Stupid Hood Question
 

This may sound absolutely ridiculous.
But those of us who are still in our teens and everyone that has experienced these years realises that money is something we lack and there is nothing worse than wasting money.
I'm not confident anyone is going to give me a definite answer here but which lcd hood would you suggest for the PDX.
The
Petrol
or
Hoodman.
Yeh I know what your thinking who cares they do the exact same thing.
Does any of them do a better job though. The design of the Petrol looks nice however the Hoodman looks more efficent.
Anyone have experience with both of them?
And no I cannot get it free from sony.

I've only used the Petrol. One thing you should realize however is that any LCD hood on the PDX-10 will block all those buttons on the side of the camera. Very annoying if you want to use custom presets, display color bars, set the zebra pattern or turn the info display off...

I did not think of that.
Can you not just swing the lcd around to face the other way to access the buttons while the hood is on?
I gather you have had success with the petrol.

The petrol I'm using is the one that was offered as a free promotion by Sony. I think it's quite inexpensive to purchase however. I find it really effective while shooting outdoors. Even in the bright sun you can still use the LCD screen.

Sure, you can swivel the LCD screen to get at the buttons, but while shooting on a tripod at telephoto you'll probably shake the camera in so doing. This isn't insurmountable, just a bit annoying. It's really a Sony design flaw... why did they decide to bury the custom preset button behind the LCD screen?

I'm not one to recommend "field modifications" to newbies but, here goes... Since the side of the camera body itself mostly blocks light falling on the viewfinder from the right side (as operating the camera), why not just take an exacto knofe to the one edge and trim it mostly off to leave an area that's open on that side?

I was at somebodys home made sitwe just a few minutes ago where they made a simple one from black painted cardboard but left the right side exposed for their AG-DVX100 for this same reason.

Sean

I have both the Petrol and a Hoodman. After you figure out how to assemble the Petrol, you may want a good stiff drink. Would including a simple "how-to" have been such a big thing? I had to search the net to find a picture of the Petrol to use as a guide. I would never be any good at origami, despite my last name.

Anyway, the Petrol is a bit larger, which is nice, but the Hoodman folds flat, which is great for stowing it in your camera case. The Petrol takes up way more space than its worth. I vote for the Hoodman.

Wayne Orr, SOC

Me too Wayne! I had to dig around B&H's website to find a photo of the Petrol Hood! Sean, if you had a look at the Petrol hood I think you'd realize that cutting off the side would make it totally fall apart. Yes, it's a pain that the Petrol doesn't fold up easily. Of course you could take it apart and flatten it out (it ships like this) but then you would have to start all over again figuring out how to assemble it!

Steve, here on this board there is no such thing as a stupid question. From time to time though, you may have the chance to see a stupid answer, like this one :-)

The hoodman on the PDX stops you accessing the touch-screen three-level-deep menu too. A right pain.

Hah some funny answers.
No one really gave me a straight answer only suggestions and flaws which is ok I guess.
I work in the field where I have to walk long distances so my camera bag is small I need something you can slide on & off easily. Main thing is I have an outcome.
If the Hoodman does the exact same job quality wise I'll get that.
Thanks for your input.