On 4/11/03, [EMAIL PROTECTED] disgorged: >Thinking (dreaming, more like) about how to become fabulously wealthy, I >wondered if there is a potential market for new lens hoods for DSLRs. > >I assume that the original, 35mm coverage, lenshoods could now be >significantly extended and not impinge on the APS-sized-chip image?
Funny you should mention this Mike. My Frankencam V2 K50mm f/1.2 sits waiting for a mount that is being made, and I thought I'd like to get a lens hood for it. It's a 52mm thread on the front, so I searched eBay for 52mm lens hoods. Reasoning that a 50mm lens will act as an 80mm on my digi, a normal 50mm hood will be to 'wide' for the lens. I was looking at some Nikon and Canon hoods as i hate screw-in hoods and much prefer bayonety or clamp-on hoods, when I came across a Pentax 52mm shade. It's designed to fit the 85mm 1.8, the 100mm 4, and the 105mm 2.8 lenses, and is the clamp-on type :-) . It was from a seller in Greece of all places and it was mint in box for less than 20 quid. In fact it was unmarked and for all intents and purposes, new. Now obviously this hood on the K50 will cause vignetting if the lens is used on a film 35mm Pentax body. Used on an *ist D or (horrors) a D60, it should be just about right to provide a decent amount of shade. As soon as I can try it out I will report back. But this also means that any lens with a hood can be improved on for DSLRs with a less than full-frame sensor. My Tokina 28-70 tulip-shaped 'perfect' hood becomes slightly less than perfect when the lens is mounted on the D60. Not only am I using a hood that is too wide for the wide end (28mm is effectively 44mm for me), but at the tele end, it is completely useless (70mm is effectively 112mm). I think there is an excellent market for a whole range of lens hoods for a whole range of lenses used on a whole range of APS DSLRs. Go for it! Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| www.macads.co.uk/snaps _____________________________ Free UK Mac Ads www.macads.co.uk
