Sony a6400 Lens Hood

[Dennisspeaks]

I just got my first Sony Camera today the a6400 and looking for accessories for it, first of all a lens hood.  I have seen complaints about some of them cutting off the edges and I want to avoid that.   Recommendations please.   This is twice the camera I expected to buy but the no limit on video recording sold me.  Thanks.

[Pieter]

The size and shape of a lens hood totally depends on the lens it is used on and has nothing to do with the camera. A lens hood that is supplied with a specific lens should be a perfect fit and shouldn't cause black corners in photos.

For what purpose do you want to buy a separate lens hood in addition to those supplied with your lenses?

[Chrissie]

In extension to @Pieter's already perfect explanation, please note how the shape of a lens hood is tied to a specific focal distance / front element diameter combination by the following visualizations. The front element diameter corresponds to the blue tube diameter, which mathematically intersects with the viewing pyramid (aspect ratio being 3:2 as in your full frame sensor). See how a varying focal distance results in a corresponding change in the shape of the lens hood petals:

Wide angle:

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intermediate angle:

 

Tele angle:

[Dennisspeaks]

Thanks for your replies, my camera did not come with a lens hood.  I ordered it from Focus Camera.  It came as a bundle with my Sony A6400 with the 16-50mm lens. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Dennisspeaks

[michelb]

There appears to be no lens shade available for this lens. 

Think of the lens as entry-level

 

[Pieter]

2 hours ago, Dennisspeaks said:

It came as a bundle with my Sony A6400 with the 16-50mm lens. 

Ah, would have helped if you'd mentioned that in your initial post ? The 16-50 OSS is pretty much the only lens I know of that doesn't have a hood. It doesn't have a bayonet fitting either so any aftermarket lens hood has to be screwed into the filter thread, like this one from Fotodiox:

https://youtu.be/BG4dJy1DKxk

Because it screws in rather than clicks into place, you have to be careful to make sure the 'petals' of the hood are properly aligned with the 'viewing pyramid' as demonstrated by @Chrissie

Personally I'd advise you to save yourself the hassle of fiddling with such a screw-in hood and just hold your hand over the lens if the sun is at an inconvenient angle, to prevent flare or loss of contrast. These wide-angle hoods are so 'shallow' that they barely block any direct sunlight anyway.

[Dennisspeaks]

Thanks for all your replies.  Yes I know this is entry level, I was recommended this camera from a photographer friend and he recommended a different lens, but this was already twice what I had planned on paying for a camera for a hobby.  

[tadwil]

From eBay buy a metal wide angle lens hood (sized to your lens' filter diameter).  When it arrives mount the lens hood to the lens and take pictures of a blank white wall at the focal length of 16mm.  What you are trying to determine is how much vignetting the lens hood causes.  If there is no vignetting or if you can live with the level of vignetting the lens hood causes, you don't need to do anything. 

On the other hand, if the level of vignetting is unacceptable you will have to remove the excess material from the lens hood.  Place a sheet of wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface and gently rub the front of the lens hood across the sandpaper in a circular motion, misting the sandpaper periodically.  After a while, wash and dry the lens hood with a clean towel, mount the lens hood to the lens and take shots of the wall to see if the vignetting goes away or is at an acceptable level to you.  If it is acceptable, thoroughly wash  wand dry the lens hood and dab or respray flat black paint on the lens hood.  If not repeat the sanding process.

It's a tedious process but at the end you will end up with a hard lens hood that gives minimal protection from flares (only at 16mm - which is true of any lens hoods on a zoom lens) but most important to me, the lens hood serves to protect the front element of the lens from the environment since I don't use skylight or UV filters in front of my lenses.

[Chrissie]

While I like @tadwil's suggestion of how to determine the given level of vignetting via taking a picture of a white wall, I'm a little confused as to where 

23 minutes ago, tadwil said:

the front of the lens hood

might be.

If it's the object-facing tips of the lens hood petals, then grinding those down would not alleviate the vignetting, which is typically happening at the corners of a picture, caused by excess material at the transition between any two adjacent lens hood petals.

If you're talking about the lens facing side of the lens hood, then grinding that circular face down would indeed be unnecessarily tedious, just to remove material from the object-facing areas between petals. Especially if the hood is made out of metal. My Sony ones are all plastic, and serve their purpose perfectly well.

[Pieter]

Honestly @Dennisspeaks like I said I wouldn't be bothered trying to fit a lens hood on this lens. Just use your left hand as a shade: the a6400 + 16-50 is light enough to hold it in just your right hand. If needed for video you can stabilize it against your left hand thumb and eye socket while using your palm/fingers as a shade.

You did well to buy the 16-50 as a kit: despite several negative reviews I found the 16-50 to be exceptionally convenient due to its small size and stabilized optics. By adding a clumsy screw-in hood you defeat much of that convenience. Once you decide you really like photo-/videography and want to move on to something better, you can sell it for almost as much as you payed for it as a kit combo. I found it hard to let go of the 16-50 just because of its incredible portability.

