10-20-2009, 07:58 PM
While i love my AF 85mm f/1.4 lens, one thing i really hate is it's old lens hood design. It's a metal screw-on type lens hood that is non-reversible. So even though it gives good flare and physical protection when you are using the lens. It's a pain when you want to store it in your camera bag. A lot of time i end up leaving the lens hood at home as i don't have space to fit it in my camera bag. So, i've been looking around for a alternative solution and i found there are some collapsible rubber lens hood on ebay. I ordered one and it arrived from HK after just about 1 week
This is what the rubber lens hood looks like:
![[Image: rubberhood1.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/rubberhood/rubberhood1.jpg)
![[Image: rubberhood2.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/rubberhood/rubberhood2.jpg)
As the name suggests, this lens hood is collapsible and you can expand/collapse it to 3 different length. Not only you can collapse it for storage, you adjust the length of the lens hood so it's suitable for lenses of different focal length.
![[Image: rubberhood3.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/rubberhood/rubberhood3.jpg)
The one i ordered has a 77mm filter thread on it so i can just screw it onto my 85 1.4's filter thread.
This is what the lens hood look like when installed on my AF 85mm f/1.4 lens
![[Image: rubberhood4.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/rubberhood/rubberhood4.jpg)
![[Image: rubberhood5.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/rubberhood/rubberhood5.jpg)
![[Image: rubberhood6.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/rubberhood/rubberhood6.jpg)
The normal lens cap can still be used when the lens hood is attached. And I can also install any 77mm filter onto lens hood's thread.
The lens hood is made of soft rubber, that means it is not 100% round especially if you don't store it properly. So far i don't find it a big problem, but i'll have to use it for a longer time to see. And while it can help protect the lens quite a bit, the protection it gives is definitely not as good as the factory metal lens hood especially when it's collapsed into the shortest length.
I was worried it may look weird and doesn't match the build quality of my D700 and 85mm f/1.4 but actually it's a lot better than i thought it would be and it doesn't look too cheap when installed on the 85mm f/1.4.
Overall, i think it's quite a good product and definitely prefer it over the original lens hood that comes with the AF 85mm f/1.4. I would prefer if they used a slightly harder/stronger material but i guess it's something can't be done if we want to keep the collapsible design.
This is what the rubber lens hood looks like:
As the name suggests, this lens hood is collapsible and you can expand/collapse it to 3 different length. Not only you can collapse it for storage, you adjust the length of the lens hood so it's suitable for lenses of different focal length.
The one i ordered has a 77mm filter thread on it so i can just screw it onto my 85 1.4's filter thread.
This is what the lens hood look like when installed on my AF 85mm f/1.4 lens
The normal lens cap can still be used when the lens hood is attached. And I can also install any 77mm filter onto lens hood's thread.
The lens hood is made of soft rubber, that means it is not 100% round especially if you don't store it properly. So far i don't find it a big problem, but i'll have to use it for a longer time to see. And while it can help protect the lens quite a bit, the protection it gives is definitely not as good as the factory metal lens hood especially when it's collapsed into the shortest length.
I was worried it may look weird and doesn't match the build quality of my D700 and 85mm f/1.4 but actually it's a lot better than i thought it would be and it doesn't look too cheap when installed on the 85mm f/1.4.
Overall, i think it's quite a good product and definitely prefer it over the original lens hood that comes with the AF 85mm f/1.4. I would prefer if they used a slightly harder/stronger material but i guess it's something can't be done if we want to keep the collapsible design.