[Leica] Lens Hood

["Rodgers, David" <david.rodgers@xo.com>]

John Shick wrote:

>>Well, lucky me, I just recently came across a very nice 50mm Summarit with
no
fog or cleaning marks to speak of and am looking forward to using the lens. 
However, one look at all that glass tells me that this lens will need all
the
flare protection it can get.   The Leitz shade for this lens is both hard to
find and ungodly expensive when found, ( I recently sold an as new one for
$200, and I am of course now kicking myself for having done so.).  Any
suggestions for an affordable alternative><<

John

I use a 28/35/50 M lenses and they take 3 different filter sizes (actually 4
since I have 'luxs and 'crons in 35 & 50). Rather than buy a set of filters
for each, I bought step ups and the best set of 49mm filters I could find.
That meant I couldn't use the original shades on the 35 and 50.

Solution: old Pentax hoods, holdovers from my Spotmatic days. I actually
like the metal Pentax shades better than the newer plastic Leica hoods. They
don't seem to interfere with the viewfinder any more than the OEM hoods. As
far as protection from flare, I've used just about every combination
imaginable and I've never noticed a difference. (I have noticed loss of
contrast with  no hood at all). I also step up to 52 on occasion. In that
case I used Nikon hoods.

My R lenses are more standardized, but my 28/2.8 R is either 48mm or SVII. I
often step it up to 52. The Nikon 28 hood doesn't cloak the lens as much as
the standard 28 Leica shade, but I've used both a lot and I've never noticed
a difference between either option. IOW, the Leica lens doesn't complain too
loudly about sporting a Nikon shade. 

If happen to dent the Pentax or Nikon hoods, I'm not ruining an expensive
Leica hood. Hadn't really considered this until you mentioned the $200
Summarit hood. But I tend to ding hoods more than anything else.

I don't know what filter size the Summarit is, but can't imagine it would be
that difficult to find a suitable solution.

I'd like to say that looks don't matter, but they do. Yet even bizarre
combinations of step ups and shades appear pretty normal. Only a fellow
lugger would notice. I adhere to the philosophy that OEM is the way to go.
Especially since Leica has always gone the extra mile in terms of
engineering. But there's a limit, if you know what I mean :-) 

Dave