# Rubber Hoods



## androiduk (Jan 4, 2014)

I wass thinking of trying to find a soft rubber hood instead of the hard plastic one I already have. Although I'm pretty careful I still occasionally bang the hood against something and I thought a rubber one would absorb impact better. Has anyone used one for any length of time? My biggest concerns would be how they hold up in very cold/hot weather and whether or not they would warp on the ends.


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## jdramirez (Jan 4, 2014)

http://www.meritline.com/lens-hood-55mm-3-stage-soft-rubber-lens-hood---p-61864.aspx

I had one of these for a while with my initial lenses of a 18-55 and a 55-250.

I liked it... it fit easily in my bag at the time and it did the job of preventing light flares... BUT it wouldn't do jack squat if I dropped my body/lens to the ground. It attaches via the lens filter grooves, so if you have that in combination of a UV filter... ok... there is some protection of the element. 

As for quality... I think it worked really well. There wasn't ever a rip, and I don't recall cold or hot weather affecting it... it never melted (but I don't recall what extreme temperatures I had my gear in).

As for warping... I think I had that rubber hood for 2 years and I didn't see any warping.


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## AcutancePhotography (Jan 6, 2014)

I agree, a rubber hood is not going to provide too much physical protection.

In my half vast experience, I found the rubber hoods to be better suited for the wider angle lenses.

One tip, if the rubber hood is one of those extendable ones, don't store it scrunched up. I prematurely wore out one of mine because I stored it contracted and that put some stress on the material.

My opinion? Use a metal/plastic hood when ever possible/practical. The only time a rubber hood excels is when taking photographs through windows.


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## neuroanatomist (Jan 6, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> The only time a rubber hood excels is when taking photographs through windows.



+1 (Although wrapping the sleeve of a sweater or something like that around the front of the regular hood does a good job at cutting out reflections, too.)


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## surapon (Jan 6, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> I agree, a rubber hood is not going to provide too much physical protection.
> 
> In my half vast experience, I found the rubber hoods to be better suited for the wider angle lenses.
> 
> ...



+ 10 for Me Too, Dear Mr. AcutancePhotography, " The only time a rubber hood excels is when taking photographs through windows."---Special on the Airplane's window, That is the most important Tool that I must have to shoot the beautiful sky above the earth, With out get the reflection from the in cabin light.
Surapon

PS, My TRICKS = Never use the Big DSLR and The BIG Lens on the Airplane, Some One can stop you = The Rule of some AirLines , do not take any Public Photos in the Flight that include the People or the Staffs. Yes, I use my Small point and shoot Camera, But just when some one do not see me during my photography time.


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## sagittariansrock (Jan 6, 2014)

androiduk said:


> I wass thinking of trying to find a soft rubber hood instead of the hard plastic one I already have. Although I'm pretty careful I still occasionally bang the hood against something and I thought a rubber one would absorb impact better. Has anyone used one for any length of time? My biggest concerns would be how they hold up in very cold/hot weather and whether or not they would warp on the ends.



I have a cheap rubber hood for my 50 1.8. Lenses like that are better off with flexible rubber hoods, since a plastic hood will (and does) rip the front element off if stressed. It has become discolored and slightly misshapen, but is still perfectly usable after 2 years. And it is a nice cushion for the lens inside the bag (folded up).



surapon said:


> Special on the Airplane's window, That is the most important Tool that I must have to shoot the beautiful sky above the earth, With out get the reflection from the in cabin light.
> Surapon



Nice pics, Surapon!



neuroanatomist said:


> Although wrapping the sleeve of a sweater or something like that around the front of the regular hood does a good job at cutting out reflections, too.



Great tip, thanks!


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## FTb-n (Jan 6, 2014)

I've used rubber lens hoods on my FD lenses for decades. They generally held up well and I always folded it all they back to store the lens.

Most of these lenses had 52, 55, or 58 mm filter tfhreads. Most of my EF lenses have thread sizes larger than 58mm. I find rubber hoods for these lenses too inconveniently large in diameter and I prefer the plastic hoods.

I can't say which offers greater protection during a fall, but both offer good protection against bumps when carrying the camera with a shoulder strap.


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## DavidD (Jan 6, 2014)

Good question.

I've been using rubber lens hoods for a few years and have only found two drawbacks.

But overall they give me more confidence that the lens won't get hurt (thick rubber after all) 
and that the lens hood won't break or get lost.

And they let me stuff my long lens in a camera bag without taking the hood off. 
The lens hood just smushes up (technical term) nicely.

1. They do "vignette" (meaning corners tips are solid black) 
if you don't adjust them carefully. 
They have three settings so you can back them off to eliminate this "vignetting."

2. They are so cheap, I'm trying to cut the rubber to mimic the lens hood 
"leaves" or petals from the plastic wide angle lens. 

The bother is that these hoods screw on so they don't always line up 
exactly where they were when I cut them. (Hint to manufacturers: I'll 
buy several if you can do this for us.)

The bottom line is I use the rubber lens hoods 95% of the time 
over the perfectly good plastic hoods that came with the lenses.
The remaining 5% is for wide angle when the sun is right on the
cusp of lighting up the front lens.

Here's the 77mm version that I use.

http://www.camera-filters.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=483_724


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