Hood for FA50mm f1.4


Status
Not open for further replies.

tootboink

New Member
Oct 29, 2009
174
0
0
Hello guys.:)

I got the FA 50 F1.4 recently and it is a little gem. May i know which of the many types of hoods are good/suitable for the lens? I have read in previous threads that a hood is very good in increasing sharpness, reducing flare etc etc.

In addition, can i get it in the shops singapore? Don't have access to paypal and ebay here for all the cheap and good alternatives i seem to hear about.:embrass:

Thank you very much =)
 

Hi bro, dun think a hood can help increase sharpness. It's mainly used for reducing flare n just protecting the lens. I think quite difficult to find hoods selling separately in SG? Anyway u bought your 50mm F1.4 new or used?
 

Hi bro, dun think a hood can help increase sharpness. It's mainly used for reducing flare n just protecting the lens. I think quite difficult to find hoods selling separately in SG? Anyway u bought your 50mm F1.4 new or used?

Reducing stray light will improve contrast and make the picture look better. I bought a rubber hood from OP for around $10 and I used it at the most extended setting with no vignetting. See my avatar picture for a very blurry idea.
 

The hood can indeed improve the image quality for the FA50 quite a while especially when you are using below f2.0. I am using a metal lens hood which is very diffciult to find in Singapore. They can however be found easily off ebay or I remembered Fengwei had his sources for this. You can also get the very pro looking b+w metal hood if you do not mind its cost ($USD20 from B&H excluding shipment).
 

I bought a cheap $8 rubber hood from TCW and brought out for a field test at Punggol beach. It worked fine. but the hood created a cheapo look for my FA50 though.. lol
 

Hello guys.:)

I got the FA 50 F1.4 recently and it is a little gem. May i know which of the many types of hoods are good/suitable for the lens? I have read in previous threads that a hood is very good in increasing sharpness, reducing flare etc etc.

In addition, can i get it in the shops singapore? Don't have access to paypal and ebay here for all the cheap and good alternatives i seem to hear about.:embrass:

Thank you very much =)

Its does not increase sharpness but rather by reducing flare, which helps with the overall contrast which in-turn will give an apparent improvement of "sharpness".
 

I bought a cheap $8 rubber hood from TCW and brought out for a field test at Punggol beach. It worked fine. but the hood created a cheapo look for my FA50 though.. lol

True, looks like you put a toilet plunger on your lens :bsmilie:
 

For the FA 50mm, there are two original Pentax lens hoods available, the traditional round and the slicker looking clip-on rectangular one. Both are durable hard plastic. The screw-in round one is more practical as you can use a larger diameter lens cap at the front.
Actually with the 1.5 crop factor, you can use a deeper hood without vignetting but best to test before using. The best value ones are the unbranded made in China metal hoods with lens caps.

FA50_RoundHood.jpg
FA50_SqHood.jpg
 

I tested the rubber extendable lens hood (the one I linked to ebay) on my MX expecting it to vignette, but surprisingly it doesn't vignette.
It doesn't come with a lens cap, but it has a 49mm filter thread that you can fit the original 49mm lens cap on. I also fit a UV filter on top of the hood.
The rubber hood can extend and retract, making it easy to keep the lens or reach in to remove the lens cap or filter.
But ya, it is a little cheapo looking.
 

to aaron80, i bought it from a nice fellow CSer for $390.

creampuff, the pentax originals, can get in singapore shops? if can i shall go down and take a look maybe.

woefulwabbit - oh, can use debit card? i tried with mine, but it didn't seem to work on the paypal side. can we buy from ebay without a paypal or are they like linked? what about bhphoto.. is it also through paypal?

thanks for all your replies.:)
 

I've used a debit card with paypal before, loooong time ago. Not sure about now though.
It depends on the vendors, most vendors accept paypal, some may allow other forms of payment.
 

I have the original one in round shape, slightly different from Denis' 'cause mine is metal one. But I do prefer those made in China ones, much easier to use and looks pretty nice too.
 

Hi bro, dun think a hood can help increase sharpness. It's mainly used for reducing flare n just protecting the lens.

That's correct. Hoods don't directly increase sharpness. But they help to increase perception of sharpness by reducing flare. Flaring often perceptibly lowers contrast. By preventing or minimizing flaring, a hood helps to minimize loss of contrast... thereby increasing the perception of sharpness... since a more contrasty picture is generally perceived to be sharper than a less contrasty one.
 

Reducing stray light will improve contrast and make the picture look better. I bought a rubber hood from OP for around $10 and I used it at the most extended setting with no vignetting. See my avatar picture for a very blurry idea.

then that's reason enough to get a hood, isn't it, to reduce this stray light:bsmilie:
 

...
creampuff, the pentax originals, can get in singapore shops? if can i shall go down and take a look maybe.

Frankly don't waste your money. Just get the made in China metal hoods that fengwei mentioned. Works great, durable and the quality is fine, much cheaper too and you can use a clip on lens cap. I asked OP to bring in the rectangular hood quite awhile back... more than S$50. I've not used rubber hoods for a long time because they eventually do age and will break where the folds are.
 

I got a rubber hood for my FA*85 cause I found the original one to be quite a hassle to take out, making me use the lens less often. After 1 outing, I gave up. Looks :thumbsd: :)
Not to mention that I found it flimsy and rubbery during usage.

My favorite has to be the china metal ones. They are almost always on my lens and I've mostly replaced the original ones with them.
 

Last edited:
Is the China-made metal hoods available locally from retail or is this ordered on-line? Any sites to recommend?
 

Is the China-made metal hoods available locally from retail or is this ordered on-line? Any sites to recommend?

You can find them on ebay. Don't think those ebay ones would come w/ matching front caps, but you can get one cap from some local shops :)
 

hi feng wei,

do you have a key word to search for?

I am looking for a 49mm metal hood for a 50/1.4 and a 58 mm metal hood for the FA 31/1.8
 

Status
Not open for further replies.