[Dennisspeaks]

I appreciate all the replies and suggestions from different viewpoints, it's great to have choices on what works for some that may or may not work for others.  Who knows maybe after a vaccine is discovered for covid-19 and I can get back to work I might enjoy it so much I will invest in a fast lens or two.  I did my first two zoom board meetings yesterday and my video image was superb, I can see why many people use these as webcams, it was quite the upgrade from my Samsung s9+ and has me considering getting a A5100 for a second angle.  Pieter I did look and see some of the lens that are recommended are longer and yes it's nice to keep it small

Tadwil I might consider that undertaking that, thanks for the suggestion. Chrissie I appreciate your input as well.  Thanks everyone.  

[tadwil]

23 hours ago, Chrissie said:

While I like @tadwil's suggestion of how to determine the given level of vignetting via taking a picture of a white wall, I'm a little confused as to where 

might be.

If it's the object-facing tips of the lens hood petals, then grinding those down would not alleviate the vignetting, which is typically happening at the corners of a picture, caused by excess material at the transition between any two adjacent lens hood petals.

If you're talking about the lens facing side of the lens hood, then grinding that circular face down would indeed be unnecessarily tedious, just to remove material from the object-facing areas between petals. Especially if the hood is made out of metal. My Sony ones are all plastic, and serve their purpose perfectly well.

@Chrissie,

It would be impossible to carve out a tulip shaped lens hood from a conical lens hood at home whether the conical lens hood is made from metal or plastic.  I can't begin to imagine what kinds of tools would be needed to do so, it would been best if Sony had made a proper lens hood for the 16-50, which Sony unfortunately did not.

@Dennisspeaks,

It will cost you a cup of coffee or two to pick up a 40.5mm wide angle, metal lens hood from eBay.  The issue of vignetting, it may turn out to be a non-issue since these lens hoods are based on full format coverage, not aps-c.  I have mentioned it because I have never bought a 3rd party lens hood for a 16mm lens.  The only 16mm lens that I have is the Zenitar 16/2.8 Fish-eye which has a very small vestige of a lens hood fixed to the lens.

[Pieter]

2 hours ago, tadwil said:

I can't begin to imagine what kinds of tools would be needed to do so

A dremel tool and a steady hand will do, or a jigsaw. Add some sanding paper and black spray paint and you're done. The quality of the final product depends entirely on your craftsmanship though ?

Problem with a petal shaped screw-in hood is that unless you make it fit perfectly with the end of the crew thread (and pray that the thread doesn't wear/loosen), the petals will either be misaligned with the field of view or the hood will be loose.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Pieter

[tadwil]

12 hours ago, Pieter said:

A dremel tool and a steady hand will do, or a jigsaw. Add some sanding paper and black spray paint and you're done. The quality of the final product depends entirely on your craftsmanship though ?

Problem with a petal shaped screw-in hood is that unless you make it fit perfectly with the end of the crew thread (and pray that the thread doesn't wear/loosen), the petals will either be misaligned with the field of view or the hood will be loose.

All of this discussion is just a mental exercise, it better to leave the lens hood as a conical lens hood - don't ever need to worry about it's alignment.

[Dennisspeaks]

Tadwil it would probably turned out pretty poor.  After getting my education on youtube the last several days I am beginning to grasp why a fast lens is important and I am thinking possibly about getting one.  What should I look for and avoid?  Chrissie or any others I appreciate your valuable input.  Thank you!

[Pieter]

When you buy a fast lens it'll likely be a prime (not a zoom) lens: those lenses have a wider aperture and are generally smaller and/or much better quality than a zoom lens at the same focal length.

There are a couple of things you should consider before buying a prime:

 - Focal length: since you can't zoom, you'll need to change lenses to change focal length. Since your budget is tight, you probably want to buy only one lens for now. Best to practice with your 16-50 zoom for the next couple of weeks/months to see which focal you like the most, and buy a prime at that focal length.

 - Stabilization: For photography you can likely do without, but for video some kind of stabilisation is almost mandatory. Your options are (with various degrees of effectiveness): a tripod, a gimbal (for video), a camera with stabilized sensor or a lens with stabilized optics (called OSS in Sony-words). Your a6400 doesn't feature in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) but your 16-50 has OSS. You'll have to decide if you really need a lens with OSS, as many don't have this. You can test this by disabling image stabilisation through the menu of your a6400.

Some good options:

Sigma 16mm F/1.4, 30mm F/1.4 or 56mm F/1.4: great optics with bright aperture but no OSS.

Sony 35mm F/1.8 OSS or 50mm F/1.8 OSS (be sure to search for the APS-C variants (designated E), not the fullframe version (FE)): good optics with OSS, but focal length may be a bit too long for everyday use.

