epoxy will add strength anyway. - and might as well sand -down the front of the lens as well, so there shouldn't really be much extra extension at all.
The fact that the stock hood can still be used makes this a very enticing idea. Thanks!
BTW it does open up to F/3.5 when i pull up on the lever, which i guess is the A/M switch(which my Nikon adapter doesn't utilise). Any help or direction is most appreciated
If it opens all the way with the adapter off the lens it sounds like your adapter is broken or it's not mounting all the way. It should click and lock on. Also why do all of the screws in the lens look buggered? Is that a metal shaving on the right side of the lens?
Previous owner was a lens molester Which makes me think they've stuffed something... one of the internal filters is hazy so they've taken the aperture housing off to try get to it i assume?
It could be F/5.6 even? all i know is when the aperture ring is at "3.5" it sure isn't. When i get the chance i'm gonna put it up against the 17-40L
I actually had something similar happen from not having the mount seated correctly but it doesnt sound too good in your case..
Mine has a couple of hazy filters too, wonder if its a common problem?
Which makes me think they've stuffed something... one of the internal filters is hazy so they've taken the aperture housing off to try get to it i assume?