Thoughts on shorter hood for 500 F/4

[Wade Abadie]

I've thought about ordering a shorter lens hood from Zemlin for my 500mm F/4 G to make it a little less unwieldy. The stock hood is 7.22" and I'm looking at getting the shortest hood offered by Zemlin, which is 2.89" (shown below). Does anyone have experience with a hood this short on a 500 or 600mm F/4 lens? If so, what are your thoughts? Do you notice any flaring issues in normal use? Also, I suppose the shorter hood would help with atmospheric distortion as it would hold a smaller "pocket" of air inside the hood.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

*Lens Hood 1pc, 73.5mm (2.89in) long. Replaces Nikon HK-34 hood. | Zemlin Photo

Bayonet-mount 1pc lens hood kit. Replaces Nikon HK-34 hood. Length: 73.5mm (2.89in). Maximum diameter: 154.5mm (6.08in). Approximate weight: 141g (5oz). Fits Nikon AF-I Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED & AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4 lenses.

www.zemlinphoto.com

 

[PCRATE]

I've found telephotos are pretty susceptible to a loss of contrast from bright light way out of the field falling on the optics. The last thing I do is get a shorter hood. Perhaps Zemlin's two-piece hoods could give you the best of both worlds

 

[SoCalRick]

I was worried about going too short with a replacement lens hood for my 600 TC, but I thought I want to try something slightly more compact. I initially decided to order one that is 4.57", essentially 1-step down from the OEM size. However, after using it in some rainy weather (and thinking about how it might handle snowy conditions), and also checking out how well it worked at blocking light coming in from the sides, I decided to order one that is the same as the OEM hood dimensions (e.g., 5.79"). The manufacturer makes them that length for a reason, right?

Now I predominantly grab the larger one, but I have the smaller size available whenever a more compact solution is called for.