Z 400 f4.5 lens hood - Solved!

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Butlerkid

Butlerkid

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I haven't used the lens yet. But today I was putting the hood on and off the lens while putting on a skin.....and then hood barely stays on the lens. Anybody else notice this? The skin doesn't seem to be causing the problem, especially since I left the top of the lens "bare" (i.e. no skin covering).
 
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EricBowles said:
I have the 400mm f/4.5. It snaps crisply into place with no risk of falling off. I wonder if the lens skin is blocking anything?
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abc123brian said:
It should lock in place. Are you sure you’re turning it all the way to lock it?
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The skin is on the outside of the hood. And NO skin at the top of the lens. It "seems" to lock (not a solid click I am used to), but then a little wiggle and it comes off. Since I will be using it for 6 days in a row....probably with Hydrophobia rain gear on and off a few times each day shooting from a Zodiac!!!!!!.....I'm worried it will come off.
 
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I have troubles with my hood as well, in that half the time it’s too tight and gets stuck before it clicks into place. Sometimes it wont even make to fully locked, but it’s so firmly stuck that I don’t bother forcing it the rest of the way. Once it’s on though, zero wiggle, stuck like a vise.
 
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On mine, a very slight side to side movement and the hood falls off. I just had hubby, engineer, verify that no part of the skin is near the hood edge and latching mechanism. The tiny moving tabs initiated by pressing the hood release don't seem to be making a solid contact with the inside of the hood.
 
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My hood was a solid lock...felt like it wouldn't come off without effort.
I think something may be off with your hood's locking mechanism.
I don't have the lens anymore to double check how that mechanism works though.
 
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arbitrage said:
My hood was a solid lock...felt like it wouldn't come off without effort.
I think something may be off with your hood's locking mechanism.
I don't have the lens anymore to double check how that mechanism works though.
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That's what I've always experienced. So this caught me by surprise. Especially since I will be tearing rain gear on and off of it! ;) AND shooting hand held all week from a Zodiac! The slightest bump might dislodge the hood. MAYBE the rain gear would hold it on. Still not a situation one wants on a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

The hood release enages two tiny pins on only one side of the in the inside of the lens. I'm guessing they aren't aligned correctly to "hold" the hood in place.
 
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Mine goes on my Z 400 mm f4.5 well and seems to stay on. But I’ve ordered a Zemlin replacement hood for it. I’m getting the longest version he makes for it.

I like Karl’s hoods. I have them for my Z 100-400; 500 mm PF; and Z 800 mm PF.
 
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I uses a neoprene cover on the lens hood, but it doesn't interfere with the mechnism. However, the sprung locking arm snapped inside the hood on my 400 f4.5S some months ago, and I still need to find the time to replace this.

The 800 PF hood uses a similar plastic material for the locking arm, and its tip has already worn flatter - blunted - on my well used lens, such that it no longer locks securely in place.

The hood of the 500 PF uses a metal locking arm and wears well, and a few years on it still works properly. The mechanism in the hood of 70-200 f2.8E is even more robust, wears well.

Nikon made a bad decision trying to cost cut here IMO, as the metal mechanism cannot cost much more to manufacture and assemble.
 
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Butlerkid said:
I haven't used the lens yet. But today I was putting the hood on and off the lens while putting on a skin.....and then hood barely stays on the lens. Anybody else notice this? The skin doesn't seem to be causing the problem, especially since I left the top of the lens "bare" (i.e. no skin covering).
Click to expand...
Maybe the skin is distorting the lens hood enough to stop the locking pin from locking correctly?
 
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You are not turning the hood far enough anti-clockwise for it to lock. You may be gripping it from the rubberized end.
One of the hood's white circular markings must exactly align with the white dot on the end of the lens for it to lock.
Grip the hood at the knurled segments of it's base to mount and turn the hood and not at it's rubberized end. Depressing the release button as you rotate also helps and allows you to feel the hood lock.
But gripping at the rubberized end flexes the hood sufficiently to distort the land and groove turn and locking mechanism and prevent full rotation to locked position.
This assumes you have it properly seated in the land and groove arrangement prior to attempting rotation.
Keeping the land and groove arrangement clean also helps.
 
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Alistair said:
You are not turning the hood far enough anti-clockwise for it to lock. You may be gripping it from the rubberized end.
One of the hood's white circular markings must exactly align with the white dot on the end of the lens for it to lock.
Grip the hood at the knurled segments of it's base to mount and turn the hood and not at it's rubberized end. Depressing the release button as you rotate also helps and allows you to feel the hood lock.
But gripping at the rubberized end flexes the hood sufficiently to distort the land and groove turn and locking mechanism and prevent full rotation to locked position.
This assumes you have it properly seated in the land and groove arrangement prior to attempting rotation.
Keeping the land and groove arrangement clean also helps.
Click to expand...
If these ideas don't help, it sounds like the hood is damaged or defective and needs to go to Nikon for repair or replacement. The hood locks very crisply into place on my lens.
 
