Cheap Olympus 75mm hood now on Amazon (UPDATE: E-P3 deal at Adorama).
Rainbowimaging is now selling a cheap alternative at Amazon US (Click here) which they say 100% replace the original Olympus LH-61F (Click here). If you click the two links and than compare the images of the hoods you wills ee that they are pretty much identical! The lens itself is in Stock via third party resellers on Amazon (with a not so nice $200 extra to pay).
Wlcastleman (Click here) posted a full review of the lens: “It is difficult to write about this lens without using superlatives. It is incredibly sharp wide open across the image field and produces very high quality bokeh with evenly illuminated out of focus specular light. It can be shot wide open in portrait applications to produce sharply focused subjects and excellent background blurring.”
Olympus 75mm in Stock status check: Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
UPDATE: There is a new E-P3 deal at Adorama!
Olympus E-P3 PEN 12.3MP Digital Camera with M. Zuiko Digital 14-42mm II R f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens now with a $50 price drop in Black, Silver and White. And for the same price there is also “Special limited time promotion” with 8GB card, spare battery, case, software. Again in Black, Silver and White.
Ranger 9
9 months ago |“If you click the two links and than compare the images of the hoods you wills ee that they are pretty much identical!”
Well, at least the IMAGES are. In fact, I tried stacking them as Photoshop layers and found that the images are identical right down to the number of knurls on the locking knob, the position of the reflected highlights, and the exact angle of the Phillips screw on the base. If I were the cynical type, I’d suspect that somebody had simply taken the Olympus photo and cloned off the “OLYMPUS LENS HOOD LH-61F” marking.
I wonder what the actual ITEM will look like…
uberzone
9 months ago |My guess would be cheap plastic with a loose fitting, just like all the rest of them. Seems to me like both the real deal and the knockoffs are all a ripoff.
Ranger 9
9 months ago |I dunno, I bought a third-party hood for my 45/1.8 and it’s not bad — all metal, nicely cut threads, reasonably good surface finish. I’m sure it’s well within the capabilities of Chinese OEMs to do a good knock-off of the Olympus hood… my point was that you can’t tell from the picture, since it seems to be the SAME picture.
However, my 45mm hood had a single-digit price tag; at the asking price for the 75mm hood, I might be tempted to spend the extra 25 bucks for the Olympus original.
I remember when I was buying the factory metal hoods and caps for my Contax G2 lenses, the price seemed like a ripoff… but when I sold that outfit years later, those hoods and caps were still worth money, which wouldn’t have been the case with aftermarket ones…
Ulli
9 months ago |check on ebay for olympus 75mm hood and you will find plenty of chinese metal/clamp hoods of similar design and also around 35-40 euros.
Phil Rudin
9 months ago |I have the ones for the 75mm, 45mm, 12mm and 12-50mm Olympus M43 lenses and they all work well and appear to be the same unbranded hoods sold by Olympus.
Shame on Olympus for not providing these with at least the higher cost lenses. My Panasonic M43 lenses all came with a lens hood and case. As a long time Olympus fan this is just poor judgement and has been reflected in my reviews of Olympus products.
Phil Rudin
peevee
9 months ago |No, $47 for a simple hood is not cheap.
TheEye
9 months ago |It’s probably a cheap hood that’s way overpriced. The concept has existed for a long time: “Lead to gold.”
Jim Felt
9 months ago |I bought the factory hood with the 12mm f:2 and returned it as it would not attach to my front B+W silver MRC UV filter. Too tight and lousy adjustment potential. Basically a useless product.
I used an early version 75mm a few months ago and though I’ve no use for a 150mm equivalent lens that factory hood also seemed kindly cruddy. I’ve no idea what they’re thinking with these shitty hoods. Panasonic seems able to make useful hoods. And is smart enought to include them with the lens. Hmmmm.
Harold Glit
9 months ago |So let s see. We now have a hood in stock for a lens that is out if stock. and we have a camera in stock with batteries out of stock for the last 4 months.
the danger if making things so complicate by changing battery with every new camera and not making hoods part of the lens purchase
Harold
Jan
9 months ago |Has anyone tried this one http://www.ebay.nl/itm/Metal-Silver-Lens-Hood-Shade-for-Olympus-M-Zuiko-Digital-ED-75mm-f-1-8-LH-61F-/380464628714?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item58957583ea#ht_3603wt_689
michaelfromoz
9 months ago |I have just received one ordered on eBay from HK. It is manufactured by JJC. It is metal and built extremely well. I reckon the original could not be any better. It cost me 45AUD (free postage). I have also ordered a pair of JJC from HK for my 45mm (plastic) and 12mm (metal). They cost 45AUD the pair (free postage).
see: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/170896328095?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
I expect them any day now and they should have the same quality of build.
