When and How to Shade a Lens in the Field?

[patawauke]

In 35mm and MF photography it would never occur to me not to use a lens hood, except when, say, a polarising filter was mounted and there was no way to fit a hood around it (eg with the Mamiya 7 dedicated polariser). Are LF shooters expected to be so punctillious?

As I have a full set of 67mm colour and B&W filters from my Mamiya 7 system, I would like to use them with my LF lenses, with the right step up/down rings. But I don't have a lenshood solution with this system, and I worry about flare and reduced contrast.

Outside of the studio, with LF lenses, what do people do, use a Gorilla clamp and darkslide kind of thing (or a hat for that matter), or is it overkill to lug a suitcase of Lee filters and bellows hood around? I see lots of photos on these forums of LF shooters with their cameras in the field adorned with binocular viewers and compendium bellows hood (resembling giant caterpillars, with all the pleats), although shots of Ansel Adams working next to a mountain with his camera never showed him using a shade, even with his, I assume, old uncoated lenses.

The purpose of using a shade being to reduce flare, which type of flare is most effectively controlled and how? Eg, direct or glancing sunlight, bright cloudy skies, bellows flare, too great an IC, etc? With MC lenses do I need to have any concern in most field conditions?

Any advice for a Newbie please?

[PAUL O]

I suppose the biggest issue for LF users is that a bellows hood is yet another piece of kit to lug around

There is an obvious benefit to using a hood - especially on LF as stray light can bounce around the bellows causing internal flare and so lower contrast of the final image. Anything that reduces this unecessary/stray light will be of benefit.

To fully realise this benefit then despite the claims of many (myself included) to use a hat, darkslide etc to shade the front element a bellows hood (of the correct dimensions) is needed. I think the biggest "mistake" is that unless the sun is directly in the frame or hitting the front of the lens we assume all is well? In fact, in reality any non-image forming light will have an effect on the film.

To counter this the best advice would be to use one of the Lee bellows hoods - expensive but really the only answer. They are fully adjustable and can be used straight onto the lens via an adpater ring or form part of a system with a filter holder.

I have started using the Wide Angle version on 5x7 as I made the "mistake" of taking the ground glass assembly off the camera and looking through it under a darkcloth - I was surprised at how bright it was inside the camera! The hood should, according to the concept, reduce this brightness and so prevent a lowering of contrast?

Fingers crossed .... the bellows cost me £150!!!

[David Rees]

I agree with Paul that a Lee bellows hood is the best answer -- I often use them too. But, there are other options which can be almost as good, at a significantly smaller cost.

When I moved into LF, I standardised on 77mm for my filters. I then purchased from eBay some inexpensive 77mm metal lens hoods -- wide, standard and tele (came from ebay seller heavystar -- highly recommended, and a good source for step up/down rings too). These were relatively lightweight, and more importantly, occupied little space in the bag. After composing the shot, I'd simply screw in the appropriate hood, check at f22 that there was no vignetting in the corners, and then take the shot. Worked a treat.

Whilst not the best possible hood solution, I think this approach adheres to the 80/20 rule -- some hood is better than no hood. Since you wish to standardise on 67mm filter thread, I imagine the cost for 3 hoods will be in the region of £25 total, so quite affordable.

BTW, the dedicated Mamiya 7 polariser can take a hood -- it is threaded at the front for 77mm filters, etc.

[Joanna Carter]

I suppose the biggest issue for LF users is that a bellows hood is yet another piece of kit to lug around

Although the Lee hoods don't take up too much space/weight; I put mine in the front pocket of the Lowepro Photo Trekker, along with the QL holder and film.

There is an obvious benefit to using a hood - especially on LF as stray light can bounce around the bellows causing internal flare and so lower contrast of the final image. Anything that reduces this unecessary/stray light will be of benefit.

Yes, this is something that I had read about but didn't realise how much difference stray, indirect, light made, until I splashed out on a compendium hood and shot some film for comparison. The contrast and shadow detail gain is definitely noticeable.

the bellows cost me £150!!!

I can, presently, do the Wide Angle hood for £161.26 plus P&P; the Universal hood is less at £107.52 plus P&P.

or is it overkill to lug a suitcase of Lee filters and bellows hood around?

You shouldn't need a suitcase I use a 24 CD wallet, bought from Maplin, to hold all my filters; it fits quite snugly into my bag; Lee's idea of separate wallets for each filter is nice but not very practical in the field.

