Re: Technika GG Protector
uh? the folding focussing hood serves as a GG protector. Why would would you want to replace it with something else? Weight saving would be minimal.
Re: Technika GG Protector
I tend to agree with Scott. I find the tunnel effect of the hood doesn't give me the full overview and tends to focus me on the frame center. It's tough to step back a little and see the whole composition at once. I'm new to the camera, but taking the protector on and off is wearing the gg frame. I've thought about removing the leather portion.
Bob
Re: Technika GG Protector
The flip horizontal hinge on the Linhof hood is so nice that I wouldn't change it. But on my old Tech IV I had a Crown Graphic metal hood installed and it was the best of all worlds - a good solid metal hood that could easily be flipped out of the way. Boy I was dumb to sell that camera...
http://frankpetronio.com/archive/love_of_linhof.html
Re: Technika GG Protector
But why permanently remove it, tunnel effect or not. I can't speak for the TEchnika but I can for the Horseman FA and the Toyo AII. I actually like the folding hood. I have a loupe that is longenough to work inside it and it is so easy to take off when I want to use a regular darkcloth. When I want to travel with as little photo gear as possible then the hood is terrific. They all come off with a spring loaded pivot as far as I know.
Re: Technika GG Protector
i am considering this for two reasons mainly...
1. like bob, I find that the hood limits my ability to see the entire gg
2. I use a relatively short sylvestri 6x loupe
To the second point, I know I could buy a longer loupe, like the toyo, but I really like the 6x mag and the optical quality of my loupe. So, if there was a way to remove the hood and still protect the gg, I’d rather go that route. Failing that, I guess I will leave it on and simply swing it out of the way when I’m viewing the gg.
Re: Technika GG Protector
I have that Toyo loupe. It is nice because it is long, but it quickly became my backup loupe. I also have a nice no-name adjustable loupe with a black skirt and more magnification that is much more useful to me. I use the Toyo with my Crown Graphic, and much prefer the shorter, but (for me) better no-name.
Re: Technika GG Protector
"like bob, I find that the hood limits my ability to see the entire gg. . . . So, if there was a way to remove the hood and still protect the gg, I’d rather go that route. Failing that, I guess I will leave it on and simply swing it out of the way when I’m viewing the gg.."
You don't swing it out of the way, you just remove it. It takes about two seconds to do, it's designed to be removed and replaced. The hood has minimal to no value as a focusing hood but it's a great ground glass protector (for $500 it should be), much better than the plexiglass protector that Canham sells and much better than the ABS protector that Calumet sells (I've used both). So just take it off the camera when you're making a photograph and put it back on when you're through, just as you would do with any ground glass protector.
"I'm new to the camera, but taking the protector on and off is wearing the gg frame."
How can it possibly be "wearing the gg frame?" It's designed to be removed and replaced, that's why it has that little retracting peg and those two little holes that the pegs fit into. I've owned two Technikas for a combined total of about seven years, I've removed and replaced the hood hundreds, maybe thousands, of times without any wear or damage to the frame.
Re: Technika GG Protector
Wouldn't a custom made loupe be cheaper? ;-)
Re: Technika GG Protector
You don't even need a custom made loupe. Both Wista and Horseman make higher magnification lupoes with topnotch optical quality. I use the Horseman 6x long loupe as my standard loupe all the time.