New lens hoods promise superior digital experience!
By
Mike Tomkins
(Friday, November 30, 2001 - 14:32 EST)
FlexHood addon lens-hood line from TrueDigitalPhoto targeted at a range of digital SLR cameras...
A press release from the folks at TrueDigitalPhoto alerted us to their new line of FlexHood lens hoods designed specifically for use with single lens reflex (SLR) digital cameras from Canon, Fuji, Kodak and Nikon. Many photographers switching from film to digital will have noticed that lens flare can be more of a problem than they're used to - and there's a fairly simple reason for that. Lens flare is caused by bright, stray light entering the lens at an angle, and reflecting off the interior glass surfaces; lens hoods combat this by attempting to shield as much of the front surface of the lens as possible from light without blocking the field of view. So long as the light source isn't visible in the image, it should be blocked from having any adverse effect.
The problem is that most digital cameras use a significantly smaller sensor area than that of 35mm film, meaning that they use a correspondingly smaller area of the lens as well. A digital image which is framed with the bright light source outside it may still have that light shining inside the areaof the lens that isn't blocked by a hood designed for 35mm film...
TrueDigital's FlexHood lineup has been created with the differing sensor areas of digital cameras in mind, and blocks the areas missed by the manufacturer-supplied lens hoods. Made of a flexible, semi-transparent film that dims extraneous light, the hoods attach via reusable sticky pads to the manufacturer-supplied hood, so you do need the original hood as well. Two types of hoods are available, 3/4 types which block light on three sides of the image, or slightly larger full hoods that block extraneous light on all sides.
The hoods have a claimed lifetime of 3-4 months "with careful use", and some models are designed to be reversible so that they can be stored reversed over the lens along with a reversible manufacturer-supplied hood. FlexHoods are available or planned for the following cameras: - Canon EOS D30
- Canon EOS-1D
- FujiFilm FinePix S1 Pro
- Kodak DCS 315
- Kodak DCS 330
- Kodak DCS 420
- Kodak DCS 460
- Kodak DCS 520
- Kodak DCS 560
- Kodak DCS 620
- Kodak DCS 620x
- Kodak DCS 660
- Kodak DCS 720
- Kodak DCS 720x
- Kodak DCS 760
- Nikon D1
- Nikon D1H
- Nikon D1X
The FlexHoods are compatible with lenses from Nikon, Sigma, Tamron and Tokina, with plans for Canon-compatible hoods next month, at a cost of $6 each plus $3 shipping.
 | True Digital Photo's 3/4 type FlexHood model m#430-01 attached to the Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 lens with HB-23 lens hood.
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Source:
True Digital Photo Co.
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Original Source Press Release:
| FlexHood™: INNOVATIVE, PRACTICAL, PROTECTIVE What would you say to a simple weightless accessory that helped you to reduce flare and enhance contrast of digital images taken in the studio, in the field or virtually in any shooting scenario? You'd probably be curious and interested to further find out that the same innovative accessory also protects the front element of your lens from raindrops and was created for popular digital SLRs such as Nikon D1, Fuji S1, Kodak DCS 720 and Canon D30. We are talking about FlexHoods - flexible hood extenders, by FlexHood Products (True Digital Photo Co.).
Flare and ghosting are two common problems known to any photographer. These problems become exacerbated when digital cameras are used. The reason? Standard lens shade is not effective when used on digital SLR. Owners of popular digital SLRs know that these cameras make effective focal length of their lenses approximately 1.5 times longer, i.e. super wide angle 14mm lens behaves like a 21mm lens; 17mm-35mm zoom becomes 25mm-52mm. This changes effective angle of view and makes standard hoods available for these lenses not adequate when used on professional digital cameras. FlexHoods are extenders of existing hoods that allow for extra protection from flare without blocking the view or causing vignetting.
FlexHoods can be used in a wide variety of shooting situations. It easily attaches to your existing hood with a special kind of nondrying adhesive leaving no residue on the original hood when taken off. In studio shooting, FlexHood offers extra protection from back and side lighting. In an outside shooting, FlexHood protects you from sun and even rain, shielding front element of the lens from raindrops.
All FlexHoods act as a neutral density filters, dimming extraneous light. Some models are 'reversible' and can be easily stored in a reversed position, i.e. the original hood may be reversed without detaching FlexHood from it.
Shape of every FlexHood model is mathematically calculated and tailored to be used with particular lens. Many models of FlexHood are available now; many more are under development and will be released soon after testing.
At the moment of publication, list of available models includes FlexHoods for: Nikkor 14mm f/2.8 AF; Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AFS; Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8 AFS; Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 AFS; Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 AFD; Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 AFD; Tamron 14mm f/2.8 AF; Sigma 14mm f/2.8 HSM; Tokina 17mm f/3.5 ATX PRO II; Tokina 28-70 f/2.6-2.8 ATX PRO. For complete list of models available, please visit www.FlexHood.com.
For more information, contact True Digital Photo, 315 West Grand Street #3B, Elizabeth, NJ 07202; (509) 461-0102; website www.FlexHood.com or write email to [email protected] |
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