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trescue

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Attention on deck:

Sony charges $100 for a plastic hood that is predisposed to falling off the 70-400 lens.

Ascending a ship's rope ladder my hood lens hood fell off, landing in the boat I had been on. Once the boat was recovered to the ship I did get it back.
The hood also fell off from the reversed position below decks.

Have had a similar issue with my 20 year old $200 beercan, but for a lens like the 'G' 70-400 that costs ten times as much I expect a crucial component like the hood to not be junk.

Sony needs to offer fast, free replacement while they fix this problem.

People often ask me how I like my Sony gear, but this hood is almost a dealbreaker.
This is a shame because otherwise it's a great lens.

I can understand why pros buy Nikon for their better flash system, and ultra-wide APS-C. Nikon seems better suited to photojournalism.

Anyway I'm off to buy some gaffers tape.

That is all.
 
AND especially that mini-door at the bottom! Sony should have made a metal hood like the 300mm f/2.8 SSM G with a thumb-screw.

--
Cheers,
Don.
 
cgarrard said:
its an issue that needs to be addressed.
Click to expand...
I spent two months carting the 70-400 all over the west. Hiking, bouncing down numerous 4wd so called roads and all the rest. I've yet to have the hood fall off once. Either then or in the months since. Maybe I'm just more careful with my equipment.....

I thought you folks did not whine.....

Walt
 
Is it any wonder that you cheese so many people off here?

4 people have identified the same issue with a particular piece of kit.

Just because you (who, as we already know, can do no wrong when it comes to photography) has not experienced the same problem does not merit such a condescending and arrogant response.

A simple "I've never had that problem" would have sufficed (though still completely unnecessary). But you always have to get in that little extra dig, don't you?
WaltKnapp said:
cgarrard said:
its an issue that needs to be addressed.
Click to expand...
I spent two months carting the 70-400 all over the west. Hiking, bouncing down numerous 4wd so called roads and all the rest. I've yet to have the hood fall off once. Either then or in the months since. Maybe I'm just more careful with my equipment.....

I thought you folks did not whine.....

Walt
Click to expand...
 
Henry Richardson said:
I sure would hate to lose this lens hood and need to replace it;

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=canon+600mm+lens+hood&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

Sorry, you lost your lens hood. You might be able to find one on ebay that is cheaper.

--
Henry Richardson
http://www.bakubo.com
Click to expand...
I agree the price is not the issue.. Sony is doing nothing different from others except giving people the first one for free on all but the lowest costs lenses..

BUT.. is there really an issue with the mount not being good enough..that is worth discussing.
---------
Ken - A700 Owner..
Some of my work at:
http://gallery.cascadephotoworks.com
 
Probably the design of the flower hood it self has a limit - considering dimensional limit that needs to be really looked into.

The Flower shaped front of the hood, though "looks good" for internal focus and zoom lens, for bigger lens, it just get more prone to be "hooked on to something" due to the angles corners of the hood (versus simple fully round hood) as it gets bigger.

It looks like the way the hood is designed with the standard two point lock for both deployed or keep positions - leveraged from smaller lens filter size. Probably they need to improve it to a three or four point locking.

Also note that the plastic portion that locks on the hood is plastic and WILL WEAR OFF. Through many insertions and removal, they will become loose eventually.

So with the handful of data-point here, looks like the number would probably increase as times goes by.

Well, hope Sony listens and get this addressed......
 
i OWN THE 70-400 G but not for a long time, the hood never fel off. But I did some test at home and mentioned that when somthing hit the hood it can twist and come loose. In the past there where elsatic bands that you could attache around your lens with a string and some adhasives that you stick on your lenscap so you could not loose it. Maybe something for the $100,-- hood until sony fixes it.
But don't forget to inform Sony about this problem.
 
The hood is made of a lighter weight material than the aforementioned hoods. While I don't think it is flimsy, the material is rather soft and not springy, therefore the latch mechanism that holds it in place tends to wear down very quickly and does not exert much tension to hold it in place. Mine started tight when I first bought it but now it is very loose. This past weekend, it fell off three times in the span of 2 hours.

Anymore, I don’t store it in my bag mounted on the lens (in reverse or normal orientation). I am just afraid that the forces exerted on the hood while in the bag might just shear off what is left of the little plastic notches.

I suppose I should contact Sony service and see if they would repalce it under warranty. Has anyone done that by any chance?
--
FEM2008
Shoot now; process much later!
 
trescue said:
Attention on deck:

Sony charges $100 for a plastic hood that is predisposed to falling off the 70-400 lens.