TysonRobichaud
9 months ago |To be fair, and as far as I know, ALL Panasonic zoom lenses come with a lens hood, even the cheap 14-42 kits. The pancake primes (14 & 20) do not, but they’re also very affordable lenses. The only Oly zoom I’ve purchased has been the 12-50 in the OMD kit, no hood. I guess what I’m getting at, is it seems Panasonic sees the importance of providing a hood, and seemingly can do so realistically understanding that a molded piece of plastic, produced in number, average out to maybe a couple dollars in cost. Adjust the selling price of the lens to cover that, and everyone is seemingly happy. Oly on the other hand seems to see the opportunity to gouge their customers on this front as most any comparable lens is more expensive than their Pana counterparts, yet do not include these hoods, and offer them as ridiculously priced aftermarket add ons. Two different philosophies I guess, and one, in Oly’s case, that I’d imagine has something to do with their recent corporate woes.
I would bet my OMD that a majority of these hoods are all coming from the same, or very similarly spec’d manufacturers, in China or Hong Kong. The cost for injection molding is in the mold itself, and again, with the numbers produced, that price gets quickly absorbed. (I’d say, in Oly’s case, they’d really only need to sell around a hundred at their current asking price to turn a profit.) Some of them have the Oly logo printed on them, and some, popped out of the same (or identical) injection mold do not. The main difference is the price charged.
Fish
9 months ago |Agreed. Also, I think the reason we don’t see hoods included with the 14mm and the 20mm is not necessarily an issue of price, but rather due to the fact that they are pancakes. Panasonic may have felt that a hood defeats the purpose of a pancake design (JMO).
But hats off to Panasonic for their lenses – and their decision to include hoods. Olympus could learn a thing about engendering goodwill in their customers. However much they make in “accessory” hood sales (especially considering the 3rd party sellers), it can’t be worth what they are losing in their customers feeling like they got an incomplete product or in all the reviews that would have been 100% positive EXCEPT for the gripe about the missing hood.
Chad (an admitted Oly fanboy)
TheEye
9 months ago |I have some very high quality (as opposed to “cheap”) black anodized aluminum metal hoods made by B&W that were less expensive than that (presumedly) cheap hood.
“Cheap” is not the same as “inexpensive.” Cheap refers to quality and not to price.
cheap = made from low quality materials and or with poor craftsmanship/machining, casting/finish
babbit
9 months ago |Actually, the primary definition of “cheap” is in expensive or having more value than actual cost. It is actually the opposite of low quality because most cheap items are made of good quality. A low cost item with low quality would not be cheap. It was only in the mid 80s or so did people start using the word in conjunction with low quality. Because of that, some dictionaries added that part of the definition in, but there are still dictionaries that define cheap only as inexpensive or having good value.
TheEye
9 months ago |You got that wrong:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cheap
Matt
9 months ago |“Cheap Hood” LMAO!!!
Miklós
9 months ago |I have a Rainbowimaging silver metal screw-in hood to my 12/2.0. It has very high quality, looks nice, and exactly the same colour as the 12.
See it here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/miklosrabi/7407089110/in/set-72157625085757906
And here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/miklosrabi/6780836581/in/set-72157625085757906
Roy
9 months ago |Olympus has probably the weirdest plan for lens marketing strategy. Given the lens price, why don’t they provide the hood with lens
Erik Aaseth
9 months ago |(regarding the 75mm test at Wlcastleman):
Wow – just look at the MTF values at say F2.0, where the Zuiko totally crushes the Nikkor! And that even when the Nikkor is way more stopped down from wide open than the Zuiko (from 1.4>2.0 and 1.8>2.0 respectively). Add to that the fact that the E-M5 also crops out the sweetspot from the Nikkor, so in fact the true corner performance of the Nikkor (on FF) is probably way worse than shown here. Zuiko rules!
http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/olympus75mm/index.htm
And here the lens results are truly comparable, as they are all used on the same body. Although the Pana is a zoom, and thus should not be expected to perform as well, the difference seems just too big to me, making that lens look just sad…
AdventureRob
9 months ago |$46 for a round piece of plastic cheap?
Holding my hand near the lens to shade it is cheap. Seems a shame people pay a premium for this special coated glass designed to reduce flair when a simple plastic hood comes with a similar mark up. I’m surprised there isn’t more competition here.
michaelfromoz
9 months ago |The JJC Metal lens hood that I purchased from HK for the M.Zuiko 75mm f1.8 for 45AUD instead of the Olympus 95AUD is great quality, fits the lens perfectly, goes on backwards for storage just like the original and the colour match is perfect.
Scott
9 months ago |I just got mine in. It fits perfect but the finish doesnt match exactly but good enough for me. oh and it is metal