I'm quite happy with my Sony/Zeiss 24mm F/1.8 but it doesn't have OSS and is way overpriced considering Sigma's options (which weren't available at the time I bought it)

Edited July 31, 2020 by Pieter

[tadwil]

On 7/30/2020 at 5:28 PM, Dennisspeaks said:

Tadwil it would probably turned out pretty poor.  After getting my education on youtube the last several days I am beginning to grasp why a fast lens is important and I am thinking possibly about getting one.  What should I look for and avoid?  Chrissie or any others I appreciate your valuable input.  Thank you!

Do yourself a favour, spend three bucks to pick up a 40.5mm wide angle lens hood made of metal and put it on your lens.  Chances are there won't be any vignetting at all since the lens hood is designed for full format coverage.  I have bought at least half dozen conical lens hood for Pentax lenses and I have never had any of them cause vignetting on my Pentax Aps-c cameras.

Going from needing a lens hood for your 16-50 to seriously contemplating a purchase of fast prime lens is one hell of a jump but that is irrelevant.  At the end of the day, you are still without a lens hood for the 16-50 kit lens for your camera, unless it is your intention to not shoot with your kit lens again?

[cmycycle]

On 7/31/2020 at 11:47 PM, tadwil said:

Do yourself a favour, spend three bucks to pick up a 40.5mm wide angle lens hood made of metal and put it on your lens.  Chances are there won't be any vignetting at all since the lens hood is designed for full format coverage.  I have bought at least half dozen conical lens hood for Pentax lenses and I have never had any of them cause vignetting on my Pentax Aps-c cameras.

Going from needing a lens hood for your 16-50 to seriously contemplating a purchase of fast prime lens is one hell of a jump but that is irrelevant.  At the end of the day, you are still without a lens hood for the 16-50 kit lens for your camera, unless it is your intention to not shoot with your kit lens again?

Hi, I'm CMY and I'm a GAS-aholic.

All joking aside, Tadwil is right about not jumping right into buying your first AF Prime Lens.  The 35mm F1.8 OSS that Pieter mentioned is an EXCELLENT prime lens, and it was the first lens I bought after using the 16-50mm kit lens.  But it's going for $470 on B&H at the moment, so it'll put a significant dent in your wallet.

As others have mentioned, the 16-50mm wasn't designed to have a lens hood.  My advice is to not sweat about the lens hood.  Spend more time getting to know your new A6400 and what real-world situations you face the 16-50mm can and can't handle.  There's a lot of analysis on Youtube and forums about cases that you may rarely face.  For my 16-50mm, I loved all the pictures I took with it in Japan.  When I look at vacation photos, I'm not pixel peeping at the corners for sharpness.  In fact, the only thing I don't like about my photos was completely my fault: when I set the dial to Aperture priority, I didn't have the Auto ISO Min Shutter Speed set correctly.  So my A6400 defaulted to a shutter speed of 1/4000th, and I had some cloudy outdoor pictures where the ISO was bumped up to 2000!  Completely my fault for not knowing my camera, and not because of the lens or lack of a lens hood.

[Dennisspeaks]

On 7/30/2020 at 9:55 PM, Pieter said:

When you buy a fast lens it'll likely be a prime (not a zoom) lens: those lenses have a wider aperture and are generally smaller and/or much better quality than a zoom lens at the same focal length.

There are a couple of things you should consider before buying a prime:

 - Focal length: since you can't zoom, you'll need to change lenses to change focal length. Since your budget is tight, you probably want to buy only one lens for now. Best to practice with your 16-50 zoom for the next couple of weeks/months to see which focal you like the most, and buy a prime at that focal length.

 - Stabilization: For photography you can likely do without, but for video some kind of stabilisation is almost mandatory. Your options are (with various degrees of effectiveness): a tripod, a gimbal (for video), a camera with stabilized sensor or a lens with stabilized optics (called OSS in Sony-words). Your a6400 doesn't feature in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) but your 16-50 has OSS. You'll have to decide if you really need a lens with OSS, as many don't have this. You can test this by disabling image stabilisation through the menu of your a6400.

Some good options:

Sigma 16mm F/1.4, 30mm F/1.4 or 56mm F/1.4: great optics with bright aperture but no OSS.

Sony 35mm F/1.8 OSS or 50mm F/1.8 OSS (be sure to search for the APS-C variants (designated E), not the fullframe version (FE)): good optics with OSS, but focal length may be a bit too long for everyday use.

I'm quite happy with my Sony/Zeiss 24mm F/1.8 but it doesn't have OSS and is way overpriced considering Sigma's options (which weren't available at the time I bought it)

 

[Dennisspeaks]

I am sure i got some great replies and looking forward to reading them once I am better, I ended up in the hospital over the weekend.

[Chrissie]

1 hour ago, Dennisspeaks said:

I ended up in the hospital over the weekend.

I hope it's nothing serious, and get well soon!

The lens hood, whatever its kind, can certainly wait. Hang in there!

[Dennisspeaks]

Thanks Chrissie, yes this stuff can wait, asthma attack and pretty darn serious.  I had a long time friend pass away a couple months ago from it.  Last week I did decide to order a hood to try it.   Although I have not tested it extensively, it is working well with no errors  Can't wait to be better and take it for a spin.  Take care.