Good to see all your photos Riley, and I'm pleased to note that the matt black paint you've used is so damn matt and black that the hood hardly shows up at all in your photos! Exactly what you want a hood to do.

A hood is so important, and especially so with the Raynox 0.66x I had, which only had a single layer coating on the front element. So I hope yours works well. Have you decided to attach filters to the front of the Raynox? Look out for vignetting if you do - not on the camera's v'finder or on TV, but on you computer monitor which will show you the entire film frame.

Tell me, does this latest version of the Raynox stay sharp right throughout the zoom range? Is there any warning given in the sheet of words that came with it (as mine had) telling you of sharpness loss past the mid-way point in the zoom range?

tom.

So far as I can tell, it doesn't loose any, if only a little sharpness. I accidentaly threw away my instructions that came with it, so I don't know if it said anything about it on there. Luckily I don't use the zoom really at all. I am eventually going to get a UV filter for the lens and find the best point to set the camera at in the hood. I already did some indoor tests (it's been raining) and the hood decreases flaring dramatically. I'll post the final images once I completely finish...hopefully soon!