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Alistair said:
You are not turning the hood far enough anti-clockwise for it to lock. You may be gripping it from the rubberized end.
One of the hood's white circular markings must exactly align with the white dot on the end of the lens for it to lock.
Grip the hood at the knurled segments of it's base to mount and turn the hood and not at it's rubberized end. Depressing the release button as you rotate also helps and allows you to feel the hood lock.
But gripping at the rubberized end flexes the hood sufficiently to distort the land and groove turn and locking mechanism and prevent full rotation to locked position.
This assumes you have it properly seated in the land and groove arrangement prior to attempting rotation.
Keeping the land and groove arrangement clean also helps.
Click to expand...

Good points.
The Z mount lens hoods are a little too flexible IMO. I would never set a Z8/Z9/100-400 S combo down on it's lens like I have in the past with F mount hoods. And, as you mentioned I found it mattered where I grabbed the 100-400 hood as I was trying to get it to latch. I recently ordered a Zemlin hood for my 500/4E lens and I noticed my next purchase would likely be his hood for the 100-400.I hope Karen gets her issue sorted out and the hood replaced (or whatever the solution is) but I think I'd also pursue a Zemlin Hood for the once in a lifetime trip.
 
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Geoff_G said:
Good points.
The Z mount lens hoods are a little too flexible IMO. I would never set a Z8/Z9/100-400 S combo down on it's lens like I have in the past with F mount hoods. And, as you mentioned I found it mattered where I grabbed the 100-400 hood as I was trying to get it to latch. I recently ordered a Zemlin hood for my 500/4E lens and I noticed my next purchase would likely be his hood for the 100-400.I hope Karen gets her issue sorted out and the hood replaced (or whatever the solution is) but I think I'd also pursue a Zemlin Hood for the once in a lifetime trip.
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I submitted an order for Zemlin's hood for the 400 f4.5 yesterday.
 
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Lance B said:
Maybe the skin is distorting the lens hood enough to stop the locking pin from locking correctly?
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Alistair said:
You are not turning the hood far enough anti-clockwise for it to lock. You may be gripping it from the rubberized end.
One of the hood's white circular markings must exactly align with the white dot on the end of the lens for it to lock.
Grip the hood at the knurled segments of it's base to mount and turn the hood and not at it's rubberized end. Depressing the release button as you rotate also helps and allows you to feel the hood lock.
But gripping at the rubberized end flexes the hood sufficiently to distort the land and groove turn and locking mechanism and prevent full rotation to locked position.
This assumes you have it properly seated in the land and groove arrangement prior to attempting rotation.
Keeping the land and groove arrangement clean also helps.
Click to expand...
The skin just lays on the outside of the hood. No obvious pressure resulting from the skin.

As I put the hood on the lens, I feel it drop into the slot. Holding it by the top rubber area seems awkward to me. So I hold it with both hands and slowly turn it, but the pins never catch and the hood just continues to turn.....passed where it should lock.

I've had a lot of lenses over the years, and this is the first one that has had a problem with the hood. Thankfully the 100-400 and 600mm TC are fine - although I do use a Zemlin hood on the 600mm TC!
 
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This shows the business end of the locking arm of the 500 PF, with the end that locks into the groove in the lens. Many Nikon hoods use a similar mechanism, but they have switched to plastic in at least 3 of the Z-mount telephotos. If the hood is failing to lock when turned into position, it's likely the locking arm is damaged or it has lost its spring.

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Note the broken end pf the plastic arm on this HB-105 Lens Hood. At US$98, the Zemlin is the obvious solution!

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fcotterill said:
This shows the business end of the locking arm of the 500 PF, with the end that locks into the groove in the lens. Many Nikon hoods use a similar mechanism, but they have switched to plastic in at least 3 of the Z-mount telephotos. If the hood is failing to lock when turned into position, it's likely the locking arm is damaged or it has lost its spring.

View attachment 62769

Note the broken end pf the plastic arm on this HB-105 Lens Hood. At US$98, the Zemlin is the obvious solution!

View attachment 62770
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In Nikons defense this might not be a cost cutting measure but actually a planned failure point. A metal lens hood latch will cause the plastic on the lens to fail instead of the latch mechanism. One failure mode requires replacing a tiny part on the hood and the other requires partial disassembly of the lens.
 
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MatthewK said:
I have troubles with my hood as well, in that half the time it’s too tight and gets stuck before it clicks into place. Sometimes it wont even make to fully locked, but it’s so firmly stuck that I don’t bother forcing it the rest of the way. Once it’s on though, zero wiggle, stuck like a vise.
Click to expand...
Sounds like it might b a tolerance issue…you might try spraying a little silicon spray on there and letting it dry…make sure to mask the rest of the inside of the hood through and do the spraying on the hood and not the lens. Regular dry lube tends to be graphite based so I would not use that but silicon dry lube dries and leaves a fixed but slippery coating.
 
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