[joolsb]

To be honest, I've never seen anyone use a compendium outside of a studio - and that includes Light&Land workshops with you-know-who . In a studio, with strong directional light coming in from many angles, it makes a lot of sense. In the field, however, it's really only necessary to shade the lens in the direction of the sun. That said, using a shade does mean one less thing to worry about.

[PAUL O]

Hi Jools
I think the reason few of us use them outdoors is the fact that its another piece of kit to lug around!
I was very surprised when I carried out the test by removing ground glass - I would suggest that they are worth using in any situation; indoors or out. I know of many "experts" who use them and just because Mr C chooses not to is not reason to leave it behind

[joolsb]

To me, it's a trade-off. Obviously there will be some effect but is it significant enough to justify lugging yet another bit of kit around? I have to admit to being rather sceptical. It seems to me that mountains might being made out of molehills...

BTW, I do have a Lee hood but haven't used it for a long time.

[patawauke]

Many thanks for the suggestions, it is always interesting to get people's experiences. I will probably go with the Lee standard compendium hood, as I don't plan to be shooting super-wides, and I shall certainly get a hood for the Mamiya with polariser! I also agree about ebay vendor Heavystar, I sourced Horseman 45FA style lensboards from them in the past.

[Joanna Carter]

I will probably go with the Lee standard compendium hood, as I don't plan to be shooting super-wides

From experience, I would recommend the Universal Hood rather than the standard one, it's not that much more but it is more flexible and will also serve for any other lens on any other camera that you should happen to come across.

[Charles Twist]

Hello Paul,
Without wishing to cast doubt on your story, you say that you see a lot of light in the bellows. I know what you mean... But how bright is that compared to the direct light ? If one works with transparency, anything more than two stops under is negligible. So I am curious to know how much this diffuse light is an issue.
Also: when applying small apertures, the light goes through a hole which is tending towards a pin-hole. Now, in optical terms, the advantage of a pin-hole within one's optical set-up is to be rid of stray light (actually all unfocused light). So when you say you that you see a lot of light in your bellows, is that with a fully open diaphragm?
Best regards,
Charles

[PAUL O]

Hi Charles
To be more accurate ... when I removed the ground glass frame and looked under the dark cloth the inside of the bellows was brighter than I expected (very diffused light). As I closed aperture down the level of brightness decreased but I was still surprised at how light it was in there!

I haven't been able to test with film (yet) but would be interested to see if there was any difference in negative contrast when exposures were made with and without a properly-adjusted bellow lens hood. My (unscientific!) thinking is this... if a bellows is placed in front of the lens this must surely restrict non-image forming light from entering the lens/camera and therefore should reduce the diffuse/stray light that I can see inside the camera thus helping with contrast??

Or maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree?

[Joanna Carter]

Interesting article on using Compendium hoods http://www.viewcamera.com/documents/pages56-59.pdf

[dave_whatever]

What I tend to do vis a vis shading the lens is if i've got enough time to fit the hood, and a spare filter slot, then I will, the standard Lee hood adds little bulk or weight to my bag really. However if i'm pressed for time then I won't, probably just shade the lens with my hand or body or whatever. I won't lose sleep over it but I do like to use the hood these days when practical.

I think the lens you're using plays a part too. If you've got a lot of spare image circle floating around then its going to be more of an issue. So say I was taking a shot with a lot of bright sky above the top of shot (which could well be many stops brighter than the main image) with a 150mm symmar on a 6x7 back then i've got a lot of bright image circle spare, so I recon hood use would be a good thing in this circumstance. Conversely If shooting with a lens without excess coverage, or where the stray image circle was about the same brightness as the main image I might not bother.

Another point to consider (especially give the cost of Lee hoods and the issues with combining them with wide lenses or polarisers etc) is that generally the excess bright light in the image circle you're worried about is often mainly the sky or sun either above shot or off to one side rather than the dark foreground in front of you (working on snow or ice not withstanding). So it might be more practical, compact and cost effective to use something like a spare darkslide attached to one of those flexible arms instead of a dedicated hood. I made one of these myself recently and I will be trying it out this winter.

[Paul Mitchell]

I always have my compendium hood in my bag, as well as using for its intended purpose I turn it round and it becomes very useful as a GG screen shade during my initial set up.

[Joanna Carter]

I always have my compendium hood in my bag, as well as using for its intended purpose I turn it round and it becomes very useful as a GG screen shade during my initial set up.

That's what I like about this group, folks who think "outside the box". What a great idea!