Low Profile Metal Lens Hoods and Push Caps Manufactured by MASSA for GPN Media

prevents flaring / washed out images from indirect harsh light while protecting your lens' front element. negates the need for protective filters and maximises your lens' potential

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Datasheet

Available on SYSTEM

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A Permanent Fixture, A Clear View

Contents

• Introduction & The MASSA Partnership
• Who are the MASSA Lens Hoods + Push Caps for?
• Who aren't the MASSA Lens Hoods + Push Caps for?
• Protection: Gimme Shelter
• The (Current) Range
• Product Images

Introduction & The MASSA Partnership

background

The Leica Summilux 15mm F1.7 comes with a lens hood which in turn has its own "plug cap"; the lens is so diminutive in size that you can leave its hood on permanently, whether stored or in use). Likewise, the Panasonic 12-32mm and a host of other compact lenses, especially in the Micro Four Thirds ecosystem. The Panasonic 7-14mm F4 has its lens hood built into the lens and comes with a push cap. These lens-cap combinations were largely the inspiration for our partnership with MASSA.
 

Lens hoods for large telephoto lenses are often reversible and are intended to be packed away when not in use.

 

why MASSA?

We partnered with MASSA for three simple reasons:

1. They're a filter company and are intimately familiar with machining accurate lens filter threads.
2. High quality CNC machining.
3. They were willing to do relatively small initial manufacturing runs (which enabled us to do an investigational product without needing to "bet the farm").
    

Who are the MASSA Lens Hoods + Push Caps for?

The MASSA hood-cap pairings are low-profile and compact and are intended as near-permanent fixtures (somewhat mirroring the Panasonic 7-14mm pictured above right).  They will be suitable for users of any compact lenses ranging from wide angle (from 24mm and up, full frame equivalent) to short-telephoto (up to around 200mm full frame equivalent). They're light, compact and are designed to have a minimal impact on the portability of the lens. Capping the lens hood rather than the lens provides a number of benefits which are outlined below.
 

Who aren't the MASSA Lens Hoods + Push Caps for?

Wildlife and/or sports photographers use powerful telephoto lenses which in turn require long and obtrusive lens hoods (as pictured above centre). It makes sense for such lens hoods to only be fixed when the lens is in use. Often such lens hoods are reversible for when the lens is packed away. This is an area we're not planning to get into. We're predominantly focused on the compact portion of the photographic pie. 

The other group for whom this product may be of little interest are those that use an array of different (effect) filters (such as polarisers, tobacco, ND etc ...). These will generally attach to the lens itself and require the lens hood to be removed each time a filter is replaced. 
 

Protection: Gimme Shelter

the filter debate

In general terms, the more money spent on a (clear or UV) protective filter, the less degradation (there should be) to the light before it reaches the sensor. But no matter how much you spend, physics cannot be cheated, and the native optics of the lens will be, to some extent, degraded. Generally, the more budget-friendly the filter, the worse the degradation. For this reason there's a long-standing debate in the photographic community as to whether one should use protective filters at all. Afterall, having spent what is often a significant amount of money on some very fine glass designed to optimise the light gathered by the sensor; to then degrade that signal-path, is regarded by many as an understandable yet somewhat odious notion.

hoods are dual purpose

A lens hood's primary role is to protect the front element from indirect harsh light sources (glare) which can cause images to look washed-out or cause flaring. They also protect against precipitation (snow, rain, hail) hitting the front element, causing blurring (or less likely, damage in the case of hail).

In addition, a traditional lens push-cap, rather than a pinch-cap, keeps the cap from the glass. When a push cap is secured to a lens hood (rather than the lens itself), there is almost zero possibility that the cap can interact with the front element of the lens.

So, if you have compact, low-profile lens hoods (treated as though part of the lens itself - rather like Panasonic's 7-14mm lens) the requirement for any additional lens protection in the form of a filter is largely negated. The money saved on buying good quality protective filters will almost certainly be more (and possibly quite a lot more) than the cost of the MASSA Lens Hood & Push Cap.

These lens hoods and lens hood caps not only ensure images aren't spoiled from wash-out or flaring, but physically protect the front element, allowing users to abandon their protective filters and get the most from their pricey glass.

We now use these MASSA hoods and caps with all our compatible lenses. 
 

The (Current) Range

Full specs for each product type are available on the product pages linked above in the Datasheet.

We've initially focused on 3 filter sizes and offer 3 types of lens hood (though not yet in all thread diameters): Wide Angle, Standard and Short Telephoto:

• 37mm (Wide Angle, Short Telephoto)
• 46mm (Standard, Wide Angle, Short Telephoto)
• 58mm (Wide Angle)

We took existing designs that we'd been using over a long period and made some very minor modifications; generally shaving off millimeters to the depth (how much they protrude) and/or adding a few millimeters to the diameter (as was the case in the 37mm Short Telephoto).

So, if a hypothetical bias of a traditional lens hood was say 70:30 (in terms of "shade" vs "front element protection"), we've shifted that balance slightly toward (65:35). Our emphasis has been on remaining as compact as possible (minimising their protrusion) and at the same time erring on the side of caution with regard to vignetting. These are very minor alterations of a few millimetres here and there.

We wanted users to be able to fine tune the fit of the lens hood caps. So we made the inner rim completely flat.  If someone wanted a tighter or looser fitting cap, it would be trivial to either replace, add to or adjust the inner felt lining.

Finally, since we wanted to emphasise that these lens hoods are for compact setups, we shot the product images using the Panasonic GM1 as the model. This is the smallest Micro Four Thirds camera ever made and may make the lens hood look larger than they are (please refer the specs in the individual project pages).
 

Product Images

[ click to enlarge the image, then click left of centre (for previous) or right of centre (for next) to cycle through all images at full size ]

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