Lens hood or shade recommended?
 

The more expensive camcorders all seem to come with some sort of lens hood or shade but the HV20 does not. Is a lens hood recommended for amateur use of the the HV20 and, if so, are there any units that are known to work well - within the zoom range of this camcorder?

I would say it is highly recommended. I see way too much lens flare. I have not been looking for any yet. I know you can buy some rubber lens hoods, but have not seen them, and do not know how to mount them.


Now that I have a UV filter and a pol filter, the problem is only bigger.

Seems to be quite a few people interested in this type of item.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=98218

I posted this on the DVXuser forums, hope it's ok that I post their link here, saves me having to upload the image again. On page 1, near the bottom, my post (batesey). Works really well and looks pretty cool IMO...

Hope this helps.

The picture of the JVC camcorder built-in hood is exacly what I mean. Looks great and is likely benefitial. I didn't register on dvxuser.com so couldn't view your pictures.

Does the silver colored hood match the body color of the HV20 or is it better to get an all black one? Also, it looks as though the hood is simply tightened by thrumbscrew onto an included UV filter. Perhaps it wouldn't even attach without a filter?

Is that a small toilet bowl plunger in the top figure?

Yours looks awesome with the rectangular look.

That’s right, That version of the hood wont fit without a filter, in my case a 43mm UV. There is another version of the hood, one that screws onto the camera and effectively replaces a filter. I believe that there is a thread inside the hood to attach a filter, but it would put the glass to far in front of the lens, likely to cause vignetting and more pronounced lens flares. The reason I chose the hood that I have (black) is 1. I think it looks cool...LOL (it’s actually not jet black, and not a bad match for the rear part of the cam and 2. felt it was better to put a filter on first and then the hood. It also seems (to me) to be quicker to remove the hood in situations where it may not be practical to use. Also, the silver hood from TOKBANDIT's Cam looks like a perfect colour match...to me anyway :-)

Hope this helps.

Thank you, everyone, for the advice.

Anyone thought about this as a lense hood:
http://www.fotodiox.com/shop/product...roducts_id=569

That's exactly the same one as Tony's here from Ebay............

I bought one of the ones off Ebay. It should be here in a couple of days. I'll let you know how it is.

I bought that lens hood in the silver finish. It looks great on the camera. If I was allowed to post attachments, I would post a picture of it.

someone mentioned that the lens hood blocked the focus sensor...can anyone confirm this?

Yes I had that thought - I wonder if anyone can confirm?

you could upload a picture to imageshack and link on here

You could try flickr. I want to see since I just bought one today!

I went straight for the mattebox+frenchflag for shade/hood

http://www.thedigitaldoctor.com/pix/latview-sm.jpg
http://www.thedigitaldoctor.com/pix/oblique-sm.jpg