Ascending a ship's rope ladder my hood lens hood fell off, landing in the boat I had been on. Once the boat was recovered to the ship I did get it back.
The hood also fell off from the reversed position below decks.

Have had a similar issue with my 20 year old $200 beercan, but for a lens like the 'G' 70-400 that costs ten times as much I expect a crucial component like the hood to not be junk.

Sony needs to offer fast, free replacement while they fix this problem.

People often ask me how I like my Sony gear, but this hood is almost a dealbreaker.
This is a shame because otherwise it's a great lens.

I can understand why pros buy Nikon for their better flash system, and ultra-wide APS-C. Nikon seems better suited to photojournalism.

Anyway I'm off to buy some gaffers tape.

That is all.
Click to expand...
If you are handy and tightfisted { i am a Scotsman :) } make your own with a guide from sites like this its not too hard http://www.lenshoods.co.uk/
Jim
 
thefatguy said:
I wonder how many people that complain actually contact Sony regarding this matter?
Click to expand...
John, I got my 70-400mm G shortly (couple weeks) after it was available in the US. The next week I went on a trip where I used the lens for the first time and had my hood come off in the first five minutes and it was not retrievable.

Yes, I did contact Sony and obtained a replacement hood at their expense. After receiving my replacement which also required very low rotating torque to attach I contacted Sony again and explained my concern. I did rotational torque comparisons to my Sony 70-200mm G and my 24-70mm CZ. The data showed that a lower torque was obtained in attaching the hood to the 70-400mm G. I provided my findings to a Sony engineer and the info was forwarded to the engineers in Japan.

I received an e-mail acknowledging awareness of the issue and a statement that corrective action would be taken. Although, the hood that was provided as a replacement was of the same initial design and had the same initial issue.

As stated on an earlier post I tape the hood in place so it will not rotate and fall off (I am extremely careful with all my equipment and keenly aware of the hood attachment - I think it's possible that Walt's may be a tighter fit - QC).

I posted a concern about this issue on March 9 th, 2009 and also contacted Sony Customer Service, Sony Customer Relations and a Sony Engineer (not whinning, just reporting an actual incident where where a replacement part was provided):

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=31256073

--
Portraits: http://wdcgraphic.com/portrait2.htm
http://curtindale.blogspot.com http://picasaweb.google.com/BillCurtindale
 
If I may offer a suggestion. Write up a good E mail that throughly explains your problem with the lens hood. Limit the scope of complaint to that one issue. Be as detailed as you feel necsessary. Then send that E mail to Carl (whos has responded here) of Alpha Mount World. You could also send a copy of that mail to Sony E support. You can find that on Sony Frontline 101. This would give Carl a direction of support when he communicates with contacts at Sony, and also you would hit Sony direct. As for a quck solution would be to buy a wide short rubber band and slip over the ring attachment and make sure it covers the mounting and the lens mount. Double up ( make it two )that rubber band for more tension. This would give you a breakaway hitch in case you banged the hood too hard. Hope for a response and share any information with others.
Just my thoughts... if it were I that is what I would do.
--
OROGARD
Photo Web Pages:
http://orogard.smugmug.com/
 
William Curtindale said:
As stated on an earlier post I tape the hood in place so it will not rotate and fall off (I am extremely careful with all my equipment and keenly aware of the hood attachment - I think it's possible that Walt's may be a tighter fit - QC).

I posted a concern about this issue on March 9 th, 2009 and also contacted Sony Customer Service, Sony Customer Relations and a Sony Engineer (not whinning, just reporting an actual incident where where a replacement part was provided):
Click to expand...
I have no comparison to other 70-400's to go on. Mine was bought more recently than yours. ie about the time you were negotiating with Sony on it. It is a fairly loose design, but does click into position lightly to "lock on". It's possible to only partially engage the locking system, ie sort of like cross threading. It has not gotten any looser with time. Once on it would take a bit of a knock to dislodge it. I'm careful to keep that from happening. I've seen no need for tape or other such fixes so far. And I did point out my trip to say that I do use this lens a fair amount.

Even though I've not had a problem I do think the design could be better.

Walt
 
FEM2008 said:
I suppose I should contact Sony service and see if they would repalce it under warranty. Has anyone done that by any chance?
Click to expand...
It would seem like the logical first step as long as it's still under warranty. All you will be out is time shipping it to repair I'd assume. And maybe one way of the shipping.

Walt
 
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